CREATOR CHAT

Christos Achilleos

Christos Achilleos has created some of the best-loved fantasy and glamour artwork of the past thirty years: from Taarna, the iconic Heavy Metal heroine, through classic Conan book covers and Amazonian women to his more recent fetish work. His pieces also make strikingly effective use of new techniques and different materials, keeping Achilleos at the cutting edge of his profession. The latest collection of Achilleos' work, Amazona, presents, in glossy full-colour, many of his previously uncollected pieces. Taken from the past fifteen years, they bear all the thrilling and sensual hallmarks that have made him so enormously influential and popular. Here, he talks about his inspirations and continual development as an artist...

Fantasy artist, science-fiction artist, pin-up and glamour artist, even commercial illustrator: I'm not any one of these particular labels, but I am, or rather have been, all of them at one time or another in my long career.

Though I am now perhaps best known for my images of females, at the outset of my career, painting women was simply inconceivable to me. My childhood in Cyprus and discovery of fighting fantasy art on moving to London in my teens meant that initially my head was full of heroic tales of Spartans and monsters. And though I started my artistic career as a commercial illustrator, these influences soon inspired me to change direction and work on fantasy and science-fiction book covers.

Then, while working as a freelance illustrator in the early 1970s, I received a request for glamour illustrations from an erotic magazine. This naturally meant painting women, something I had not previously done with any confidence. Nevertheless, this work proved very popular and later brought me considerable success - and notoriety.

When demand for my fantasy and pin-up art increased during the 1970s, I decided to move away from more commercial advertising commissions and paint fantasy and glamour art full-time. I also began producing promotional art for the film industry -- another childhood passion (my father had worked as a cinema projectionist).

With the arrival of the 1990s, I found myself harmonising my work and private life for the first time. I had endured a lot in the eighties, when Britain's fantasy and science fiction genres had all but faded and work became increasingly difficult to find. But I was now stronger, having acquired a lot of life experiences, some of which was bound to surface in my work.

This became a time of great enjoyment for me. There was no shortage of friends to go out with and enjoy the then blossoming London alternative club scene. The Goth and Fetish movements were at their best and most vibrant. There was a fantastic array of young, beautiful people dressed in the most exotic and imaginative ways possible. A real 'zoo' of wonderful weirdoes creating an artist's paradise of influences. As if this was not enough, the Rave scene was also happening, and it was almost like going back to the sixties again. I was loving it all!

Most influential were the beautiful and wonderful women I ran into who quickly became my friends. (I always felt more comfortable in women's company than around loads of guys, having grown up in an all-woman household.) Before long these women were appearing in my paintings. Using models this way was quite a novelty for me, and it became an important part of my creative process, helping me to create powerful female images with a greater depth and beauty.

The priority in my glamour work has now shifted from mainly being commissioned to depict nudity to working on ideas that are sometimes rather humorous but must always be pleasing to the eye. The titles are also important; my pictures should always be viewed with the titles in mind.

Though I continue to accept commercial commissions, my artistic eye has also turned to other areas. In 1993 I painted 'Dark Angel', an experiment done on heavy canvas in a looser, more painted style. The experience was liberating, and now I am dedicated to creating more of the same - art done not for commission but for myself, for my own personal satisfaction, contributing to my evolution from illustrator to artist.

I am constantly on the move, creatively. I have learned to use all kinds of mediums and materials in my work, from airbrushing with inks and acrylics to watercolour and gouache, to oils. I have even painted with fabric dyes. I have painted on commercial art boards of all sorts, hardboard (maisonite), hand-made papers of assorted colours and textures, and on all kinds of stretched canvases and linens.

The reasons for this are obvious. My pictures vary so much in subject matter, just as much as my techniques and materials do, from slick graphic works to figurative dragons and landscapes. Painting technique and skill is important -- with some images demanding very tight detail on a smooth base, some looser, others heavier with a more textured base -- but technique alone is not enough to create good work. Most importantly the picture has to be pleasing to the eye, it has to look great. If it also makes one think, then all the better. The other reason is that I would simply be bored to tears painting the same way all the time, year after year. To me, being a painter is all about learning. I like to think that I've learned a little more every time I finish a picture. There's so much to learn, I could live ten lifetimes and not learn it all!