LEWIS, Brian

(1929-1978)

   UK illustrator. A skilled painter whose work dominated UK sf magazine covers in the mid- and late 1950s, BL often showed a strong influence from Surrealists such as Paul Klee (1879-1940) and Max Ernst (1891-1976), perhaps partly mediated through the book-cover illustrationof Richard POWERS. This style was encouraged for a time by the editor John CARNELL in Science Fiction Adventures (19 covers), NW (41 covers) andScience Fantasy (21 covers), although some of these were representational, a manner BL adopted when it was required of him. His colours were strong and plain and seemed laid on thickly, an impression few other illustrators give. Besides his work in sf magazines, BL drew COMIC strips in newspapers (for a time he worked on DAN DARE - PILOT OF THE FUTURE) and then wentinto stop-motion film animation and children's puppet films.

   JG/PN

   See also: ILLUSTRATION.