Prog artist Woodroffe dead at 74

Prog sleeve artist Patrick Woodroffe has died at the age of 74, his friends in Pallas have confirmed.

Renowned for his fantasy-themed work in paintings, etchings and sculpture, he created covers for Pallas’ The Sentinel, the Strawbs’_ Burning For You_ and Stratovarius’ Fright Night.

He enjoyed a long collaboration with Greenslade mainman Dave Greenslade, which culminated in the release of The Pentateuch, a double-album complete with 48-page book of illustrations.

Pallas say in a brief online statement: “We have some very sad news from the family of Patrick Woodroffe: ‘After a short illness, Patrick died before 3am in the early hours of Saturday morning.’ Our thoughts are with his family. We are honoured to have been associated with his amazing artwork.”

The artist’s website leads with a personal comment: “I feel at home in my own imagery. I live in a world of my own – a planet with portraits and landscapes far too pretty to be called ‘modern art’. My text and images are nearly always limited to optimism. Tragic stories and ugly imagery never make me happy, so my website is here for good purposes.”

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.