Chris Foss
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Christopher Foss (born 1946) is a British illustrator and science fiction artist, best known for his science fiction book covers and the illustrations for the original editions of The Joy of Sex.
Science-fiction illustrations
His science fiction covers pioneered a much-imitated style featuring vast, colourful spaceships, machines and cities, often marked with mysterious symbols. Human figures are totally absent. These images are suggestive of science fiction in general rather than depictions of specific scenes from books, and therefore can be - and have been - used interchangeably on book covers.
Books featuring Foss illustrations include the 1970s British paperback covers for Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, the Terran Trade Authority, and E. E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series.
In 1975 Foss was hired by director Alejandro Jodorowsky for an intended filmisation of the science-fiction novel "Dune" by author Frank Herbert. He delivered several conceptional studies published in the book "21st Century Foss", ISBN 9063325711, containing a foreword by Jodorowsky. The project failed. In 1977 Foss worked for several month on studies for the movie Alien (not being used in the movie) and also did some designs of the planet Krypton for the movie Superman. Some of his crystal structures for the planet were realised in the movie, although they were used as ice-structures.
The Joy of Sex
In contrast, Foss' numerous illustrations for the sex manual The Joy of Sex are done in a much softer, natural style. The illustrations were based on original photographs of the book's art director and his wife. The illustrations have since become somewhat dated, mainly because of changes in hairstyles.
External links
- A gallery of Chris Foss' work (http://www.altanen.dk/Gallery-Main.htm)
- Short bio of Chris Foss (http://www.altanen.dk/ChrisFossBio.htm)