Josh Kirby's The Empire Strikes Back emerges from the shadows!
Correspondence discovered from Ray Bradbury to Josh Kirby
Researching the archives of Josh Kirby has uncovered personal letters between these two powerhouses of science fiction. The Kirby Estate, in conjunction with BARD Games, is sharing them to celebrate the impact of Josh Kirby on the art of science fiction and fantasy.
The Josh Kirby estate is proud to announce that our partnership with Bard Games, over two years in the making, is finally coming to fruition.
The Lost Worlds of Josh Kirby celebrates the incredible art of sci-fi and fantasy art of Josh Kirby. The game evokes the epic feeling of a space opera, showing off Kirby's vivid colors and organic forms.
This game celebrates Josh Kirby's entire body of work, in particular, a recently discovered set of worlds painted by Kirby himself, that has rarely been seen! You can learn more about Josh Kirby by competing in this challenging Crossword Puzzle Contest. We will give away an epic play mat to a lucky few if you solve the Secret Message.
From Bard games:
"We know how great it feels to find a game with incredible artwork and great gameplay. Last year we brought you Fickle, our light-hearted game featuring the fairy artwork of Amy Brown. Now we're heading deep into sci-fi territory with The Lost Worlds of Josh Kirby."
If you like board games, sci-fi and science fantasy art or, are a fan of Josh Kirby and want to help us keep his legacy alive, please support this epic Kickstarter campaign.
The record-breaking HisWorld exhibition at Salisbury Museum captivated audiences who were, for the first time, given unparalleled access to the author’s inner sanctum and writing room ‘The Chapel’ and the plethora of interesting artefacts that surrounded him.
Reserve your Greebo today!
The first 100 orders will include a commemorative print of the original
Josh Kirby painting.
The Josh Kirby Estate is proud to announce this breathtaking Limited Edition Greebo sculpture. Modeled after a long, lost Josh Kirby illustration, it's a true collector's piece. With only 350 available in this world, the Discworld, or any other, you do not want to miss it.
Brought to life by Dobby Lyn Art Works, this one of a kind has many special features, all of which give life to our beloved Greebo.
1. To honour Sir Terry Pratchett's description that Greebo's eye “glittered like the sins of angels” each sculpture will feature a hand blown glass eye with a custom infusion of gold leaf powder and liquid clay, and will be hand set by Lyn Marie (the sculptor), making every piece unique.
2. His "milky white eye" and claws will be individually coated and polished with a pearlescent finish that will “glow” with a bit of demonic sparkle when the lights go out. Yes, it glows in the dark!
3. His paw pad and nose shimmer between pink and purple hues.
4. Special care has been taken to emulate Josh’s brush strokes, pulling his mischievous illustration into three dimensions.
5. As a final touch, Greebo's cushion is finished in a deep, plush scarlet that reflects the rich, mottled red in Josh's original work.
To make this incomparable work of art available to as many fans as possible, we have three payment plans for you: One payment, four payments and eight payments.
How much is this magnificent collector's piece? £177 plus shipping!
TO RESERVE YOURS, please send an email to info@joshkirbyart.com
After Josh Kirby passed on in 2001, the heirs of his estate had been tasked with sorting through his vast archives. Amongst the papers, receipts and correspondences with famous authors, all of which charted the history of Josh's prolific career and extraordinary life, was a hidden gem.
Marmaduke & the Time Machine
The Salisbury Museum is delighted to present a new and exclusive exhibition ‘Terry Pratchett: HisWorld’. This will open at The Salisbury Museum on 16 September 2017 and run until 13 January 2018.
In a first for the museum, this major exhibition explores the life of Sir Terry Pratchett and will give a privileged insight into the man who created some of literature’s most enduringly popular fantasy worlds and characters.
Developer to Celebrate Release of Inaugural Title on “Adventure Creator” Platform; RPG Fans featuring Josh Kirby illustrations.
Visit Booth #509 from August 17–20 to Play Iconic RPG on iOS and Android
SEATTLE, WA – (July 12, 2017) – MetaArcade, a developer building a platform to allow players to create and publish their own RPG adventures, announced it will launch Tunnels & TrollsTM Adventures on the App Store and Google Play on August 17th, coinciding with the first day of Gen Con 50 in Indianapolis. Tunnels & Trolls Adventures, which will also release on PC, Mac and Steam later this year, is a dungeon crawling RPG experience that brings new and classic quests to life from Tunnels & Trolls, the second RPG
ever published. The game is the first component of MetaArcade’s new platform, with the other being the upcoming Adventure Creator software that will allow players to create their own quests for the game.
To celebrate the game and platform launch, MetaArcade will showcase the mobile RPG adventure title at Gen Con from August 17–20. Media and roleplaying fans alike will have a chance to play the game, talk to its creators and get an early look at the Adventure Creator software for creating your own quests.
To honour what would have been Terry Pratchett's 69th birthday, the Josh Kirby Estate will be releasing an extremely limited edition 16" X 16" fine art print of the fantastic Illustrated Terry, seen above.
To commemorate this occasion, the prints will limited to 69 available in the entire universe, and since Josh would have been 89 years old this year, they'll sell for £89, signed and numbered by the estate.
This illustration has never been offered as a fine art print before and will be a wonderful addition to any Discworld fan's collection. The online store goes live at Midnight tonight so be the first to secure a low number!
We are proud to announce that for the first time in over a decade, a new collection of Limited Edition Discworld fine art prints are available.
With three options to choose from, everyone can take home a piece of Josh Kirby and Terry Pratchett's legacy! All are numbered, authenticated and signed by the estate.
1: Discworld Limited Edition: Similar in size to Josh Kirby Discworld prints you've seen in the past but with superior smooth, matte archival fine art paper quality.
Limited to 500 worldwide. 18" X 23" (457mm x 584mm) with border.
2: Discworld Collector's Edition: Larger than the Limited Edition above with less available. These are printed on smooth heavy weight (230 g, 9.5-mil), neutral white, matte paper engineered for accurate color reproduction.
Limited to 250 worldwide. 20" X 25" (508mm x 635mm) with border.
3: Out of This World Edition: An extremely limited run and the largest size ever offered in a Josh Kirby Discworld print. With extraordinary, incomparable archival paper quality this is a must for collector's and is ready to be framed and proudly displayed.
Limited to 500 worldwide. 22" X 28" (558mm x 741mm) with border.
Please click here to visit our store and order yours first!
We are excited to announce that we have chosen the first four Limited Edition prints that will become available. Which are they? Well, it's only fitting that we include Rincewind, Death and the Witches so the obvious choices for us to start with are the first four books . . .
From now through December 31st, the Josh Kirby estate is having a 20% storewide holiday sale. Are you looking for the perfect gifts for her or for him?
Do you know any fans of Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld? A phone case with Josh Kirby's Discworld art would be a wonderful gift idea and they're available now, for the first time ever!
Have a Star Wars fans on your shopping list? Get the Limited Edition Star Wars Return of the Jedi fine art print here.
Use the code HOLIDAY2016 at checkout and take 20% off any purchase of £85 or more and receive your items in time to give as Christmas gifts, or why not treat yourself to something? You deserve it!
Here's to good friends, wonderful family, great fans, and an exciting holiday season!
*Don't forget to use the code HOLIDAY2016!
The estate of Josh Kirby is excited to announce what's in store at Josh Kirby Art for this coming Black Friday, which happens to fall on November 25th, exactly one month before Christmas day or perhaps we should say . . . Hogswatch.
Phone Cases
We will be launching the long awaited line of Josh Kirby Discworld Phone Cases. The first 13 designs will be available for Apple and Samsung phone models and we are currently doing quality control so we might also be able to offer HTC, Huawei, Sony, Nokia and other models.
Limited Edition Print
No holiday would be complete without a once in a lifetime exclusive Limited Edition print offer. This world famous Josh kirby illustration will be limited to just 100,, signed, numbered and certified by the estate. With special Black Friday pricing that isn't out of this world, you can be the proud owner of a collector's piece that is ready to be framed and displayed in your home or office. This is the print you're looking for!
Holiday Discount Coupon
Starting on Black Friday and going until December 31st, we will be offering a promotional discount on your purchase of $100 or more. Use HOLIDAY2016 during check out.
The Josh Kirby Estate is proud to be reintroducing the art of legendary UK artist Josh Kirby to the USA with an appearance at Alien Con. This inaugural event in Santa Clara, CA, October 28 - 30, is the perfect setting to present Kirby’s out of this world art to a new generation of sci-fi fans.
Although a legend in the UK and Europe, Josh Kirby has remained rather anonymous in the US, in spite of the fact that many of his science fiction, horror and fantasy illustrations are instantly recognized. His cover art distinguishes countless book titles by literary legends including Sir Alfred Hitchcock, Ian Fleming, Isaac Asimov, Jules Verne, Jack Kerouac, Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. Le Guin, Jimmy Sangster, Robert Matheson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H.G. Wells, and Sir Terry Pratchett of Discworld fame.
Amy Anderson, Executive Director of the Josh Kirby Estate, said “I can see no better place than Alien Con to introduce Josh’s extraordinary work to a new audience of science fiction fans. And of course we’re bringing a 6 foot cutout of one of Josh’s favourite alien creations, so visit us at booth #506 and take a selfie with him, and by the way, we’re raffling him off at event’s end.”
Alien Con is the very first convention devoted to fans of HISTORY’s Ancient Aliens, sci-fi buffs, and pop culture enthusiasts alike. For three days only, Cosmic-Con®, the event division of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, and HISTORY® are teaming up to celebrate all things not of this world, both in science and in pop culture, on Halloween weekend, the perfect time for a close encounter.
"I only invented the Discworld, Josh created it."
Sir Terry Pratchett
Josh Kirby was the original Discworld artist, his iconic style is instantly recognisable and perfectly captures the madcap energy of a world riding on the back of a giant turtle.
His illustrations exploded off the books, inspiring many fans to dive head first into the Discworld, never to leave.
This introductory range of products includes a set of high-quality gallery wrapped canvases, beautifully detailed magnets and coasters, intended to offer you several ways to bring the larger than life Kirby magic to your home or office.
Find your favourite here!
Alien Con is the very first convention devoted to fans of HISTORY’s Ancient Aliens, sci-fi buffs, and pop culture enthusiasts alike! Cosmic-Con®, the event division of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, and HISTORY® are teaming up to celebrate all things not of this world, both in science and in pop culture, for three days only on October 28-30, 2016 — Halloween weekend, the perfect time for a close encounter!
Kirby enthusiasts will agree that the sci-fi, horror and fantasy art Josh created throughout his illustrious career is the perfect compliment to the first ever Alien Con!
Whether it's a friendly alien, a terrifying werewolf or a landscape of space oddities, Josh has an expansive portfolio perfectly suited to this event.
To commemorate this special moment in history, the Josh Kirby Estate will be choosing select pieces of Josh's art and creating tee shirts, phone cases, prints and other out of this world merchandise that will be available for purchase for the first time ever!
Stay tuned for special offers and a newly designed web store, coming soon!
A 1943 painting by Josh Kirby is featured in WW2 - War Pictures by British Artists, Edited by Sacha Llewellyn & Paul Liss.
Josh Kirby studied art at the Liverpool City Society of Art in 1943 and in the same year was evacuated to South Wales to avoid the heavy bombing of his native city. He was 15 years old when he painted this remarkable image of a local fete - a scene that almost succeeds in disguising the fact that Britain was at war.
About the work:
A notice pinned to the canvas of the Aunt Sally stall mentions the Rotary Fair. Rotary International was precisely at that time beginning to expand its mission to promote peace and international understanding through educational and cultural exchanges: an important London Rotary conference was held in 1943, attended by ministers of education and observers from around the world and inspiring the establishment of UNESCO after the war, in 1946.
The scene is peopled by civilians enjoying themselves: large numbers of children, parents and older folk. There appear to be a few men of service age dressed in ‘civvies’: some of the youths manning the stalls may have been travelling fairground people, or possibly slightly too young for conscription, while male punters could, for example, be miners or other workers in other reserved occupations. The figure in a blue and scarlet uniform is probably a civilian brass bandsman wearing a quasi-military uniform.
For immediate release – Discworld.com announced that it is to enter into a partnership with the estate of the late Josh Kirby, the artist whose illustrations graced the covers of many of Sir Terry Pratchett’s books. The collaboration will give these unique and treasured works of art a new lease of life through a range of exclusive, high quality products.
We are proud to announce that we have licensed two of Josh's Discworld Illustrations for use in a book titled "Literary Wonderlands."
We wanted to personally thank all of the Josh Kirby, sci-fi, horror, fantasy and Discworld fans for helping us to reach this incredible milestone! 5000 Facebook likes!
Even though this is only scratching the surface when you consider the worldwide reach that Josh's art has, we still consider this a giant step for all fan-kind!
If you haven't "liked" us on Facebook yet, click here
Thank you family, friends, fans and fire breathing dragons!
Sincerely,
The Josh Kirby Estate