Ten Monsters

10 miniature ink drawings created for
A Curious Collection of Monstrous Tinies
presented by
The Shadowood Collective
February 2010

by

Richard A. Kirk

I have always enjoyed drawing miniatures. There is an intimacy to the form that makes even the oddest subject approachable.

A few years ago, I created a series of silverpoint miniatures called The Human Organizations Project. While working on that project, I was enamored at the infinite variety of forms that could be achieved within a few square inches. For the Curious Collection of Monstrous Tinies, I found inspiration in forms from nature. In these images you can see the blended forms of things like teeth, wood, larvae, and even hooves. Each of the characters is given their own attributes. One emits lazy tendrils of smoke, another is driven by a rusty key, while another finds mysterious sustenance from tubes leading beyond the picture frame.

If a larger work can be likened to a novel, rich in complexity and ideas, these miniatures are like poems brief but inviting meditation. They are not secrets to be revealed, but to be enjoyed for their sense of mystery.

Richard