Richard A. Kirk - Visual Artist

Richard A. Kirk nació en Hull, Inglaterra en 1962 y llegó a Canadá a la edad de 4 años. Su trabajo fue influenciado desde una edad temprana por las ilustraciones de los libros clásicos y las formas que se encuentra en la naturaleza, especialmente los insectos y sus hogares. No le sorprende que criaturas extrañas, incluso monstruosos,  coexisten con el mundo ordinario de las escuelas y gasolineras. Tal vez sea inevitable que su personal exploración artística le llevase a explorar fantásticos y surrealista temas. Richard trabaja en tinta, acuarela, pintura de aceite y Silverpoint (una técnica de dibujo que ha estado en uso durante cientos de años y que se ha empleado por artistas tan diversos como Durero y John Wilde. Un dibujo Silverpoint se crea usando un alambre de plata para hacer marcas en un terreno preparado, Silverpoint es perfectamente adecuado para un dibujo meticuloso debido a las extremadamente finas líneas que se pueden crear), pero al igual que muchos artistas también goza experimentando con materiales encontrados. En los últimos años ha ilustrado varios libros. Richard cuenta además con su propio blog donde nos explica más cosas sobre su trabajo y técnica. (Clic en imagen para ampliar)

Richard Kirk was born in Hull, England in 1962 and came to Canada at the age of 4. His work was influenced from an early age by the classic book illustrators and forms found in nature, particularly insects and their homes. It amazed him that creatures with weird, even monstrous, forms coexisted with the ordinary world of schools and gas stations. It was perhaps inevitable that his personal artistic explorations led him to explore fantastic and surrealist themes. Richard works in silverpoint, ink, watercolour and oil paint, but like many artists he also enjoys experimenting with found materials. Over the past few years, Richard has illustrated a number of books. I create drawings in ink, silverpoint and graphite.

Thematically, my work is concerned with, but not limited to, natural history, literature, memory, transformation, and the unconscious mind. Silverpoint is a drawing technique that has been in use for hundreds of years. It has been employed by artists as diverse as Durer and John Wilde. A silverpoint drawing is created by using a silver wire to make marks on a prepared ground. There are a number of ways to prepare grounds. They range from the simple, a couple of layers of permenant white gouache on plate finish illustration board to more complex preparations which are readily available online. I use the former for the sake of simplicity but I urge you to experiment if you are interested in the technique. (Richard A. Kirk Blog)