ROCK gods come in all shapes and sizes and, although Nayland artist Mark Wilkinson may not look like one, he is.

To millions of hard rock fans that is, especially those who follow the likes of Iron Maiden, Marillion and Judas Priest, who are more than aware who Mark is from his numerous iconic album and single covers.

But his talents have not been limited to designing rock sleeves.

Although you may not have heard of him, you will have almost certainly come across his artwork in some form.

Whether it’s a Star Wars promotional poster; video sleeves for the cult sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf or T-shirt and tour poster designs for the likes of Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue and Bon Jovi. He’s even designed a set of stamps.

But it’s the heavy rock scene where Mark’s work is perhaps most influential, getting his big break with Marillion, which in turn led to work with Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and the Darkness.

Music lovers admire his work, as demonstrated by a visit from a group of Iron Maiden fans in Denmark when Mark was there exhibiting paintings.

Mark said: “It was bizarre, they just turned up asking for an autograph. I was there for the private view of this exhibition and they must have found out via the internet. Rock fans are a fairly close-knit community.”

Which is why the first book providing a retrospective of Mark’s 30-year career is already selling faster than a limited edition picture disk.

The book came about after that exhibition, organised by Claus Brusen, who runs a fantasy art gallery in Denmark.

“Claus also publishes books and so when he asked whether he could publish a book of my work, I absolutely jumped at the chance,” said Mark.

Mark grew up in Windsor and, like many young men, wanted to be in the music industry; but for him that was producing the record sleeves, rather than producing the music.

“I’ve always been interested in music and my primary motive for doing art was because of my fascination with record sleeves,” he said. “I grew up with bands such as King Crimson and prog rock bands like Yes and Genesis and a huge part of their attraction was the artwork that went with all of that.

” After graduating from Watford Art College in the late Seventies, Mark made his way to London, first working on magazines and books.

It was after a friend overheard a conversation in a bar that Mark applied for a job with a company that was about to pitch to do the design work for a new band. That band was Marillion.

He did their first single, as well as the second and then the debut album, assuring what was to become a long-standing relationship with the band and then their lead singer, Fish.

It was the early Eighties and around the same time Mark and his wife moved to Great Horkesley. To be precise, next door to the Rose and Crown pub, where the son of the landlords was to provide inspiration for Mark’s “Drummer Boy” used on Marillion’s massive number one hit, Kayleigh, and the subsequent album, Misplaced Childhood.

Mark said: “No one ever expected the band to be that massive, but it was a thrilling ride to be involved with.” As Mark said, one thing inevitably led to another and after doing the posters for the Monsters of Rock concert, commissions from the likes of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden followed.

“Today I’m more fascinated with the packaging,” Mark added. “In an age that is dominated by the download generation, you have to make the packaging that extra little bit special.”

That’s exactly what Mark did when, in 2002, Iron Maiden asked him to produce a 25th anniversary box set, although it was with a little help from his 17 year-old son.

Mark explained: “The idea was to go with this metal embossed box, but it was so complicated, it had never been done before. “I designed the embossing, an album cover for one of the CDs inside and even the scroll with the band’s family tree on it, but we were left with a space to fill and that’s when my son suggested a shot glass.

“The whole thing ended up winning an award.” Leafing through the book Shadowplay, outlining Mark’s career, it’s surprising he hasn’t won more.

Mark will be signing copies at Red Lion Books in High Street, Colchester, this Saturday, from 2pm.

If you can’t make the book signing, copies of Mark’s new book are also available from his website on www.the-masque.com.