Bonnie Branson Illustration

All Together Now!

2012-02-23T20:55:00.000-05:00

(click to enlarge)

The Marquis pet " Monsieur Alligator," Mozart's pet skylark: "Diva," and Josephine Bonaparte's beloved "Fortune."

Pet's From History: Diva the Skylark

2012-02-14T22:39:00.002-05:00

I'm doing a small series on "Pets from History"

A) To the delight of John Quincy Adams, Marquis de Lafayette's pet alligator spent some time in the East Room bathtub in the White House B) Mozart had a pet Skylark which may have inspired an aria or two. C) "Fortune," Josephine Bonaparte’s beloved pug.

Here is a finished painting of "Diva," Mozart's pet Skylark (I give her that name)

She is singing the "Queen of the Night Aria," from The Magic Flute. (In case you were wondering)

Here is a clip of my favorite "diva," singing the QOTN Aria: Diana Damrau

Here is a portait of Diana I did in the role a few months back:

Good Night!

Illustration Friday: Popularity

2012-02-12T20:18:00.002-05:00

I did a drawing for this weeks theme: "Popularity"

Happy (Early) Valentines to you all!

Happy Year of the Dragon!

2012-01-28T22:37:00.000-05:00

Overdue Update!

2012-01-22T20:09:00.003-05:00

Wow! No posts since October! That's pretty bad. Ever since getting a facebook page for my illustration side of life, I admit that I have neglected this poor blog!

Here are a few things that have happened since last fall:

Bonnie Branson Illustration gets a facebook page!

Updated very regularly! Not only updates on my art but also interesting links and things in the illustration and art world.
Be sure to head over there and click "like" (please? :-P )

Also, due to a class I am taking, I had to get a twitter account. Boy, have I fought that. "I will NEVER tweet!" said I. But sure enough now I am on twitter I can't stop checking it out everyday. I have made a lot of great connections with other artists and illustrators. I can see why it is so popular

You can visit me on twitter HERE

I am going to ICON 7 this year (website HERE) It's a great Illustration conference and this year it's in Providence so not too far away!

Above are posters for the conference, Illustration by Chris Buzeli, lettering by Jessica Hische

In preperation for the conference I noted that I needed to revamp my portfolio so I am challenging myself to complete one illustration a week.

Last week I picked up a sketch, called "Butterflies," I made 10 years ago (whew) but thought it should be completed.

Here is the original sketch:

Final:

This weeks Illustration has Chinese New Year in mind. Currently I am working out the rough color stage and into a final peice. I hope to have this done my mid week:

YEAR OF THE DRAGON (color sketches)

Last month I created a postcard for a co-workers babyshower
(her baby's room is a jungle theme)

What about the story of Miss Strauss and her moving house?
I am continuing to develop the story and book layout.

To help out, I decided to join the "Second Annual Kidlitart #PBDummy Challenge"

What is it?
A 25-week-long online group challenge to create and submit a picture book dummy.

Start date: January 9, 2012

End date: July 1, 2012

More info HERE

I will be submitting my Molly Strauss story. Right now the schedule is on developing the transcript and polishing the story. Next will be Character design.

So far I have two main characters:
Molly (early sketch)

And, of course, Molly's fabulous house:

Ok that's good for now! I hope to keep better updated now that YEAR OF THE DRAGON is upon us. SOUNDS LIKE A YEAR FOR THINGS TO BE DONE :)

Colors: Nope not yet

2011-10-12T22:48:00.001-04:00

Thinking about the color. What is the color theme of the house? What type of mood?
The house has a Ocean and Sea Shell theme going on, so I am thinking about that, but too much blues pull the house down and make it heavy and not fun. The house should be colorful but not an eye soar

Thinking about the different functions of the rooms from the exterior and how that might
influence different parts of the houses color.

Must Keep Going.

Channeling the Architect

2011-10-08T18:16:00.008-04:00

This week I sat down and started roughing out what the house should look like. I started by compiling reference folders on my computer of different styles of houses. I also took a trip to the local library and dragged home a pile of books on Victorian houses, house moving, and books that focus on color schemes for "Painted Ladies."

As I worked I began thinking about the house I live in. I live in a Victorian that was designed in the late 1800's. There is a sign outside that states when it was built, and by whom. THEN I REMEMBERED SOMETHING, a conversation I had with the landlord: "Who was Henry Ross Builder?" I once asked her. "He was an architect. He designed and lived in this house. He made many of the Victorians in this area of Newton," she told me.

Yeah! Cooool! I'm designing a Victorian house, while living in a house that was designed and lived in by a Victorian era architect. I thought about asking Ol' Henry for some guidance, if his spirit is still around hehe. (My roommate suspects that someone is still with us, for her cat, Laney, has a tendency to jump on top of things, stare at the ceiling and cry for a bit. I think it's just birds in the eves that she is hearing and reacting to, but this being New England, we all love a good ghost story.)

Instead of posting a sketch of the house, I made a movie!

note: song used in clip is called Dokkoise House (With Face Covered) by the band "Anathallo" all rights belong to them

Larger version: http://youtu.be/R_oo2-LNp_E

NEXT WEEK: I will start refining the sketch on the computer (and making it STRAIGHT!)
and start thinking about color.

Productive Day

2011-10-05T22:07:00.007-04:00

Today I printed out my computer sketch and started refining things
freehand on my light table. I couldn't find my ruler at first (I'm always losing it. WHY??) so I was just eyeballing it. Later on, of course, I found the ruler, but because some of the previous lines were off, when I started drawing straight lines, they looked crooked! haha

At this point, not worried about things being so tight and straight (Yes I see it's a little slanted!) just figuring out details. There are few parts that...well I'm not sure how it would be constructed, but when I get to the building stage, I guess I will figure out if it IS possible. Fun.

And then of course, finding out about Steve Jobs tonight. Steve had an artists soul. We will miss you. Thank you for making technology so beautiful.

The Strauss House: First sketches

2011-10-03T22:20:00.006-04:00

First sketch, based on a drawing I did this summer. Pretty simple. Not really pushing it. I wouldn't say this is a crazy house yet, but it is a start...

Then I started looking at reference and keeping a mental note of my favorite features of Victorian houses found in books, online and in my everyday life (I am lucky that I live in a area that is full of examples of Victorian, Queen Anne, and Gothic Revival style houses) Still very rough, but getting somewhere...

I have to think about the sides and back of the house as well. Once I have a solid idea on how the house will look like, I will probably build a very basic 3-D model of it. (I'm still trying to figure out how I would do that.) I figure if I build a model it will help me get great perspective shots and creative angles of the house. The house is an important character of the story.

Moving House!

2011-10-02T20:06:00.018-04:00

Last year, on October 1st, I moved to a new house. It was sooo stressful! I had lived in the same apartment for about five years and had accumulated so much stuff, it was a nightmare packing up and figuring out what to keep and what to donate or throw away. Don't we all wish that instead of just moving we could have the house MOVE with us? If you have seen this movie, I know you understand what I mean:

Pixar's "UP"

Though the idea of moving a house sounds fantastical, it isn't. In fact housemoving is a profession that is hundreds of years old. Chances are, a house near you or in your town or state (or Country, even!) has been moved from one place to another.

Last year while deep in the research stage for “A train for Halifax,” I wrote a draft of a story called, “When Molly Strauss Moved House.” The story is about an eccentric young woman who lives in a CRAZY AMAZING Victorian house, and like so many historic homes throughout history, is being threatened to be destroyed. (her house sits where a bridge needs to connect the island from the mainland) Her neighbors think she is simply going to move out, but on the day of demolition, she throws a HUGE party. As they scarf down cake, and balk about why she hasn't even packed a thing, workers and horses show up and her house is slowly dragged into a new location (to the initial horror and delight of her neighbors!)

(“House Moving Day” Winfield, Kansas circa 1870’s)

I have a long fascination with housemoving. My first encounter was when I worked as a costumed interpreter for Old Sturbridge Village. Sturbridge is a recreated village in Massachusetts set in the 1830’s. All the homes in this “village,” are from different parts of New England and were at one point moved to the museum site. One of the buildings I worked at, the Meetinghouse, was moved from Sturbridge to Fiskdale in 1838.

It’s a tall and stately church, but to move it, it was cut in half, and dragged down the street by oxen. When I learned this, I was amazed. I had never heard of such a big structure being moved like this.

My second encounter was through spending summers with family on Cape Cod. My grandfather explained to my why some of the houses in Provincetown displayed a little tile of a house floating on a boat.

The tiles are to commemorate that they were floated on skiffs over the water from Long Point (the very tip of Cape Cod) to where they currently sit. Provincetown was originally settled on the very tip of the cape, back when cod fishing and salt mills were productive, but once the fishing of cod began to slow down, the villagers got tired of living on the very isolated and unprotected part of land and decided to float across to a safer shore.

Up Next on Bonnie's Blog: This month I am going to start working on the design and script of the story. I hope to start storyboarding it by the end of the month. This week I will be facing the challenge of creating the ULTIMATE CRAZY LADY VICTORIAN HOUSE. (fun, fun fun!)

In the meantime, here are some CRAZY house moves for your viewing pleasure!

School of Visual Arts Portfolio website

2011-09-10T18:29:00.001-04:00

The School of Visual Arts, my Alma mater, has a portfolio site. Pretty cool! I now have a page! Come visit and leave a note :-)

Click here :-)

Bonnie Branson Illustration is on Facebook

2011-08-10T22:24:00.001-04:00

I don't have a link box up yet on the blog sidebar, but I wanted to share with you that if you have a facebook page and would like to connect, please visit my page and er..."like" it haha!

Trying to connect with other illustrators on the site so help me out here! :)

CLICK HERE FOR LINK :)

The Farewell

2011-08-10T22:12:00.001-04:00

Almost done with this one. I submitted this to my critique group so hopefully after some changes I can send these out round the beginning of September. This is for a promotional postcard.
Makes me sad to think summer is almost over but...yeah only a few weeks left till school starts up again! Time flies!!!

Lonely Frog...

2011-07-30T21:23:00.000-04:00

Section of a larger illustration I worked on today.

Summertime!

2011-07-17T22:31:00.003-04:00

School has been over for a few weeks and now it's time for...well
summer school! And also time for some personal projects.
This year packed a few punches so the going has been a little slow
in the studio lately, but it looks like things are starting to pick back up!

The flowers from the garden decorate my windowsill.
I decided to do a little color study of them.

Working on a promotional postcard for the fall
Here is a little bitsy sneak peek:

Character design

ICON is now in the hood!

2011-05-16T17:36:00.001-04:00

Ha, so I just leave a conference and what do I do? Why, dream of going to another of course! I always wanted to attend an ICON conference, but every time I got an email or mailing I would sigh, and pass it off because it's usually in LA (though ICON 5 was in NYC) and there is no way in heck I could afford it. BUT hark! Next year it's in Ol' Providence only an hop, skip (no jump) from my current abode, and this makes things VERY tempting.

hmmmmmm

SCBWI New England Conference

2011-05-14T22:49:00.001-04:00

Wow. I'm currently sitting on my hotel bed at the SCBWI New England Regional Conference. Day one and two are now complete. So far it's been an overwhelming experience, but a really positive one. I have been getting a lot of great feedback from my work, meeting a lot of great people, and listening to some fantastic and inspiring stories. It's uplifting and unsettling at the same time. I'm not sure how to explain it! I think it will be a few days, or even a few weeks before I am able to sit down an write a cohesive post about what I have learned and how I feel about it.

It's great, great, GREAT to be with other illustrators again. So much of what we do is alone in our little creative spaces trying to do our work. It can be so isolating. Lonely (As I imagine this to be a similair case with writers)Ah! But there is so much fantastic work being done out there! It's exciting!

Anyway. This is all I can think of right now!

Goodnight dear, blog.

And now Bonnie's annual PSA

2011-05-01T07:07:00.009-04:00

       This month is an anniversary for me. Two years ago I was diagnosed with an aggressive type of skin cancer. I had to get 7 surgeries, including getting facial reconstruction and an artery transplant from my arm and placed in my face, and topped off with a week stay at a hospital where I was connected to 8 machines. After the hospital stay I had to live with my parents for the summer so I could have help with home care and visited by a nurse everyday. I don't go to tan beds; I never sat out in the sun at the beach. I have fair skin and blue eyes, and once in a while I would take a walk or be outside in the sun without a hat or sunscreen.

    When I was 22 years old, I walked home from work on a scorching summer day. I was living in New York, only a few months out of college and didn't have health insurance. After getting home I realized that I got some sun and had killer sunburn on my face, particularly on my nose. Once the sunburn cleared a little freckle appeared. I remembered reading an article in a magazine about skin cancer and decided to "keep an eye on it." I even took a picture so I could keep track in case I suspected it was changing.

Most people didn't notice it. However, I was always bothered by the freckle. Part of it was vanity- it was a little brown spot on my nose and I hated it. Deep inside though, I think I knew that it might be cancer but was in denial. This was not something I should be ignoring, but yet for 7 years that's exactly what I did.

      When I was 29 I was struggling through the tail end of my my first year of teaching. It was a hard job, but I loved the challenge and for the first time I had great insurance!  During February vacation I decided to go to a dermatologist for the first time. As soon as the dermatologist saw the freckle he told me it looked like skin cancer. After a quick biopsy and a week later I got a letter (a LETTER!!??) in the mail confirming that it was Basal Cell Cancer and I should immediately set up an appointment to get the freckle removed.

       It wasn't that simple however, the freckle had been there for 7 years and so had PLENTY of time to spread. After a painful 5 hour procedure in which the doctors took samples of my skin, stitched me back up and had an in-house pathologist study the sample (This is called Mohs surgery ) they sat me down and confessed:

1) This was the most aggressive form of Basal Cell Cancer they had seen in a while, and I was very young, most basal cell patients are in their 70's.
2) Every sample they were talking had cancer cells on all margins. The cancer was pretty much all over my nose.
3) Once I was cleared of cancer I should make an appointment with a plastic surgeon because the damage of the cancer would require me to get my nose and parts of my cheek reconstructed. The face is hard to reconstruct especially the nose area if the cartilage is effected. (At this point I was pretty delirious and I'm thankful I didn't know what lay ahead- I had to get Mohs surgery 4 more times before I had cleared margins.)
4) They had one more test to take. They then took a sample right between my eyes.

    Thankfully that sample was the only sample that did not have cancer cells. The dermatologist told me that if I decided to wait longer to get this checked out the cancer would likely have spread towards my left eye. They would have to remove it in order to get the cancer if that was the case.

     Afterwards, I saw a surgeon and had to leave school for the rest of the year. From February till around early August of that year, I had some sort of bandage on my face. I could not teach this way and also the art room was considered unsafe for my health in this condition. Currently I am still dealing with the scars- both physical and emotionally that this event has caused, but it has made me stronger and more thankful for what I have. I'm still working through it though, I am still scared every time I get a little sun and worry that I might get cancer again- a common fear for former cancer patients.


I took a walk without sunscreen. Such a simple thing. (well that and taking FOREVER to get it checked *___* )

      Skin Cancer is the most common type of cancer, and it is also the MOST PREVENTABLE.

     I was lucky because I had a type of skin cancer that doesn't metastasize to other parts of the body (it only damages the skin it spreads to) if I was diagnosed with Melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, I would be fighting for my life.
     So my message is simple: Protect your skin from the sun. Go to a dermatologist once in a while (at least once a year if you can) just to keep it in check. If detected early, a simple biopsy is usually all that is required.

Whew! All right! Stepping off the soap box and getting back to the art! :)

Getting there, getting there

2011-03-28T06:02:00.001-04:00

Due Wednesday!!!

Outside window

2011-02-27T17:55:00.001-05:00

I was at my computer and I saw this outside...the clouds parting a little to show a lighter sky behind the trees. I tried to catch it, but the sun was going down fast so this is as far as I got.

Pondflower Stage Design

2011-02-27T13:00:00.002-05:00

Finished the background today

click to enlarge

Next to place the characters!

Libretto Color Sketches

2011-02-26T21:35:00.005-05:00

I'm submitting 3 paintings to Massachusetts College of Art and Design for an alumni show. (due at the end of March) I decided to submit three images from a series I have been working on here and there since summer. The series consists of designs, costumes, and posters for fake theatre productions. (the series is called "Libretto")

Here is a color sketch for the stage design for an operetta called "Pondflower"

I have posted this one before, but this illustration (currently only called "Pattern Flirt" ) is also from the series, still to be completed!

And so is this, a poster for "La Vita d'Annette" about a lonely Italian housewife who dreams of COLOR and PASSION

I made it!

2011-02-02T13:17:00.003-05:00

I made the deadline! I'm very proud of creating and FINISHING a project in so short a time.

Though I'm tempted to rest, I'm FIRED UP about the New England SCBWI conference in May and have a few months ahead to get my portfolio in shape.

Lots of work to do, but fun work.

First up: Sitting down and creating some goals about what I would like to focus on in my work to show to art directors.

Progression

2011-01-17T23:05:00.002-05:00

I edited out a few people, as you can see. Mostly this was (sadly) because of my deadline. I was cutting it a bit short and didn't have time to fully render some of them the way I would have liked.

The nice thing is though, because this is a self-managed project I will probably go back and spend more time on this image and get those people back in there again!

Two Finals : A train for Halifax

2011-01-17T22:48:00.002-05:00

I have to submit two final illustrations along with the manuscript and the dummy.

One final needs to be in color and the other, black and white (which is odd because that is assuming that your book includes black and white illustrations eh?)

I chose the scene when the train arrives in St. John, Canada for the color final

(click the illustrations to enlarge)

I think I am doing ok. I don't have experience drawing crowd scenes and I didn't have time to secure really good reference so most of this is from my head. It isn't done yet but it's very close to completion!

As I was working I started creating imaginary relationships between the people standing next to eachother

Two passengers on the train stare out at the crowd. At this point in the story, the Bostonians begin to hear and understand exactly what happened to Halifax.

This is the final black and white illustration. This spread is actually the page before the one above.

On this page, I'm explaining to the viewer just how long the trip from Boston to Halifax (by steam train!) takes. 750 Miles and 27 hours. The train is flying through the night and into the morning and it's beginning to snow. On the next page they start to get stuck in the blizzard.

I thought it would be cool to show a "starry" map illustrating the journey.