Bonnie Bladen Illustration

My New Website is Up!

2010-02-19T20:59:00.000-05:00

Go!

Bonnie Bladen; Illustrator and Friend

Thanks for looking!

Illustration Friday: Adrift

2010-02-16T20:24:00.003-05:00

This is my submission for Illustration Friday this week. : )

Russian Doll

2010-01-06T10:44:00.001-05:00

After watching Transiberian, I decided to paint another take on the Matryoshka doll. (Russian Doll) I'd love to take a trip on the train, minus the drug smuggling, adultery, and murder. : )

FINALLY-Buy the finished book!

2009-12-11T19:25:00.005-05:00

Finally, I have all my illustrations painted for my children's book! They've all been scanned, fixed, cropped etc. I also made a small color mock up for Final Crits. (There's no way I'll have it published by next week!!) Here is the final Cover, one of 24 illustrations!

UPDATE:

Now you can buy the finished paperback online!
(Partial proceeds go to BARCS)

New Etsy Products!

2009-12-04T18:31:00.002-05:00

My Etsy store has finally been updated with the apparel I printed over Thanksgiving! Please take a minute and check it out. Even if you aren't expecting, pass it on to friends and family. Lots of gift ideas. Soon I'll have prints and more originals up also. Check in often!

Thanks for looking!

You can visit the store here!

I'm A Little Tea Pot!

Zombie Nation

2009-11-25T12:53:00.004-05:00

Yes it's that weird Nintendo NES game from 1990 that involves a zombie-killing free-floating severed samurai head that travels to the US to take out the walking dead. The assignment was to recreate a video game cover. The original for Zombie Nation is pretty out there, the Samurai head (the "hero" and main character you play) is cut off by the horrible 90's type and the zombies are rendered in 3-D clay, but poorly. This is just my reinterpretation. : )

A Scenic Mountain Landscape

2009-11-14T11:25:00.003-05:00

Just breathe in the crisp air....

Baltimore Sustainability Poster Contest

2009-11-13T11:12:00.004-05:00

Here is the poster I did for the Baltimore Office of Sustainability, they ended up picking it out of a good 40 or so. I think 3 of us were picked to have them printed at 54" at local metro stations, spreading the word of Sustainability! I have a few saturation adjustments to make but other than that it's ready to go!

Wild Thing!

2009-10-12T19:08:00.008-04:00

Since I love the book (even as a child) and the movie is coming out this week (Oct. 16th) I made some free time to do an Illustration of my take on it. There is a website called Terrible Yellow Eyes (www.terribleyelloweyes.com) which is a blog/website that features work from various invited artists like John Coulter, Aurian Redson, Sarah Caterisano and Gerald Guerlais. You MUST check out Nate Wragg's 3-D diorama! It is amazing! I may send it in to them, but not crossing my fingers, the competition is so wonderful!

Friendly Fire

2009-10-03T18:27:00.005-04:00

For our Illustration Concepts class, we choose a word group to Illustrate. I choose "friendly fire." One of my favorite projects so far! It's not due for another week and a half, but it seemed too cute to not paint. I ended up going to Ikea and getting a birch frame for it (they are on sale!) And cutting a mat to match!

*UPDATE I entered this painting, framed of course, into the 2009 Juried Student show and it got in! The show is up until Nov. 17th in the Meyerhoff Gallery at MICA.

Senior Thesis Children's Book

2009-10-03T18:21:00.008-04:00

These are the first completed illustrations for "Charlie Gets A Puppy." They are not in order of course. The larger ones of the seasons will be intermittent in the book, showing time lapse, and are full pages. I also have spot illustrations to go with these but want to save some space. The smaller one is for the beginning when he waits for his puppy "Jack" to go potty outside. : )

Little Prince and Princess

2009-08-06T12:50:00.004-04:00

For those who have an upcoming baby shower, these little illustrations will soon be available as "congratulations" cards. One is of a little prince (boy) and the other of a princess (girl). Hopefully I'll be able to extend them and do different ethnicities as well!

(maybe hair colors too??)

Chambered Nautilus

2009-08-03T16:06:00.005-04:00

Will and I go to the Aquarium in the Inner Harbor so much we became members! Our favorite animal on display, and one we always check up on, are the two Chambered Nautilus' on the upper level. For months, they had been retreating to the rear of the tank, hard to see, but recently one decided to come out and show off up front. They are so oddly cute I had to paint one. : )

New Kid Kone

2009-07-20T15:48:00.003-04:00

After some comments and deliberation I decided to add a red hat to the top of my "kone," to act as the final touch- a cherry! I was going to make it bright red, but when I saw it like that It took over the painting, so I toned it down a bit.

Kid Kone

2009-07-20T11:41:00.004-04:00

Like many of my paintings, this has a macabre feeling but still remains cute and colorful. I'm thinking of adding a small red hat to act as the "cherry" on top. Let me know what you think! I'm working on my new Etsy site right now and soon this will be available as a print.

Pooper Scooper

2009-07-19T21:35:00.005-04:00

Here is a cute quick painting in Gouache, I'm thinking of illustrating a children's book of the responsibilities of owning a new pet. {for my senior thesis} I'm using the same style but a different palette.

Puppy Love

2009-06-04T14:16:00.005-04:00

This is another gouache painting in the same series as the girl, but, of course with an adorable Cairn Terrier! There's nothing like a boy and his dog, and it makes for a cute illustration. Hopefully prints of this guy will also be available at ArtScape 09'.

Cat Love

2009-06-04T14:09:00.008-04:00

This is a gouache painting I did recently that I will be making prints of for ArtScape 09. The original painting (fits nicely in the included 6.75" by 4.75" frame) will also be sold. Already matted and framed, it'll make a nice gift for the little girl, or cat lover, in your life!

Baby Blanket for Sweet Tea!

2009-05-01T18:05:00.005-04:00

Completing my clothing line for my Illustration Concepts II class, it's a fluffy, cozy baby blanket! Unfortunately the cats loved it to, so I had to get out the ol' faithful brush roller. All of the items in the collection were hand screened printed in Will's apartment. Isn't he the best for letting me dirty up his space?

Short List Menu

2009-04-26T21:19:00.004-04:00

This is a gouache painting I did for my Illustrating the Edible class with Rebecca Bradley. It includes all the ingredients in a pasta dish for a "magazine" full bleed page. I really liked this assignment, and it just happens to be the last one for the semester : (

I highly recommend this class to anyone who loves to draw food!

New Sweet Tea Shirts!

2009-04-23T17:34:00.004-04:00

This one is on a mint green Rabbit Skins toddler tee, and will be with the other shirts at ArtScape 09! Hand screen printed with two colours. You can notice a bit of the little hang tags I also screen printed up in the right corner. Next is an infant baby blanket made of soft, cuddly flannel!

Sweet Tea Onesie

2009-04-20T14:41:00.004-04:00

The beginnings of my children's clothing line called Sweet Tea for my Illustration Concepts class at MICA. It takes some of my Illustrations and I hand screen print them onto children's clothing, heat set them, and {hopefully} sell them. Look for em' at ArtScape 2009!

Milk Spill

2009-04-20T14:39:00.004-04:00

A sweet little Illustration I actually did for myself! Who couldn't love that little face??

Expectant Mothers Poster

2009-04-20T14:30:00.004-04:00

A 24" by 36" poster for my Illustration Concepts class at MICA. My "client" was Whole Foods, looking for a poster to lead the way to healthy eating during pregnancy. I completed an ink drawing and the rest is digital.

The Lost Compass

2009-04-20T14:23:00.007-04:00

Illustrations for a children's story I wrote about a boy who goes in search of his father's missing silver compass. Along his journey he meets some sea life who become his friends and help him find the missing treasure.

Spot Illustration:

Full Page Illustration:

Bottom of Cover w/o Text

A Radio With Guts

2009-04-20T14:19:00.003-04:00

Based veeerrryyyy loosely off of the Charles Bukowski poem. From my Illustration Concepts class at MICA.

Sesame Street Editorial

2009-04-20T14:15:00.006-04:00

This is an editorial piece for the Baltimore City "Paper" from my Illustration Concepts class at MICA. The article was on a book being reviewed "Street Gang" by Michael Davis; about the history and people behind the beloved favorite.

What Happens...

2009-04-20T14:10:00.009-04:00

Here is a cute Gouache Illustration I did for a story in a "newspaper." From my Narrative Illustration class at MICA. What happens why you try to play with water...

Bush Booklet

2009-04-20T13:53:00.010-04:00

This is a series of minature watercolour paintings based on my own story featuring our now ex-president. In the book, Bush trades the deed to Ohio for a package of Sea Monkeys. He gets pulled into the realm of the Sea Monkeys and they show him how they power their vehicles on water. Once back into the real world, he forgets all about the new technology. Hehe! What fun!

Chimney Sweeper Book

2009-04-20T13:45:00.009-04:00

This is a handbound book I made for my Narrative Illustration class last semester at MICA. It has 14 pages of hand lettered type and inked drawings on Canson print paper. The story is based on William Blakes poem "The Chimney Sweeper." A melancholy feel for a sad poem. The cover:

And some excerpt art:

Happy Holidays!

2009-04-20T13:38:00.006-04:00

A screen printed holiday card I send around to friends and family for the 2008 season. It features my lovely Will and my cat Luna playing in the snow : ) On Strathmore paper with navy and white inks.

Fat Cat!

2009-04-20T13:30:00.004-04:00

This is a screen print I did last semester at MICA in an Illustration printing class collaboration with Jon Rappeleye. (Which was awesome! We reproduced two of his paintings) It's a three colour print on faun Stonehenge paper.

Anchors Away!

2009-04-20T13:25:00.005-04:00

This is a Gouache painting I did for an Illustration class at the Delaware College of Art back in 2005. I love nautical things! (you'll notice this along the way!)

T-Shirt Design

2009-04-20T13:22:00.004-04:00

This is a tee design I did for my own little company, called IndoorUmbrella. The store is at www.indoorumbrella.bigcartel.com. It is on a white American Apparel tee. I sell them for only $12 because I know most people don't want to spend $24 on a shirt, even if it's comfy!

UPDATE!

2009-04-20T12:53:00.005-04:00

I just started this Blog so I'm going to do some archiving posts to catch up on my portfolio. This project was from when I attended Moore College of Art in Philadelphia two years ago. I painted it in Gouache and used Adobe Illustrator to set text.

This piece was done two years ago during the summer while I was a volunteer at the Kent County Humane Society. I saw how many dogs and cats we had to put down because there was so little room to keep them all. The only solution to this is to Spay and Neuter your animals! One day I plan to make this design into shirts to sell, benefiting this shelter back in my hometown.