These studies for the cover illustration to the suspense novel, The Man from the Sea by James B. Lamb, show a man’s head and his distorted reflection amidst a chaotic disruption of water. The man’s face is largely in shadow. With an expression set in defiance of the elements, the man’s deeply shaded eyes have the appearance of a bandit’s mask. To the left of the large illustration are two thumbnail sketches mapping out three roughly equal cloud-shaped divisions in the water, with the man’s head rising from the middle section to cut into the uppermost space. This gives a sense of the body emerging from the depths.

For this project, Robert depicts a villainous anti-hero. He does so using shadows, reflections and the symbolism of an abstracted landscape. Many of these strategies later appear in his more sympathetic images of lovers. Robert may have identified with the criminal on one level. The artist, like the criminal, adopts disguises and ventures into extreme situations and territories, without heeding the usual signs of danger.