Derek Riggs (born 13 February 1958) is a contemporary British artist best known for creating the band

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harr ...

's mascot, " Eddie".

Career

Born in Portsmouth, England, Riggs is a self-taught artist, both in his traditional painting and in his digital work. He began drawing and painting as early as he can remember. He also attended art school, but he was expelled after complaining about the course. Riggs' most famous achievement is his work with

and his creation of Eddie, the band's mascot and subject of their album and single covers. Riggs' first picture of Eddie was originally entitled "Electric Matthew Says Hello," and was actually painted for a possible punk cover. Iron Maiden's management came across it while looking through Riggs' portfolio, and asked him to add hair to the figure to make it look less punk-like. The resulting picture was used for the debut album, ''

'', released in 1980, and Riggs went on to work with Iron Maiden throughout the 1980s and into the '90s, creating many of the band's famous album covers. In 1992, however, the band decided to accept contributions from other artists for their next album, ''

Fear of the Dark Fear of the dark is a common fear or phobia among children and, to a varying degree, adults. A fear of the dark does not always concern darkness itself; it can also be a fear of possible or imagined dangers concealed by darkness. Some degree of ...

'', resulting in much less input from Riggs in recent years. For a long time, Riggs did his paintings with acrylics and alkyd, which is a fast-drying oil-based paint. However, after realizing the chemicals were affecting his health, he switched to digital painting in the early 1990s. Riggs has also designed the cover of ''

World's Only Female Tribute to Iron Maiden ''The Iron Maidens: World's Only Female Tribute to Iron Maiden'' is the debut album by American all-female tribute band The Iron Maidens. The album features selected tracks originally performed by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Michael Ke ...

'', the self-titled debut album by the all-female tribute band, the Iron Maidens, a piece which was inspired by the '' Killers'' album, featuring a similar "Kinky Sex Shop" which featured in the ''Iron Maiden'' artwork. He has also worked with Iron Maiden lead vocalist

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stag ...

for his album '' Accident of Birth'',

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after fo ...

for their album '' Infinite'',

Gamma Ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically ...

for their ''

Power Plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

'' album,

Artension Artension is a North American neoclassical progressive metal band, founded in 1993 by keyboardist Vitalij Kuprij. The band split up after recording seven albums from 1996 to 2004, but reformed in 2016 with the intention of releasing an eighth a ...

on their 2004 album '' Future World'', Gillman on their 2003 album Cuauhtemoc, and with many other bands and companies most of which are featured on his website. Riggs currently resides in Riverside County, California, US. He has

seasonal affective disorder Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder subset, in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year exhibit depressive symptoms at the same time each year. Common symptoms include sleeping too much, having li ...

Tribute

The main character in 2009's video game

Brütal Legend ''Brütal Legend'' is an action-adventure video game with real-time strategy game elements created by Double Fine and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America, ...

is Eddie Riggs, which is named after Eddie The Head and Derek Riggs.

References

External links

*
A 2010 interview with Iron Maiden artist Derek Riggs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riggs, Derek Artists from Portsmouth Iron Maiden (band) 1958 births Living people British speculative fiction artists Album-cover and concert-poster artists Horror artists Science fiction artists