Chris Achilleos is a Greek Cypriot born British illustrator, painter and conceptual artist. Over the past 48 years, he has created some of the best loved fantasy and glamour art. He is acknowledged as UK’s foremost fantasy artist.
Achilleos is best known for his unique interpretation of stunning amazons, epic dragons and paintings inspired by ancient civilizations and mythology. His works have adorned hundreds of fantasy book covers in the seventies and eighties, including novels by Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Michael Moorcock. He is also well known for the popular graphic style Dr Who illustrations he produced for the original Target Books Dr Who novelisations.
Achilleos worked as a conceptual/costume artist for the adult animation cult movie Heavy Metal 1980 and is best know for his famous painting of the heroine Taarna commissioned for the movie poster. Other movies include the fantasy film Willow, the historical dramas King Arthur and The Last Legion.
Achilleos’s work is collected in four art books:
Beauty and the Beast 1978 – a collection of fantasy book covers and pin-up art which sold over 100,000 copies worldwide and was translated into five languages.
Sirens 1986 – a collection of work including Doctor Who, Star Trek, fantasy bookcovers art, science-fiction and pin-ups.
Medusa 1988 – a fascinating insight into Achilleos’s working methods and techniques, showing many of his working drawings from previous books.
Amazona 2004 – a collection of new paintings inspired by Greek mythology, images commissioned for roleplaying/ computer games and pin-ups.
