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What happened to Simon Bisley

Started by Koa,

21 posts in this topic

Koa

Koa

Posted
Posted

What happened to this guy's work. His new stuff is so bad it's like a different artist, I can't see a resemblance at all to the guy who did the Grendel, terminator and doom patrol covers, judgment on Gotham or just about anything in the 1990's. Does that rapid decline make his earlier, superior artwork more valuable to collectors?

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Overthetopinc

Overthetopinc

Posted
Posted

Hello KingKoa,

This is a very interesting discussion that has been had by many a Biz fans. His work in the 1980's-2000 was among the finest work I have ever had the pleasure to own or see for that matter. Simon is a real character. I dont know if you ever met him but I mention this because a lot depends on how much he is into the project as well of course the money he gets paid for it. A lot of what you see are commissions he whips out in no time. A better example of his more recent work would be these..

 

These piece was done in 2008 and I think can rival just about any female cenetered piece he has ever done.

bizhmcover.jpg

 

There is also this which was completed mid 2000's

simon_bisley_bible_nativity_004.jpg

 

There are many other examples but yes a lot of the work you see nowadays does not measure up to the point you would think there were done by a totally different with inferior talent. You are not alone in feeling this way and not sure if there is a clear cut answer. I think what I mentioned above is more accurate then not.

thanks,

Matthew

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Bronty

Bronty

Posted
Posted

Matt, thanks for your insights. Do you have any knowledge of what the above painting is conveying? There are a lot of interesting elements but I dont understand them.

 

- one figure is male, one is female, yet you see neiher face

- there is a door yet you get the sense she cant leave as it has the look of a prison cell, straw on her stone bench accentuating this

- There is also a window yet no ligh coming from it

- There are flowers near the door

- The woman's hand is near her face. The man's hand is not but the shadow of his hand is

- there would appear to be no wind yet his robes flow with wind; hers do not

- he holds the light source.... possibly meant to represent light in the sense of reason?

- the flow of the male's robes suggests wings?

- the flow of the male's robes also suggests little or no lower body; is this intended to be a spirit rather than a body?

 

 

Very interesting piece but I am not sure how to interpret

 

 

 

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AKA Rick

AKA Rick

Posted
Posted

Simon Bisley just did this piece for the inaugural Las Vegas Comic Expo in the fall of 2012, it's a nice piece that he graciously did for a charity auction which also served as a convention exclusive print that was individually numbered.

 

 

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A2KJkIW7fhpRc1sAfjWJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dbisley%2Blas%2Bvegas%2Bcomic%2Bexpo%26fr%3Dmoz35%26fr2%3Dpiv-web%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D1&w=396&h=607&imgurl=lasvegascomicexpo.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F09%2FLVCE-Bisley-Print-11.png&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Flasvegascomicexpo.com%2Fexclusives%2Fsimon-bisley-print%2F&size=374.5+KB&name=simon+%3Cb%3Ebisley+%3C%2Fb%3Eis+offering+up+an+exclusive+%3Cb%3Elas+vegas+comic+expo+%3C%2Fb%3Eprint+...&p=bisley+las+vegas+comic+expo&oid=3f355a3321b0464055a3258903d24751&fr2=piv-web&fr=moz35&tt=simon%2B%253Cb%253Ebisley%2B%253C%252Fb%253Eis%2Boffering%2Bup%2Ban%2Bexclusive%2B%253Cb%253Elas%2Bvegas%2Bcomic%2Bexpo%2B%253C%252Fb%253Eprint%2B...&b=0∋=128&no=1&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11ror3m4i&sigb=13gta2ij5&sigi=129tjioce&.crumb=uiRF5vzzCtq

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Dr. Balls

Dr. Balls

Posted
Posted

I haven't seen much of his newer work, and I'm glad I read this thread - it really is quite awesome, and has great refinement to it since the last time I had really noticed his work (around the mid-90's).

 

His old style still influences his newer work, I can see it even in his pen/ink Superman pinups. But his paintings are really stand out.

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Koa

Koa

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Hello KingKoa,

This is a very interesting discussion that has been had by many a Biz fans. His work in the 1980's-2000 was among the finest work I have ever had the pleasure to own or see for that matter. Simon is a real character. I dont know if you ever met him but I mention this because a lot depends on how much he is into the project as well of course the money he gets paid for it. A lot of what you see are commissions he whips out in no time. A better example of his more recent work would be these..

 

These piece was done in 2008 and I think can rival just about any female cenetered piece he has ever done.

bizhmcover.jpg

 

There is also this which was completed mid 2000's

simon_bisley_bible_nativity_004.jpg

 

There are many other examples but yes a lot of the work you see nowadays does not measure up to the point you would think there were done by a totally different with inferior talent. You are not alone in feeling this way and not sure if there is a clear cut answer. I think what I mentioned above is more accurate then not.

thanks,

Matthew

When i first saw Simon's stuff in 1991/92 I had no frame of reference for it. That cold industrial British working class punk rock sensibility was nothing I'd ever experienced before and gave me a wider view of what comic art could be. I agree Matt, from 88- until 2000 Biz put out so of the best art i've ever seen. Although his technique and approach changed quite a bit during that time he always produced fantastic results. I followed everything he did through about 99/2000 when he seemed to vanish completely from my LCS. The stuff I'd seen sporadically after that, like a fist full of blood was really IMO shockingly inferior to anything he'd done, including the cover to that book at that point. The Lobo/Authority and Warblade stuff paled in comparison to his earlier work (for me) but really it's the sea of (IMO) inferior commissions and newer comics art on comic art fans has crushed my soul.

 

Haven't had the pleasure of meeting Simon but he is one of my all time favorites so I'm glad to hear it's not a decline in talent as much as the effort based on pay scale of the jobs he's taking. Thanks for posting those really cool recent Biz paintings, it nice to see they still exist

 

Bronty and those who dig the new Biz, glad you saw this thread. Simon's work was a big part of my youth and I'm glad you guys found something cool in the new stuff to get into. Maybe you just had to be there and be the right age to see the dramatic shift as a downward slide.

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Bronty

Bronty

Posted
Posted

Oh, I was there for it too. Judgement on Gotham was one of my absolute favourite in terms of a book's art from cover to cover in the day. And all the other incredible stuff he did.

 

But the pieces I was linked to from CAF weren't awful, they were just less exciting and not in the style we are accustomed to.

 

As you say, based on what Matt posted, he clearly hasn't forgotten how to paint so I have to assume its either artistic boredom, or wanting to try a new direction, or about pay scale as you say.

 

I know a commercial illustrator and own dozens of his pieces and the ones that paid well done for A list clients are knock it out of the park home runs (and physically larger as well). The ones that didn't pay so great for so so clients were rushed, small, and much lesser in quality.

 

Artist in question is quite a character also ;)

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MisterX

MisterX

Posted
Posted

I know nothing about how Bisley works these days, but looking at the newer paintings, maybe a computer was involved at some point?

 

Going from brush & canvas to the computer must be kind of bumpy, right?

 

(Doc Balls, you're an artist, what do you think?)

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mister_not_so_nice

mister_not_so_nice

Posted
Posted
Matt, thanks for your insights. Do you have any knowledge of what the above painting is conveying? There are a lot of interesting elements but I dont understand them.

 

- one figure is male, one is female, yet you see neiher face

- there is a door yet you get the sense she cant leave as it has the look of a prison cell, straw on her stone bench accentuating this

- There is also a window yet no ligh coming from it

- There are flowers near the door

- The woman's hand is near her face. The man's hand is not but the shadow of his hand is

- there would appear to be no wind yet his robes flow with wind; hers do not

- he holds the light source.... possibly meant to represent light in the sense of reason?

- the flow of the male's robes suggests wings?

- the flow of the male's robes also suggests little or no lower body; is this intended to be a spirit rather than a body?

 

 

Very interesting piece but I am not sure how to interpret

 

 

 

Good observations, but you forgot:

- Even at this distance, it is obviously cold in the chamber :baiting:

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