welcome to the work of simon bisley.
when i was younger, 2000AD was a regular purchase of mine. while the subject matter of the stories is not to everyones taste, the quality of the illustration and artwork that could be seen in some of these works was simply breathtaking. one artist that really stood out out to me was the work of one simon bisley.
his technique was more fine art than illustration...
...obviously influenced by the works of earlier graphic artists such as frank frazetta his heavily painterly technique would often have me glued to their texture and detail wondering for hours exactly how they did it. bright, vibrant, almost neon like thick topcoats of creamy acrylic painted on last to create heavy rich background tones almost seems counter-intuitive, but when looked at closely the fact that the characters silhouettes and outer detail are all painted in using this colour just gives the most amazing effect.
its a feeling that ive loved about adam neates work for years and something that on the odd occassion when i got to see him do a painting, would really be the crowning glory as the brown cardboard would be overlaid with (most of the time) a rich, postbox bright red - leaving the shape of his iconic characters behind...
... and those of one of my favourite artists, alan baker:
but, back to bisley. i could never help but marvel at the unlaboured beauty of these simple strokes and fresh colour.
especially in the works he did for the comic slaine. while there were many artists that visualised this story over the years, his was always the epitome of the character for me. it was a little rough and brutal at times. the technique creating a startling immediacy in its rendering. characters seemed almost as if they were part dream (or maybe nightmare) which just added to the marvel of their other worldly nature. for what is a format usually dominated by black line art - still amazing in itself - the lack of hard line and fiddly detail really caught my attention. it really was when looking at his work that i appreciated all the efforts my art teachers went to when explaining the importance of mark making.
i think i was affected more than i realised by his technique. the way some cells would almost look unfinished in their style is something that i find myself doing in most of my drawings. without realising that is. i think he left me with the sense that you can really celebrate and enjoy the beauty of the medium itself, while not detracting from the subject or the composition at all. unfinished things can be more perfect than something with all the loose ends tied up. it leaves much much more to the imagination.
Does anyone have any more info on Simon's technique? It remains a mystery.
Posted by: marc | April 11, 2011 at 09:46 PM