Sir Peter Blake on London life inspiring his ES Magazine cover

Sir Peter Blake has revealed how his life in London inspired his cover that graces tomorrow’s Evening Standard magazine.

The pop artist was one of four people asked to contribute a souvenir cover for the magazine, with graphic artist Anthony Burrill, photographer and sculptor Erwin Wurm and artist Christabel MacGreevy also involved. The works have also been printed as pull-out posters inside.

Sir Peter, who famously created the sleeve design for The Beatles’s Sgt Pepper album, said: “London is an inspiring city and just to live here encourages creativity. I often use a heart as a motif, and it was appropriate for this cover.”

The 86-year-old said he is currently working on “paintings of fictitious wrestlers” and a portrait of Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis.

Austrian-born Wurm said his cover showing two models kissing an orange was “an abstract form of a kiss”.

MacGreevy said her cover, Very Tender featuring two lovers intertwined, was inspired by Rodin’s sculpture The Kiss. Burrill’s graphic, You & Me, depicts “a simple approach to human relationships”.