Philip Castle

For the British painter, born 1929, see Philip and Barry Castle.

Philip Castle (20 October 1942 – 20 February 2026) was a British airbrush artist.[1]

Life and career

Castle was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, on 20 October 1942.[2] He is best known for designing posters for the Stanley Kubrick films A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket as well for Paul McCartney's Wings tour, among others. He was also responsible for the artwork of the hard rock video magazine, Hard'n'Heavy, the cover art and original Elite logo for the seminal space video game Elite (1984)[3][4] and its accompanying novella The Wheel, as well as the European poster for the Tim Burton film Mars Attacks! He has also designed record sleeves for albums by David Bowie, Mott the Hoople, The Cars, Elkie Brooks, and Pulp.

He was later commissioned to create the artwork for Metronomy's 2008 album Nights Out as well as their single "Heartbreaker".[5][6]

Castle also designed the posters for the Royal International Air Tattoo, held at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, for the 2008, 2009 and 2010 events.[1][7]

He is also known for paintings combining women, often Hollywood idols, into the composition of paintings with classic aircraft, notably Plane Jane, a portrait of Jane Russell with a B-17 bomber.

Castle died of pneumonia on 20 February 2026, at the age of 83.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b "Famous film poster artist adds special touch to air tattoo (From Swindon Advertiser)". Swindonadvertiser.co.uk. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  2. ^ Rogers, Jude (20 March 2026). "Philip Castle obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  3. ^ "Elite-the game everyone's playing". Elite Homepage (Newspaper article). Acorn News. December 1984. Archived from the original on 13 February 2026. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
  4. ^ Braben, David (30 December 2012). "I am David Braben, co-creator of Elite, creator of Frontier, Frontier II and the upcoming Elite: Dangerous". Reddit. Archived from the original on 3 August 2025. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
  5. ^ "NASHVILLE NIGHTS » » [Interview] Metronomy". Nashvillenightsblog.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Metronomy - Heartbreaker (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  7. ^ "Artist Philip Castle has designed the poster for the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)". Wiltsglosstandard.co.uk. 27 February 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  8. ^ "Philip Castle obituary: artist behind famed film and music images". The Times. 20 March 2026. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
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