He started painting in the 1960s and was one of the most highly respected of British illustrators during the 1970s and into the 1980s. Much of his work was for book covers, either for science fiction, fantasy, action-adventure war books, romances, or gothic horror (with some interesting forays into advertising). His cover artwork was used for the Lord Tyger novel by Philip José Farmer in 1974 and reused in 1985. The Dorian Hawkmoon series by Michael Moorcock was issued featuring Richard Clifton-Dey cover art in 1977. The French publishing company Fleuve Noir released several paperbacks from 1981 to 1987 with his artwork.