Bob Pepper

Bob Pepper (October 23, 1938—January 16, 2019) was an American illustrator whose work included record and paperback covers, greeting cards, magazine illustrations and game artwork, between the 1960s and 1980s.

Life and work

Pepper was born in 1938 in Portsmouth, NH to Peggy and Rueben Pepper. It was here he met his future wife, Brenda Soderquist. The couple moved to New York in the early 1960s, where Pepper established himself as a commercial artist.

From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s Pepper created sleeve art for fifty-odd RCA and Elektra Records releases, and Checkmate labels. Perhaps his most enduring work is the cover of Love's 1967 Forever Changes album (though this was altered by the designer, Bill Harvey, who added the foremost face's smile). ), and a series of Philip K. Dick covers for DAW Books in the 1980s.

In 1981, he created the artwork for the Milton Bradley card game Dragonmaster, and their electronic board game, Dark Tower.

Style

Pepper's cited influences include Renaissance art, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and psychedelic art, as well as the work of specific illustrators such as James Hill (for his Pocket Books covers ) and Roger Dean (for his Yes album covers ).

When working, he would normally produce artwork at twice the intended reproduction size, using gouache and dyes on charcoal paper, sometimes drawing on acetate.