"I wanted to learn how to paint rather than just doing black-and-white work." -- Bill Sienkiewicz
Boleslav Felix Robert "Bill" Sienkiewicz [pronounced sin-KEV-itch] (born May 3, 1958) is an Eisner Award-winning American artist and writer best known for his comic book work, primarily for Marvel Comics' The New Mutants and Assassin. Sienkiewicz often utilizes oil painting, collage, mimeograph and other forms generally uncommon in comic books.
"After that I jumped, especially being in art school, to the illustrators.""And I've never viewed comics as assignments for the client.""And that, to me, is the main attraction to comics. It's an avenue to say what you want to say.""But I'm aware of the fact that I'm working in a commercial venue where I'm producing something that I wouldn't normally be approaching the way I'm doing it.""But if I really want to produce my own work and tell stories, then I will.""But there's still an avenue for smaller comics and personal expression.""But with comics you're reading and assimilating an image simultaneously, instead of just reading or watching the tube.""Cartooning is an honorable thing.""Comics are really my life blood in a lot of respects.""Do the story in the way it really demands to be done, which may mean using several different styles or only one style; but it's still about respecting the story.""Especially with Elektra, because I'm doing a lot of the covers for the new version of Elektra.""For a while I felt very alone; sort of out there in the world of comics, especially here in the States.""I didn't want to feel constrained, so I took on the Mutants.""I still love a lot of the guys who just paint.""I want to say 90% of stuff out there is just crap that got made. The main point is that it got produced.""I wanted to be complete, because I figured that, visually, there was an avenue to explore with painted stuff.""I was lucky enough to be given books that weren't top sellers; books that were kind of under the radar.""If somebody can inspire me, it feels really special.""If you're going to establish a certain level of unreality than you have to deal with it.""It's interesting, because in the corporate stuff there's a dichotomy there, depending on the creator. Even what, in essence, may be a very safe corporate approach, there is some stuff that is allowed to be pushed.""Kyle Baker's work is really funny, but it's also got a very clear vision.""Like Godfather, you look at a movie like that, or something that James Gray has directed, a film with minimal or pin lighting as opposed to everything being lit bright and flat, where everything is evident.""Nothing is really media driven or committee driven, so you can actually just produce something.""One of the problems I have with a lot of movies these days is that everything is too well lit. In the world of digital creations there is a tendency to show too much.""People who can pull you in and take you on a journey, as opposed to simply adding flash. Again, that feels very clinical, and I don't respond to that the way I used to.""So cartooning, for me, is an honorable thing. It's pushing the envelope. It's the truth of something through exaggeration.""So I look at a lot of stuff now that I did and some of it looks tame to me, but my interest in terms of what I want to say with it is a little different.""So much of Jaws was amazing because the mind filled in what was missing.""So there's kind of a simultaneous aspect to pushing the boundaries, and being very safe.""So, when the special effects are at the service of the story and draw you into it, that is really the magic.""That was a real learning element for me, because I realized that the more true you are to yourself, the more you will lose people.""There is a whole generation of people who are going to see movies or watch TV who don't want to work.""To me, that's one of the things that I love about doing this stuff. One day I can work on this piece in watercolor, and then work on something else on the computer, or work on something else that's a completely different approach.""To me, the technique was almost irrelevant; it was what was coming across.""You're telling the story, creating the sets, doing the lighting, the designing, and establishing the pace."
Sienkiewicz was born May 3, 1958 in Blakely, Pennsylvania. When he was five years old, he moved with his family to Hainesville, New Jersey, where he attended elementary and secondary school.
Sienkiewicz began drawing "when [he] was about four or five", and continued doing and learning about art throughout his childhood. His early comic-book influences include artist Curt Swan Superman comics, and artist Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four.
Sieniewicz attended the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts in Newark, New Jersey.
After art school, he showed a portfolio of his work to DC Comics' art director Vince Colletta, which led to his breaking into the field at age 19. The artist recalled in 1985, "They didn't have any work for me, but that didn't bother me. I just figured that if comics didn't work out I'd have done advertising or illustration. Vinnie called [renowned comics and advertising artist] Neal Adams, who put me in touch with [Marvel Comics editor-in-chief] Jim Shooter. Soon after that I was drawing Moon Knight, in The Hulk [black-and-white comics] magazine". His art style was heavily influenced by Neal Adams.
Sienkiewicz continued as artist of the Moon Knight color comics series, starting with the first issue (November 1980). Four years later, after a stint as artist on the Fantastic Four, he became the artist on Marvel's X-Men spin-off New Mutants, beginning with issue #18 (August 1984), producing cover paintings and character designs. From this period on, Sienkiewicz's art evolved into a much more expressionistic style, and he began experimenting with paint, collage, and mixed media. He illustrated New Mutants from 1984—1985.
Sienkiewicz produced covers for a range of Marvel titles, including Rom, Dazzler, The Mighty Thor, Return of the Jedi and The Transformers, and drew the comic adaptation of Dune.
Sienkiewicz's own first writing credit was for the painted story "Slow Dancer" in Epic Illustrated magazine in 1986. Sienkiewicz both wrote and illustrated the 1988 miniseries Stray Toasters, an idiosyncratic work published by Epic about a criminal psychologist investigating a series of murders.
He illustrated the 1986-87 eight-issue miniseries Assassin written by Frank Miller. After which, he collaborated with writer Andrew Helfer on the first six issues of DC Comics The Shadow series. In 1988, he contributed to the Brought to Light graphic novel with writer Alan Moore. In 1990, Sienkiewicz and Moore published the first two issues of the uncompleted series Big Numbers. Sienkiewicz painted the Classics Illustrated adaptation of the novel Moby-Dick.
Sienkiewicz was the subject of a 2008 full-length documentary/interview produced by Woodcrest Productions, The Creator Chronicles: Bill Sienkiewicz.
In 2007, Sienkiewicz penciled 30 Days of Night: Beyond Barrow. In 2008, Sienkiewicz illustrated a story for The Nightmare Factory - Volume 2 graphic novel.
Other work
In addition to his work in comics, Sienkiewicz has also worked in numerous other media, especially in the music and trading card industries. His artwork has been published in magazines including Entertainment Weekly and Spin Magazine. In 1998, he collaborated with writer Martin I. Green to produce the children's book Santa, My Life & Times.
Trading cards
In 1989, Sienkiewicz painted the art for the "Friendly Dictators" card set published by Eclipse Comics which portrayed various foreign leaders such as Mobutu Sese Seko, Ferdinand Marcos, and Anastasio Somoza. Sienkiewicz has illustrated cards for the The Gathering collectible card game. In 2004, Sienkiewicz contributed to card art for VS System, a collectible card game published by Upper Deck Entertainment.
Music industry
In 1995, Sienkiewicz illustrated the Martin I. Green biography of Jimi Hendrix, Voodoo Child: The Illustrated Legend of Jimi Hendrix. The following year he provided the artwork for the Bruce Cockburn album The Charity of Night, and went on to provide album covers for RZA's Bobby Digital in Stereo (1998) and EPMD's Business as Usual (1990).
In 2006, Sienkiewicz designed the layout and art for The Venture Bros. season one DVD set. He also designed the cover art for the season three DVD and Blu-ray set. Still in 2006, Sienkiewicz teamed with Neal Adams to create art for former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters. Their artwork was utilized as video projections for live performances of Waters' "Leaving Beirut."
During the early 1980s Sienkiewicz was married to a woman named Franki, who worked on-staff at Marvel as editor-in-chief Jim Shooter's administrative assistant, and later went on to a job as Marvel's Administrative Manager of International Licensing. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1983.
Judge Dredd and the Angel Gang - Collected edition graphic novel (Cover only)
Judge Dredd City of the Damned - Collected edition graphic novel (Cover only)
Judge Dredd Innocents Abroad - Collected edition graphic novel (Cover only. Note - this is a cropped and inferior version of the cover of the Titan books Judge Dredd # 14)
Judge Dredd Oz Books One to Three - Titan books collected edition (Covers only. Note - all three covers interlink to form larger image)
Judge Dredd The Complete Oz - Collected edition graphic novel (Cover only. Note - The cover features a mix of covers # 2 + 3 from the single reprint books)
Lone Wolf and Cub # 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 - US reprint books by First Publishing (Covers only)
Oni Double Feature #4-5 ("A River in Egypt" part one and two)
The Nightmare Factory - Volume 2 graphic novel, published by Fox Atomic Comics
