Chris Foss
Christopher Frank Foss, born in 1946 in Guernsey, is a British artist best known for his science fiction book covers and for the black-and-white illustrations in the original edition of The Joy of Sex. He began drawing for local businesses as a teenager, attended a boarding school in Dorset, and was encouraged by his teacher to pursue art. While at Magdalene College, Cambridge, he started taking professional illustration work, including assignments for Penthouse magazine.
Foss produced many famous book covers in the 1970s and 1980s, such as Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, novels by Edmund Cooper, and E. E. Doc Smith’s Lensman and Skylark series. He also designed the Demon Princes covers for Jack Vance’s books and titles like Star King, The Killing Machine, The Palace of Love, The Face, and The Book of Dreams. He often painted from his imagination rather than reading the books.
In 1975 he was hired by filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky to help plan a film version of Dune, but the project did not go ahead; Foss later published a collection of his concept art. In 1977 he worked on design studies for the movie Alien (not used) and created Krypton concepts for Superman, with some crystal structures appearing as ice-forms in the film.
Foss also painted the cover for the Ian Gillan Band album Clear Air Turbulence. His space artwork has influenced other artists, and he contributed color art to the Traveller role‑playing game universe, including Starships for the Starships supplement and various Traveller covers.
His The Joy of Sex illustrations are known for their soft, natural style, based on photographs Foss took in his Fulham studio.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 09:35 (CET).