- Simone Bianchi (artist)
Infobox Comics creator
name = Simone Bianchi
imagesize =
caption = Simone Bianchi at the 2008New York Comic Convention .
birthname =
birthdate =July 10 ,1971
location =Lucca, Italy
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = Italian
area = Penciller, Inker, Painter, Cover artist
alias =
notable works = "Ego Sum", "Onirika", "Shining Knight ", "Wolverine", "Batman ", "Detective Comics "
awards =Yellow Kid Award for the Best Italian Comic Artist and Writer of the YearSimone Bianchi (born
July 10 ,1971 [http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=6581 Weiland, Jonah; "The Italian Job: Talking with Artist Simone Bianchi" comicbookresources.com;February 3 ,2006 .] ] inLucca ,Italy ) is an Italiancomic book illustrator , painter,graphic designer and art instructor, known to Italian audiences for his work in comics, CD covers,music videos , TV commercials androle-playing games , and to American comic book readers for his work on "Detective Comics ", "Green Lantern " and "Wolverine". Bianchi’s style is distinguished by his use ofink wash , orwatercolor halftones, in rendering his work, a non-traditional technique by mainstream American standards. [http://www.simonebianchi.com/bio.asp Biography page on Bianchi’s Official Site] ]Early life and career
Italian work
Simone Bianchi was born in
Lucca ,Tuscany , where he still lives today. As a child, he had a love of superheroes, and took to tracing and copying illustrations ofSpider-Man , Daredevil, theFantastic Four ,Batman andSuperman before he learned how to read and write. [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=6525 Weiland, Jonah; "New York Comic-Con, Day Two: Simone Bianchi Exclusive to Marvel"; comicbookresources.com;February 26 ,2006 .] ]When he was fifteen, he published humor comic strips in the daily newspaper "
Il Tirreno ", and went on to produce cartoons and vignettes in several other regional and national publications. In 1994, Bianchi met comic book artistClaudio Castellini , who became his teacher and mentor. Subsequently, Bianchi illustrated the premiere issues of "Nembo" for Phoenix of Bologna, and "Rivan Ryan" for Comic Art ofRome , and 20 plates of "Brendon" forSergio Bonelli Editore .In 1998 his work was exhibited at a comic book convention in Lucca alongside well-known American comic book illustrators
Will Eisner ,Andy Kubert andAdam Kubert .Bianchi was commissioned by
Metal Blade Records to illustrate the CD cover for "Timeless Crime", a CD by the Italianpower metal band Labyrinth. That same year he was hired as an assistant to Ivo Milazzo in teaching a course on comic book art techniques at the Accademia di Belle Arti inCarrara (School of Fine Arts).In 1999 Bianchi illustrated the cover of "Fantastici Quattro" ("
Fantastic Four ") for "Wiz "magazine, and aone-shot "Conan Il Barbaro " ("Conan the Barbarian "), both published by Marvel Italia, the Italian branch ofMarvel Comics .Bianchi illustrated the cover of the debut album of the progressive power metal band
Vision Divine , which was voted by metal and hard rock fans as the second-best album artwork worldwide. Bianchi’s other album cover work included "Sigma" by Athreia Records, and Labyrinth’s album, "Sons of Thunder" for Metal Blade Records.That same year Bianchi became a full-time teacher of Anatomy for Comics at the Scuola Internazionale (International School) di Comics in
Florence . In the 2000, the School, along with publisher Calvin Edizioni, published "Echi", Bianchi’s first art book, highlighting his varied works over the previous three years.In 2001, began working for Direct to Brain, one of the leading 3-D video production studios in Europe, doing character design,
storyboarding , scene design,graphic design and artistic supervision of3-D modeling . Among his clients includedhip hop /reggae group99 Posse ’s “Stop the Train” (for BGM Records), “Kitchen Tools” forVirgin Records , and “Per me per sempre” (“For Me Always”) for BGM. In November and December that year, Bianchi did work forFantasy Flight Games ’s role-playing game "Dragonstar ". He also painted a poster for the Scuola Internazionale di Comics in Florence, illustrated Vision Divine’s album "Send Me an Angel", and taught a second illustration course at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Carrara.In 2002 Bianchi, working for Pegaso, illustrated the four elements of earth, air, fire and water, on which
resin sculptures were based. That summer, he published his second art book, "The Art of Simone Bianchi". He also painted five illustrations for Eldec, and worked again for Direct to Brain, this time for aCoke commercial. That December, he began work writing and illustrating the first volume of "Ego Sum", for Vittorio Pavesio, the 44 pages of which took him most of 2003 to fully paint. The first volume of "Ego Sum" was published in hardcover onJanuary 16 ,2004 , in Italy,France ,Canada , andLuxemborg . The second volume followed that year.In 2004 Bianchi attended the annual Festival International De La Bande Dessinée (International Comics Festival) comic book convention in
Angoulême, France , where he met Sal Abbinanti, a comic bookpenciller and the personal agent of American comic book painterAlex Ross , which led to Abbinanti signing Bianchi as one of his clients. In the Fall of that year, Bianchi painted the cover of an issue of "Atomika ", a comic book created by Abbinanti and Andrew Dabb that debuted the following year.In October 2005 Bianchi’s third art book, "Onirika", was published by Vittorio Pavesio Productions and presented to the public at a convention in Lucca, for which he painted the official poster, on which he collaborated with his sister Gloria.
American work
Bianchi’s first American work was
DC Comics ’ four-issue miniseries "Shining Knight ", which was written byGrant Morrison , and published in 2005. [ [http://www.comicbookdb.com/title.php?ID=930 "Shining Knight" at The Comic Book Database] ]The same year, Bianchi did his first American work for
Marvel Comics , illustrating a number of covers for "X-Men Unlimited ".Bianchi’s illustrated the interiors of "
Green Lantern " #6 (December 2005), and subsequently illustrated the covers for issue #8 (March 2006) to issue #13 (August 2006), which were written byGeoff Johns .Bianchi first ongoing monthly work for an American Marvel book was "Wolverine " #50 (March 2007) to issue #55 (September 2007), which was written by
Jeph Loeb . To highlight the look of Bianchi’sink wash work, each of these six issues was offered to readers in both a color and black and white version. [ [http://www.comics.org/covers.lasso?seriesID=11723&skip=50&show=50 Cover gallery for "Wolverine" #50-57 at the Grand Gomics Database Project] ]Bianchi’s other Marvel work includes covers for "
Ultimate Origins ", "Astonishing X-Men " and "Thunderbolts".Bianchi also illustrated the covers of "
Batman ", from issue #651 (May 2006) to issue #654 (August 2006). [ [http://www.comics.org/covers.lasso?seriesID=141&skip=650&show=50 Cover Gallery of "Batman" #640 – 668 at the Grand Comics Database Project] ]Bianchi signed a two-year exclusive contract with Marvel in February 2006, citing his childhood love of the
superhero genre, and his greater familiarity with Marvel's characters. Though he will not be doing any European work during the contract, it allowed him to continue the cover work he began previously for rivalDC Comics ’s "Detective Comics ", which ran from issues #817 (May 2006) to #839 (February 2008). [ [http://www.comics.org/covers.lasso?seriesID=87&skip=800&show=50 Cover Gallery of "Detective Comics" #799 – 844 at the Grand Comics Database Project.] ]Bianchi also hopes to continue his work on "Ego Sum", the third book of which he has yet to begin, though he has not spoken with Marvel as to whether they would publish it in the United States.
Bianchi and writer
Warren Ellis are currently working on "Astonishing X-Men", having taken over the book after the departures ofJoss Whedon andJohn Cassaday . [ [http://www.newsarama.com/comics/080617-marvel-sept-solicits.html Marvel solicitations for September 2008] ]Awards
In 2005 Bianchi was awarded with the
Yellow Kid Award for the Best Italian Comic Artist and Writer of the Year at the Expo Cartoon Convention in Rome, for his work on "Ego Sum". [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=9019 Weiland, Jonah; "Studio Tours: Artist Simone Bianchi" (Includes extensive photos of Bianchi's studio.); comicbookresources.com;January 10 ,2007 .] ]Influences and work habits
Bianchi credits
Michael Bair with contributing to his success, and a photo of them when they met in the Summer of 2004 hangs in his studio.Bianchi uses extensive photo reference and a light box to give his artwork a realistic look. He uses a wooden drawing board that he used to draw on flat, but angled it due to back pain that he began having in 2006. He says that he cannot work unless he is listening to music, and has an extensive music collection in his studio, and stereo speakers placed above his drawing board.
Bianchi's studio, which is in his apartment, is divided into two parts: His work area, and that of his assistant, Andrea Silvestri, where their computer is kept. His studio is decorated extensively with shelves and glass cases housing action figures, sculpted figurines and other toys, and his artwork, which fills the walls.
References
External links
* [http://www.simonebianchi.com/mainfox.asp?L=e Bianchi’s Official Site in English]
* [http://www.simonebianchi.com/mainfox.asp?L=I Bianchi’s Official Site in Italian]
* [http://www.comicartcommunity.com/gallery/search.php?search_keywords=Bianchi Simone Bianchi’s artwork at the Comic Art Community]
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