Richard A. Kirk | Visual Artist | Author
"there is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion" Sir Frances Bacon, Of Beauty, Essays" 1625
On Friday, I had the pleasure of attending the opening of Scared Stiff, a new spooky themed show at The Benz Gallery in my home town of London, Ontario. I contributed 4 pieces to the show. You can see an online version of the exhibit, and available works, by following the link above. It was... Continue Reading →
The Mad Butterfly's Ball is a new insect themed anthology of weird fiction and essays. About a year ago, I was commissioned to create a cover and some interior illustrations for a new anthology from PS Publishing called The Mad Butterfly's Ball, edited by Preston Grassmann and Chris Kelso. I also contributed a short story... Continue Reading →
I'm working on a new book of drawings called AURA. BEETLE IN THE BOX is intended as the first illustration and serves as the portal into the world of the book. AURA will encompass all aspects of my aesthetic: fantasy, surrealism, humour and horror. It is a journey, but not a structured narrative, as in... Continue Reading →
Under drawing for We Shall be Near You Today I am sharing the graphite under-drawing for a new piece called We Shall be Near You. I borrowed the title from a poem by Yeats. In the context of this piece, the words refer to the idea of friendship and loyalty, the nearness of others. I’m... Continue Reading →
Title page for Tailor of Echoes, Illustration Richard A. Kirk, Design Michael Smith Tailor of Echoes is available for pre-order from PS Publishing! The past week was fairly busy. As previously mentioned, I am working on illustrations for a very special book. I expect that work to continue into 2022. It’s not a project I... Continue Reading →
I am very excited to announce that my new illustrated novel Tailor of Echoes will be published by PS Publications in December 2021! It is now available for pre-order from the publisher! There are 2 editions: a jacketed hardcover and a signed and numbered limited edition of 100. The ancient City of Steps is transforming.... Continue Reading →
This past week was filled with drawing, writing, reading, torrential rain, flooded libraries—not mine—and patches of sun. Some of these things are related. I’m calling this post Little Summer, because so many small wonders seem to come our way during Ontario’s short pause in what can seem like an endless winter. Here’s one. A tiny... Continue Reading →
Tailor of Echoes Title Page Art © Richard A. Kirk 2021 I posted this image on my social media accounts to tease my forthcoming illustrated novel Tailor of Echoes (PS Publications, 2021). It was created for the title page. The original drawing is graphite. Since this blog is a defacto record of my studio activities... Continue Reading →
It's been a busy week. I've been working steadily on Harbinger (see previous post), and on this series of oils (below). These are rough and ready iPhone images off my drawing table and once they are properly finished I'll put some better shots on my website. Birds and flight seem to be the central theme.... Continue Reading →
For the past few weeks I've been working on this large drawing called Harbinger (24" x 18"). Check out the images below. I'm rendering with Pigma Micron 005 pens on 140lb Arches hotpress. I haven't done a lot of finished work with Microns, so I wanted to give them a real workout to see what... Continue Reading →
Richard A. Kirk | Visual Artist | Author 