How about a children’s board book?
Bright studied Fine Art at UC Santa Barbara and Illustration at Cal State Long Beach. Shortly after college, she was hired to illustrate backgrounds and animate characters for educational computer games. That launched a fifteen-year, full-time career as a computer game artist. Bright was the original artist and animator of Knowledge Adventure’s Jumpstart Educational Game Line. Jump to Bonnie Bright’s resume.
In recent years, as a proud member of the SCBWI, Bright has been fully focused on her career in book illustration, book layout and cover design, and has successfully illustrated more than twenty children's books for self-publishing authors.
Bright is also a part-time Professor of Graphic Art and Design at Brenau University. And, if that’s not enough, she also offers the following services for small business owners:
Character design and animation
Logo design and animated logos
Brochure layout and design
Social media ads
Banner and flyer design
Visit Bonnie Bright’s Art Portfolio
Bright makes time to visit elementary schools to read books, followed by lessons in drawing, animation, mural painting and book making. Click here to arrange a school visit.
In her spare time, she tends to an organic vegetable and berry garden, paddles, runs, lifts, hikes and plays volleyball.
Programs: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Animate, Blender, PowerPoint, Painter
“Life experience and a passion to live a life that matters make me a reliable, hard-working, artist. Please reach out if you would like to work together.”
Honors & successes in book illustration
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I Love You All The Time
My First Book
The first book I illustrated, "I Love You All the Time", sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide.
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The Tangle Tower
Author/Illustrator
"The Tangle Tower" was listed as a top 20 children's book on Amazon/Kindle.
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Full Steam Ahead
Featured Artist
My illustration was selected to represent the SCBWI Southern Breeze Spring Mingle Conference, entitled Full Steam Ahead in 2025.
Honors & successes in book illustration continued
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Zoe's Day With Dr. J!
Reader’s Favorite Award
Literary Titan Book Award
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Surf Angel
"Surf Angel" was honored with the Moonbeam Children’s Literature Award.
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Casey's Compost
Story Walk
Featured book in the 2024 Sun Ray’s Fruits Story Walk to promote reading. This book is fun and educational. Learn to compost after the story!
Interviews and Press
First Stories…Featuring Michelle Kennedy AND Bonnie Bright
An Interview with Heather C. Morris, June 29, 2026
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Reading with Your Kids Podcast interview for "Cellphoneitis"! Skip to 34:50 on the timeline:
We were so honored to have this opportunity, May 3, 2026
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Reading with Your Kids Podcast Interview for “Learn and Play with Dr. J”
https://readingwithyourkids.libsyn.com/is-there-a-doctor-in-the-house
Books Illustrated by Bonnie Bright
Cellphoneitis writtenby Michelle S. Kennedy and illustrated by Bonnie Bright, Zoe’s Day With Dr.J by Dr. Letisha Jefferson - I Love You All The Time by Jessica Elin - Toby’s Fortress by Hunter McIntosh, Surf Angel by Terry and Heather Kraszewski, Casey’s Compost by Bonnie Bright, The Tangle Tower by Bonnie Bright, You Are My Son-Shine by Jami Napolitani, You Can’t Always Win by Mark Nixon, Peli Can Surf by Eric Muñoz, Surf Angel and the Legend of the Pink Dolphin by Terry and Heather Kraszewski, Game On! From A to Z by Jarod Stentiford, My Little Sleepyhead by Bonnie Bright, Let’s Go Driving by Bonnie Bright, Cellphoneitus by Bonnie Bright, Jasmine and the Snowman by Mr. Whimsy, Ocean Adventures with Jax by Pamela Jackson, The Best Kind of Pirate by Bonnie Bright, Bunny’s First Vacation by Bonnie Bright, The Sad House on Moving Day by Bonnie Bright, I’m In The Bathroom! by Jessica and Jennifer Elin, Joe’s New Windrows by Bonnie Bright, Peli Fa Surf by Eric Muñoz, The Good Deed Manger by Christopher Cammack, Jenny’s Pets by Mr. Whimsy, Denny’s Pets by Mr. Whimsy, My Savings Book & Journal by J. McCrary, Greenie and the Treefrog by Marc Manesis, I’m Getting Ready for Kindergarten by B. Annye Rothenberg, Why Can’t I Be the Boss of Me? by B. Annye Rothenberg, Mom and Dad Are Always So Busy by B. Annye Rothenberg, I Want To Make Friends by B. Annye Rothenberg, Longing for The Harmonies (first edition) by Frank Wilczek and Betsy Devine , Fearful Symmetry (first edition) by Anthony Zee, The Truly Great Noodle (eBook) by Sam Berman, With Me Always by Phyllis Hall, Where it All Began by Evangeline Yolee Miller
Volleyball, A Way of Life: Bonnie Bright is the daughter of two volleyball Olympians. Her volleyball career highlights include winning the California Division 1 High School State Championships and playing Division 1, PAC 10 as a starting outside hitter- for UC Santa Barbara in 1984. She broke the service ace and digging records her first season and dreamt about following in her parent’s footsteps one day. Unfortunately a car accident at the start of her third season brought those dreams to a crushing halt (rotated vertebrae). But her love of the game never died, and she fought hard to become #2 on the California Beach Volleyball Association ranks in 1999. Bright was also named All-American while playing indoor with her amazing Roof Sportswear team at age 45.
Publicity
#etraintalks Mail Time: Featuring E Train opening “Cellphoneitis”
Reading With Your Kids Podcast: Jed interviews Michelle and Bonnie
Testimonials
Working with Bonnie has been an absolute dream. She is highly professional, super talented and has been an absolute joy to partner with on this project. She truly brought my book to life and exceeded all of my expectations. I would be honored to work with her in the future and highly recommend her for any of your illustration needs.
Dr. Letisha Jefferson, Author, Zoe's Day With Dr. J.
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Regarding a recent test illustration of my new "Cellphoneitus" character:
Bonnie, your artistic talent and creativity is beyond any other artist’s that I’ve ever known. I have been fortunate to have befriended some very talented artists who illustrated famous cartoon characters, but none of their characters can compare with your special creations. You bring out the best in your clients and their stories.
This particular illustration makes me want to create a story board around the character. He’s a keeper!
2025 Phyllis Hall, Founder of With Me Always
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Just want to thank you for how well the illustrations look in the book. I know I can be a stickler over details sometimes but, following your progress through the link is like watching something slowly come into life. I've introduced many new products in different industries over my career but I don't recall ever being so keenly aware and excited by each development stage. Each day holds new wonders in the book's growth!
Pretty amazing feeling!
Mark Nixon, Author, You Can't Always Win, The Good Loser
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Bonnie Bright brought our children’s book to life. Her enthusiasm for her work created its own rhythm and life for what started out as a very personal dream and resulted in a very successful book. Bonnie is responsive, responsible, and very easy to work with throughout all phases of an illustration project. Our book would not be as beloved as it is without Bonnie on the team.
Jessica Elin, Co-author “I Love You All The Time”
Cookie Bear Press
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Bonnie Bright did an outstanding job with her illustrations for my new book, Greenie and the Tree Frog which is now available at amazon.com Not only has her art work been exceptional but she has been very easy to work with—affordable, punctual, accessible and open to suggestions. I wholeheartedly recommend her.
John Manesis, Author, Greenie and the Tree Frog
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Bonnie’s delightful and engaging images transformed I Love You All The Time from a lyrical poem with pictures to an enchanting, endearing children’s book that’s sold over 100,000 copies. I’m proud of our words but firmly believe Bonnie’s heartfelt drawings are what capture people’s attention. As a production partner, she’s reliable, honest, and smart—if she suggests something other than what you have in mind, I highly recommend considering her ideas!
Jennifer Elin Cole, Co-author I Love You All The Time, Cookie Bear Press, Inc.
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While looking for an illustrator for our children's book, we searched through hundreds of artists before we found Bonnie. Her style was exactly what we were searching for. We hired her and she created illustrations more beautiful than we could have ever hoped.
Since then, we have hired Bonnie to create three websites, countless advertising graphics, and a beach house sign. Each one perfect and remarkable in every way.
Bonnie has been a great find. She is professional, beyond talented, attentive, and unique. I attribute much of our success to what Bonnie has created for us. There is no one else that we go to for design work.
Christopher P Cammack, Author, The Good Deed Manger
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I wanted to reach out and thank you for the box of "The Tangle Tower" books you donated to our organization last year. We have seen such a positive response to that book at our StoryTents with it being a reader and volunteer favorite! It seems to be extremely relatable as well. We have given copies out at some of our programs and the excitement the kids expressed at being able to keep a copy is amazing! Especially since the majority of our StoryTents are set up in low literacy, high poverty communities where some kids who attend don't have easy access to books. Thank you for helping us spread a love of literacy by sharing you lovely work with us!
Thank you so so much for your time and support, I look forward to hearing from you!
Best,
Hezhi, Traveling Stories
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Bonnie Bright is an excellent children's book illustrator. She has illustrated my last four books: I Want to Make Friends (2012), I'm Getting Ready for Kindergarten (2013), Why Can't I Be the Boss of Me? (2015), and Mom and Dad Are Always So Busy (2018).
Bonnie is a joy to work with. She's exceptionally talented. She's able to draw every type of person, animal and scene. She makes sure she draws exactly what you ask for. Children and parents love her artwork and ask to read these books over and over. She is hard-working and is very responsive to all communications. She certainly goes the extra mile with all of her work. And her fees are very acceptable. She is the fourth illustrator I've worked with in the last 15 years, and the only one since 2011. She is the only illustrator I would work with from now on.
B. Annye Rothenberg, Ph.D., Child and Parent Psychologist and Author
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"Got a little work done this morning following your notes @BonBon and the fixes were fairly easy and a massive improvement thank you for the feedback, it’s something I typically have a hard time getting from peers."
Art Direction Feedback from Monochrome Workshop
RESUME
Bonnie Bright
A dedicated 20+year Professional Artist, Traditional & Digital Illustrator, 2D Animator, Game Artist & Graphic Designer with a strong work ethic.
PROGRAMS
ADOBE SUITE: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Animate, Premier
OTHER PROGRAMS: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Blender, Painter
FAMILIARITY WITH: Spine, Cinema 4D, Max
EXPERIENCE
Professor of Art and Design at Brenau University, Gainesville, GA
Jan 2026 - Present
Teaching the principals of graphic design and layout techniques utilizing Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign. Projects include cover design, posters, logos, brochures and more.
Children’s book illustration, Layout, Book Design, Graphic Design and 2D Animation
Jan 2000 – Present
Graphic design and catalog layout, cover design, logos, custom product illustration, toy design, email marketing, web graphics, large format print designs and more.
2D animations for social media ads and 2D games.
I create entire children’s books for clients from start to finish, beginning with character design and sketches, then moving into full-color illustration in both traditional and digital formats. Each book is laid out using InDesign, including the cover.
Tools: Adobe Photoshop, Acrylic Paint, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Animate, Premier, Illustrator
Hatch Early Learning, Educational Computer Game Artist
Jan 2020 - Apr 2024 (Remote)
Background illustrator and 2D character animator for Hatch Early Learning, an educational game company. Generated concepts for game design and executed final vector illustrations using Adobe Illustrator. Designed and animated characters and created game assets and icons.
Tools: Jira, Slack, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Unity, Adobe Animate
Monochrome Workshop (pandemic era work), RPG Computer Game Artist
Jan 2020 - Dec 2020 (Remote)
As a freelance art director, I critiqued the work of Monochrome artists to ensure that the style was “on brand” and in the proper orthographic perspective. Designed and animated 2D characters/exported in PNG sequence. Created 2D tile sets for terrain and vegetation assets and built levels in Unity.
Tools: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Unity
Project Steampunk (pandemic era work), RPG Game Artist
Jan 2020 (Remote)
Created walk, run and battle frames for 2D animated character sprites in four directions, RPG game assets, and background tile sets for a 2D orthographic game.
Tools: Adobe Photoshop, Blender, ProMotion, Mixamo and Adobe Animate
Innovative Concepts in Entertainment, Inc., Graphic Designer
2019 - 2020 Clarence, NY (ended in pandemic layoffs)
Graphic designer creating large format decals, banners and signage for carnival-style games. Created concept art for new games and 3-D mockups of existing games. Responsible for catalog layout, pamphlets and magazine advertisements as well as animated social media content.
Tools: Cinema 4D, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign
Grids Interactive, Animated iPad Children’s Book Illustrator
2010 - 2012 (Remote)
Book app illustrator, animator, character designer and art director for The Truly Great Noodle, Surf Angel and Bunny’s First Vacation.
Tools: Adobe Animate, Photoshop and Illustrator
Division 13, Website Artist
2008 - 2015 (Remote)
Recreated 3D scenes from major movies like Shrek and LXG, to enhance UX. Generated exploratory 3D fly-throughs and 2D animation for interactive game assets. Conducted quality assurance to ensure polished and consistent content, maintaining high standards of visual presentation.
Movie web sites include: Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, Hellboy, League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Ice Age and Paddington.
Tools: 3D Studio Max, Adobe Animate and Adobe Photoshop
Mozaik Multimedia, Inc., Educational Game Artist
Jan 2007 - Dec 2008 (Remote)
Game design, 2D character design and animation, and background illustration of interactive, educational games about travel.
Tools: Photoshop, Adobe Animate
High 5 Productions, Artist for Educational Television
2004 - 2006 (Remote)
2D and 3D backgrounds and animations for children’s public broadcasting. Shows included Safety 4 Kids and Lambchop.
Tools: 3D Studio Max, Adobe Photoshop
Pick Up & Play, Cell Phone Game Artist
Jan 2003 - Dec 2018 (Remote)
Cell phone game backgrounds, assets and 2D character animations.
Games: Around the World in 80 Days, Alien Siege, Wok Rabbit, Barnyard Bouncin’
Tools: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Animate, 3D Studio Max and Spine.
Digital Ink Illustration, Cartoon Background Colorist
2005 (Remote)
Digitally illustrated cartoon backgrounds for the Leap Frog animated feature.
Tools: Photoshop
Otterslide and Urban Entertainment
2004 (Remote)
Art direction, storyboard artist and background illustrator.
Feature Films: The Golden Blaze, My Babies’ Mommas, and I Was A Teen Pop Star
Photoshop
Wannabe Interactive/Cloud 9, Children’s Television Artist/Animator
2004-2007 (Remote)
2-D and 3-D animations and background illustrations for children’s educational television programs like Safety 4 Kids.
Tools: Photoshop, 3D Studio Max
Vivendi Interactive and Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey, Ceareal Box Prize
Jan 2002 (Remote)
Cereal Box Prize Game Artist. Sole artist for animation, character design and background art.
Designed and animated characters. Illustrated backgrounds. Self-managed all aspects of character and background design.
Tools: Photoshop, Adobe Animate
Angel Studios, Game Artist
Jan 1999 - Apr 2001, Carlsbad, CA
Texture map artist (environmental, vehicle, building...), and 3-D props modeler. Art lead on Transworld Surf. Other titles include Midtown Madness ll and Test Drive Off-road
Tools: 3D Studio Max, Photoshop
Knowledge Adventure, Children’s Educational Game Artist/Animator
1994-1997 Glendale, CA
Lead artist and art director for Jump Start Games. Tight deadlines were the norm. I played a major role in game design meetings to make sure we created games that were educational, visually pleasing and fun. Background illustration, character design and animation, game assets... Titles: JumpStart Kindergarten, First Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, Baby and more.
Tools: Adobe Photoshop, D-paint Animation
Fanfare Software, Children’s Educational Game Artist/Animator
1993-1994 Santa Monica, CA
Original artist of the Jumpstart Educational Line. Worked closely with the programmer/creator on game design. Background illustration, character design and 2D animation. I also created game assets and icons.
Titles: Computer Carnival and the original Jumpstart Kindergarten.
Tools: Photoshop, D-paint, D-paint Animation
Mindcraft, RPG Orthographic Character Design and Animation
1992-1993 Torrance, CA
Created animated pixel characters walk-cycles, running, and fighting in 8 directions using orthographic perspective.
Tools: D-paint animation
Virgin Games, Tile Set Background Artist
1991-1992 Irvine, CA
Designed and created tile set backgrounds for Cool Spot Goes to Hollywood, a console game. I built the pirate ship level out of 32 x 32 pixel tiles.
Tools: D-paint
Davidson and Associates, Children’s Educational Game Artist/Animator
Multiple titles
1989-1991 Torrance, CA
Background artist and 2D animator for educational computer games. Worked with pixels in resolutions of 640 x 480 or 320 x 200 with a limited color palette. I also illustrated the printed storybook that accompanied Reading Adventures in Oz using gouache and Ink. Titles: Reading Adventures in OZ, Math Blaster
Tools: D-paint and D-paint Animation
EDUCATION
UC Santa Barbara
Fine Arts Major
Dean’s list • Senior Art Show • Volleyball Scholarship
Cal State University Long Beach
Illustration Major
LICENSES & CERTIFICATIONS
Blender Certification Zenva Academy • Linked-in Typography
SKILLS
Illustration • 2D Animation • Graphic Design • Vector Illustration • Book Design
HONORS & AWARDS
SCBWI-SOCIETY OF CHILDREN’S BOOK WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS • Mar 2025
My artwork was selected to represent the 2025 Spring Mingle, Full Steam Ahead, SCBWI Southern Breeze Conference
Senior Art Show, UC Santa Barbara • 1987
My acrylic painting was featured in the UCSB Senior Art Show.