In memoriam: Christos Achilléos
The man himself. Never got to meet him. Wish I had!
Setting up my new studio has been pretty cathartic. In addition to a lot more room for my art supplies, books, etc. I can finally put up all the art prints, comics posters and paper ephemera I’ve had for years, but never had the wall-space in my old, converted 10x20 bedroom “studio”…
So I framed this Christos “Chris” Achilléos print. It’s one of my favorite pieces.
Here’s a close-up found on the web.
When I looked it up online afterwards, I realized he’d passed away… in December 2021! I was shocked. The same year we lost Stephen Hickman, another of my favorite artists. I hadn’t heard anything about Achilléos’ passing! Maybe I missed it scrolling by on Facebook, but I didn’t recall seeing it in any of the art blogs I read either…
So here’s my own little tribute to his work.
Let’s zip back to 1990. I’m bumming around Europe for the typical college summer backpack tour. Traveling in England for the first time, I got to see many fantastic things. But I was also haunting record sellers and bookstores for Hawkwind albums and Chris Achilléos books.
Why? This was pre-Amazon. I loved Achilléos’ art, but I’d only found his Beauty and the Beast collection. If your local comic or book store didn’t have an art book, you had to hunt it down at scifi or comic conventions (none of which were anywhere near me…)
On a Sunday in England I was window-shopping. At this time there were literally had no stores open on Sundays there... I eventually found one hip poster and media merchandise store open. And there it was - a print of Achilléos’ Elric painting. But they were sold out… Could I have the one from the display frame? Well, okay they said. So I scored this print and once home, put it up briefly in school, but then never had the wall space again.
What do I love about his artwork?
He’s a consummate draftsman, and the end result has much to do with the sketches. His working method was to develop everything on tracing paper, taping on as many layers as necessary, before transferring it to board and finishing. Achilléos also had a wide range of both style and subject matter. He was as facile painting a barbarian scene worthy of Frazetta, as a hyper-realistic pen and ink drawing of Doctor Who, or an airbrushed Star Trek novel cover.
His highly-rendered sketches show how much the originals impact the finished painting.
Just a few of my favorites:
Achilléos was also a stickler for historic detail, drawing reference from actual weapons and armor, as you can clearly see here.
Slightly different subject matter, but I really like the composition and color choices.
Pinups
Did I mention he did pinups? Okay, I know it’s not considered acceptable to have sexy women portrayed nowadays, but he’s far from a sleazy T&A pinup artist… Yes, he did his far share of sexy poses, but his later work was much better known for female warriors in authentic costume (whether Celtic or Maasai) or fantasy warriors who could go toe to toe with any opponents.
In fact his most recognizable piece in the US was probably the portrait of Taarna for the Heavy Metal film poster:
You’ll see how his sketch is fully rendered before painting, though obviously he had to rework the pose and face a little in the final product. I actually prefer the drawn version.
My personal favorite pinup of his is Ms. America, an homage/rethink of Captain America. This was decades before such cross-over gender swap was done in comics and cosplay! She exudes power, but at the same time his deft handling of the textures elevates this painting well above the usual spandex-and-sex female superheroine.
The leather of her coat and skinsuit have a very tactile feel to them. The soft sweep of her hair perfectly compliments the slightly-canted hip pose and upraised sceptre.
Another typical pinup.
When’s the last time you saw a mermaid like this? If you have, his was the first.
Doctor Who
As a Doctor Who fan in the US in the 80s it was impossible to see episodes from the first two Doctors (Hartnell and Troughton.) The reissued Target novelizations were the only way to “see” them. Of course now some episodes have been rediscovered, or even released as animations over surviving audio tracks.
But back then the best I could do was read the stories and imagine the rest. The covers really helped. Their evocative look placed me in the era of the show. The tight rendering of the Doctor compliments a very graphical approach to the elements from each book.
Little did I know at the time that Chris Achilléos was the artist!
Here’s just a sampling of some I adore.
A particularly dynamic Jon Pertwee cover, totally in keeping with the early-70s vibe.
My favorite Doctor, Tom Baker, handled deftly by Achilléos, featuring some of my favorite monsters (Daleks, Robots of Death, and Zygons.)
Lest you think he stopped producing Doctor Who art, here’s a fantastic example of William Hartnell painted in the early 2000s.
Finally a Star Trek novelization he painted. Also very true to the look and feel of the original show.
So if you’ve never heard of Chris Achilléos, or may have looked at his work decades ago, its worth your while tracking down his art books or look him up on the web! Sadly his official website is now offline, but much of the work remains easily discoverable online.
Books by Achilléos:
Beauty and the Beast
Sirens
Medusa
Amazona
Kklak!: The Doctor Who Art of Chris Achilleos