I have a habit of stopping in at a used book store once a month or so. I’ve scored some great old RPG materials, novels, and the occasional art or children’s book. Last time I found a book of Patrick Woodroffe‘s early work, and I can’t believe I’d never heard of him before. (Well, I had seen some of his book and album covers before, like Judas Priest’s Sad wings of destiny, but I didn’t know who he is.)
Fantastic stuff. He has very obvious inspiration from Bosch and Breughel, in his grotesque and intricate details (and I guess other sources…I’m no art historian, but I see echoes of Italian Renaissance grotesques, surrealism, and dada, as well as psychedelia and children’s book illustration).
His illustration work in the 70s included many “Appendix N” fantasy and sci-fi classics, like Abraham Merrit, Poul Anderson, and Jack Vance, as well as folks like Piers Anthony, Philip Jose Farmer, and Dashiel Hammett, so I’m guessing his work is recognizable to the kinds of people who might read this blog (gamers of a certain age). Here are some examples of his stuff:
This was for a book jacket for one of Moorcock's Corum books
He did a lot of book jackets in the 1970s.
Jacket for Vance's The Grey Prince
The moon is pretty sad about this party...must not have been invited.
An album jacket for Budgie:
No idea what this is about but it is pretty cool...Zardoz?
Badass beastman
He also did some children’s books.
Those ducks are having fun!
Very cool!
That first image is very paranoiac-critical!
China Mievilles Garuda on the Budgie album cover, a band name I havent heard of for a long time…… pulling out Uriah Heep and Blue Oyster Cult albums to check the art work…….