Adapted from BOX=ART

Robert "Bob" Wakelin was a British illustrator best known for his extensive catalog of box art for UK publisher Ocean Software (and related label Imagine Software) as well as his work for Marvel UK. American gamers will recognize Bob's work on the box for the NES release of Contra, originally titled Gryzor for its home computer release in Europe where it first carried Bob's art.

Growing up in the 60s in North Wales, Bob dreamed of a career working in comics. After completing a local graphic design course at Deeside College in North Wales, then known as Flintshire College of Technology, Bob relocated to Liverpool and joined a studio which specialized in artwork for the entertainment industry. During this period, Bob did many commissions for rock bands, producing artwork for album covers before becoming a freelancer in 1978 and doing comic work for Marvel UK.

By 1983—after a stint in the band Modern Eon—Bob returned to freelancing and talked friend Blair Wilkins into sharing a studio space. Blair had already done a couple of early game boxes for Ocean (founded as Spectrum Games) and brought Bob to a meeting with David Ward and Jon Woods. Impressed with Bob's sample pieces, they offered him work. Blair and Bob worked jointly at first before Bob eventually took over all art duties. Working alongside art director Steve Blower, Bob was soon producing art for so many boxes at once that he was unsure which might have been his first, naming Caterpilla, Road Frog, and Moon Alert among his earliest.

Although neither Steve nor Bob were responsible for designing Ocean’s original logo—that piece of gaming history is likely lost —Bob is credited for jazzing it up. Originally a flat, blue on white image, Bob added a few flourishes, including a subtle blend of blue shades and some effective shadowing, transforming it into the gleaming one fans instantly recognize today; both logos would be used interchangeably until the Ocean name was dissolved in the late 1990s.

Bob was exceptionally versatile and over the course of a decade is said to have produced almost 100 illustrations for Ocean/Imagine, surely helping cement the company’s place as a premier software house in Europe. As Ocean took on a broad spectrum of licensed properties based on movies and comics and struck deals with Japanese software houses Data East, Taito, and Konami to convert arcade classics beginning in 1986, they called upon Bob’s talents to produce images in a wide range of styles. 

To illustrate that range, many write-ups on Bob’s work point to his realistic rendering for a title like Cabal and draw a sharp contrast with his handling and imitation of Japanese box art such as his art for The NewZealand Story or Rainbow Islands. But those extremes hardly do justice to even his diversity from title to title within a single year. A sampling of his 1986 works include Comic Bakery, Galivan, The Great Escape, and Green Beret: four incredibly different boxes yet all from Bob’s hand. Mag Max and Super Bowl from that same year would only further demonstrate the depth of Bob’s technique and execution. While OVGA includes a full list of Bob’s works below with hover images, the variety of his box art catalog is on full display in this YouTube tribute video.

For much of Bob’s box art career he worked with little more than a description of the game, its title, and a brief demo. The graphically basic games couldn’t be relied on for inspiration, instead leaving Bob’s imagination to fill in the gaps. Bob’s vibrant artwork bridged that divide by helping communicate the image that programmers wanted gamers to have in their mind while playing—and on occasion compensating for a game the company thought was mediocre. Calling himself a big kid at heart, his bold and colorful characters gave children something to imagine in ways the games could not. He credits knowing how to appeal to children as one of the reasons for his success. Later, with the more powerful home computers of the late 80s and the early 90s, his box paintings became richer and more complex, producing some of his best works in this period such as Ivanhoe (1990), Epic (1992), and Sleepwalker (1993).

In a contemporaneous interview in Crash magazine (July 1985), Bob noted that Ocean Software had grown and expanded so quickly that he was doing nearly half his work for just the one client. He explained that it would take him four or five days from start to finish to complete a painting for Ocean, elaborating on his illustration medium and technique: “I spend a day referencing it, and then three or four days completing the artwork. I start off by doing a very tight drawing in pencils, filling in all the detail and then airbrush over so that some of the pencil lines come through the colour. I don’t like the tubular, plastic look of most airbrush work and find that the pencil technique avoids that... I generally finish the painting off, adding tiny details in gouache or felt pen.”

Bob's final work before parting from Ocean was the 1994 DOS game Central Intelligence, after which he would return to freelancing for Marvel UK. Though Bob branched out into magazine and comic covers during his decade with Ocean, he rarely, if ever, produced art for rival software houses, deeming loyalty to Ocean an important facet of their relationship. Bob did lend art to a number of Imagine Software titles, though in practice Imagine had become a sub-label of Ocean, following Ocean's purchase of the company’s name and branding in October 1984. 

Bob spoke to ExoticA Wiki back in 2006/2007 and provided comments on several of his video game artworks.

In a 2009 interview with the BBC, Bob revealed that much of the art in his possession almost never made it past the mid-90s when Ocean moved offices. As Bob told it: “They had a warehouse they were going to empty and the art director at the time phoned me and said, 'Bob, your artwork’s going in the skip'. I had a mate with a van so we immediately drove over and I rescued most of it, probably about 90 percent of the work I've done."

Bob passed away on January 20, 2018. His family sells official A3 size posters of his work on Etsy: BobWakelinArtwork.

OVGA has included below Bob Wakelin's full known video game box art catalog:

1. Caterpilla (Ocean | VIC-20, ZX Spectrum | 1983)
2. Chinese Juggler (Ocean | Commodore 64-EUR, ZX Spectrum | 1983)
3. Digger Dan (Ocean | ZX Spectrum | 1983)
4. Hunchback (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, DOS, Oric, VIC-20, ZX Spectrum | 1983)
5. Island of Death (Ocean | Oric | 1983)
6. Pogo (Ocean | ZX Spectrum | 1983)
7. Road Frog (Ocean | Oric, ZX Spectrum | 1983)
8. Royal Birkdale Championship Golf (Ocean | ZX Spectrum | 1983)
9. Cavelon (Ocean | Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1984)
10. Daley Thompson’s Decathlon (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1984)
11. The Dam Busters (U.S. Gold | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64-EUR, MSX | 1984)
12. Eskimo Eddie (Ocean | Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1984)
13. Gift from the Gods (Ocean | ZX Spectrum | 1984)
14. Gilligan’s Gold (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1984)
15. Highnoon (Ocean | Commodore 64 | 1984)
16. Hunchback II: Quasimodo's Revenge (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1984)
17. Jonny and the Jimpys (Ocean | Commodore 64 | 1984)
18. Kong Strikes Back! (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1984)
19. Match Day (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1984)
20. Moon Alert (Ocean | ZX Spectrum | 1984)
21. Pud Pud in Weird World (Ocean | ZX Spectrum | 1984)
22. Stunt Bike (Ocean | Commodore 64 | 1984)
23. Cosmic Wartoad (Ocean | ZX Spectrum | 1985)
24. Daley Thompson’s Super Test (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1985)
25. Frankie Goes to Hollywood (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64,  ZX Spectrum | 1985)
26. Hyper Sports (Imagine | Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1985)
27. Roland's Ratrace (Ocean | Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1985)
28. World Series Baseball a.k.a. The Slugger (Imagine | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 16, Plus/4, Commodore 64, PC Booter, ZX Spectrum | 1985)
29. Super Huey UH-IX (U.S. Gold | Apple II, Atari 400-800, Atari 7800, Commodore 64 | 1985)
30. The Transformers (Ocean | Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1985)
31. Whirlinurd (U.S. Gold | Atari 400-800, Commodore 64 | 1985)
32. Wizadore (Imagine | BBC Micro | 1985)
33. World Series Basketball (Imagine | ZX Spectrum | 1985)
34. Batman (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, MSX, ZX Spectrum | 1986)
35. Comic Bakery (Imagine | Commodore 64 | 1986)
36. Fight Night (U.S. Gold | Atari 400-800, Commodore 64 | 1986)
37. Galivan (Imagine | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1986)
38. The Great Escape (Ocean Software | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, DOS, ZX Spectrum 1986)
39. Green Beret (Imagine | Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum | 1986)
40. Highlander (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1986)
41. Hunchback: The Adventure (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1986)
42. It's a Knockout (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1986)
43. Legend of Kage (Imagine | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1986)
44. Mag Max (Imagine | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1986)
45. Mikie (Imagine | Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Electron, ZX Spectrum | 1986)
46. MOVIE (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum | 1986)
47. N.O.M.A.D. (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1986)
48. Nightmare Rally (Ocean | ZX Spectrum | 1986)
49. Parallax (Ocean | Commodore 64-EUR | 1986)
50. Super Bowl (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum 1986)
51. Super Soccer (Ocean | ZX spectrum | 1986)
52. Tennis a.k.a. Konami’s Tennis (Imagine | ZX Spectrum | 1986)
53. Terra Cresta (Imagine | ZX Spectrum | 1986)
54. Athena (Imagine | Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1987)
55. Gryzor a.k.a. Contra (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, NES, ZX Spectrum | 1987)
56. Flashpoint (Ocean | ZX Spectrum | 1987)
57. Head Over Heels (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64-EUR, MSX, ZX Spectrum 1987)
58. Match Day II (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum | 1987)
59. Mutants (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64-EUR, ZX Spectrum | 1987)
60. Renegade (Imagine | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64-EUR, ZX Spectrum | 1987)
61. Slap Fight a.k.a. A.L.C.O.N. (Imagine | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1987)
62. Tai-Pan (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum | 1987)
63. Tank (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1987)
64. When Time Stood Still (Ocean | Atari, DOS, ZX Spectrum | 1987)
65. Batman: The Caped Crusader (Ocean | Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, ZX Spectrum | 1988)
66. Daley Thompson’s Olympic Challenge (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, ZX Spectrum | 1988)
67. G.U.T.Z. (Ocean | Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1988)
68. Operational Wolf (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64-EUR, MSX, ZX Spectrum | 1988)
69. Phantom Club (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum | 1988)
70. Psycho Soldier (Imagine | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1988)
71. Rastan (Imagine | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64-EUR, ZX Spectrum | 1988)
72. Target: Renegade (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, NES, ZX Spectrum | 1988)
73. The Vindicator: Green Beret II (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 65, ZX Spectrum | 1988)
74. Wizball (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, ZX Spectrum | 1988)
75. Beach Volley (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum | 1989)
76. Cabal (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1989)
77. Chase H.Q. (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum | 1989)
78. Lost Patrol (Ocean | Amiga, Atari ST, DOS | 1989)
79. The NewZealand Story (Ocean | Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, NES, ZX Spectrum | 1989)
80. Renegade III: The Final Chapter (Imagine | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum | 1989)
81. Sly Spy (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1989)
82. Voyager (Ocean | Amiga, Atari ST | 1989) title/female robot logo in background painted by Gary McNamara
83. Adidas Championship Football (Ocean | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1990)
84. Hollywood Collection a.k.a. Les Stars d'Hollywood (Ocean | Atari ST, Amiga, DOS, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1990)
85. Ivanhoe (Ocean | Amiga, Atari ST | 1990)
86. Midnight Resistance (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1990)
87. NARC (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum | 1990)
88. Operational Thunderbolt (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1990)
89. Pang (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1990)
90. Plotting (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1990)
91. Rainbow Islands (Ocean | Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, NES, ZX Spectrum | 1990)
92. Shadow Warriors a.k.a. Ninja Gaiden (Ocean | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1990)
93. Billy the Kid (Ocean | Amiga, DOS | 1991)
94. Elf (Ocean | Amiga, Atari ST, DOS-EUR | 1991)
95. Epic (Ocean | Amiga, Atari ST, DOS | 1992)
96. Parasol Stars (Ocean | Amiga, Atari ST, Game Boy, NES | 1992)
97. Space Gun (Ocean | Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | 1992)
98. Striker (Rage Software | Amiga, Amiga CD32,Atari ST, SNES |1992)
99. Super Hunchback Starring Quasimodo (Ocean | Game Boy | 1992) Repeat image
100. The Games '92 - España (Ocean | Amiga, Atari ST, DOS | 1992)
101. Wizkid (Ocean | Amiga, Atari ST, DOS | 1992)
102. International Open Golf Championship (Ocean | Amiga, Amiga CD32, DOS | 1993)
103. Sleepwalker (Ocean | Amiga, Amiga CD32, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS | 1993)
104. Alien Olympics (Ocean | Game Boy | 1994)
105. Central Intelligence (Ocean | DOS | 1994)
106. Choplifter III: Rescue Survive (Ocean | Game Boy-EUR, SNES-EUR | 1994)

Bob has also illustrated covers for UK magazines, including CV&G. In addition to the above, published box art, Bob created other game paintings that were ultimately unused, whether because they were rejected (Miami Vice), there were changes to the game (Kid Vicious becoming Kid Chaos—the latter of which doesn't appear to be Bob's work), or for other reasons. OVGA has not captured such material in the above box art catalog but may instead include that information as comments below.