Peter Elson (13 January 1947 – March 1998) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

whose work appeared on the covers of numerous science fiction paperback novels, as well as in the

Terran Trade Authority Stewart Cowley (born 1947) (also Steven Caldwell, Hubert Venables) is a British writer and artist, best known for his works in the "Terran Trade Authority" universe. Terran Trade Authority The original four books are: * ''Spacecraft 2000-2100 ...

series of illustrated books.

Biography

Elson, whose illustrations often placed detailed, brightly liveried spacecraft against vividly coloured backgrounds, influenced an entire generation of science fiction illustrators and concept artists. The look of the PC game ''

Homeworld ''Homeworld'' is a real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Studios on September 28, 1999, for Windows. Set in space, the science fiction game follows the Kushan exiles of the planet Kharak after t ...

'' was heavily influenced by Elson's illustrations of the '70s and '80s, according to artists who worked on the title (he is listed in the Special Thanks section of the game's manual and has a character, Captain Elson, named after him). Elson was originally slated to create the game's box art, but at the last moment was pre-empted by the publisher's decision to use a 3D rendered scene. Born in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

, west

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, he died of a heart attack in

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 21,128 as of 2021 ...

while working on mural paintings for

Butlins Butlin's is a chain of large Seaside resort, seaside resorts in the United Kingdom, incorporated as Butlins Skyline Limited. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1 ...

. Most of his original work is now owned by his sister.

References

External links

Peter Elson website, over 300 images of his work
1947 births 1998 deaths English speculative fiction artists English illustrators British science fiction artists {{England-artist-stub