Barbara Louise Bradley

Barbara Louise Bradley December 12, 1927-May 2, 2008 Recognized as one of the greatest and most inspiring teachers of drawing in the country, Barbara Bradley died May 2, 2008 in California following an automobile accident. She was an award-winning illustrator, instructor, painter, and author, as well as a loving wife, daughter, mother and grandmother. She was director of the School of Illustration at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for 25 years. She was one of a handful of successful females in a male-dominated profession, although she didn't consider herself a pioneer; she merely did what she loved to do. Barbara was the only child of Gerard and Josie Preston. She was born in Los Angeles, but spent most of her childhood in San Francisco. Barbara graduated from Lowell High School in San Francisco, then attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she met her first husband Herbert Briggs (a fellow artist) while drawing for the rally committee. Herb and Barbara studied at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles before setting off for New York to begin their careers. Barbara was soon hired to work at the prestigious Charles E. Cooper Studio in New York City, where she achieved great success. After returning to California, Barbara continued her career as a freelance illustrator. Specializing in figure drawing, she became best known for her depictions of children (while raising three of her own, all of whom did their stints as models for her). Her work for such clients as Bank of America, Borden, Dole, PG&E, and C&H Sugar brought her many awards. In 1958, Barbara was invited to teach, and was ultimately encouraged by Academy of Art University then-president Richard Stephens to build, class-by-class, what would become the School of Illustration as it is today at the Academy. Always attired in one of her paisley smocks, Barbara continued to teach drawing until last December, when she formally retired at the age of 80. Barbara also taught drawing classes and workshops throughout the United States and London, including Disney Animation Studios, Pixar and Lucas Arts. Her work is displayed in the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators in New York and in the permanent collection of the US Air Force. Encouraged by her second husband Neil in 2003, Bradley published Drawing People: How to Portray the Clothed Figure (NorthLight Books). Known as a "must have book for any artist", one reviewer noted that "the information is better than any class I have taken or book I have read. It is not a book just on technique, but it teaches how to see the object. Barbara Bradley shares a road map...every artist should have this book." Last year, Bradley received the coveted Distinguished Educator Award from the Society of Illustrators in NY. She was selected by a jury of 75 esteemed illustrators and artists from all over the world, joining a prestigious list of previous winners. This was the capstone to her career; she had also received numerous vocational and teaching awards, and in 1992 was awarded Honorary Life Membership in the San Francisco Society of Illustrators. Barbara always said that she had two families. Her "first family" included her husband, Neil, who passed away on May 4, 2008 due to injuries suffered in the same automobile accident, and her survivors: children, Lauchlin Briggs Divine, Glennis Briggs, Andy Bradley and his wife Bella; and grandchildren, Diana Divine and Lydia Bradley. Her son-in-law Craig Divine died in 2006. Her "second family" included the hundreds of students who she taught and from whom she learned. Today, those students can been found as close as San Francisco and as far away as Shanghai. Memorial Service for Barbara Bradley, 2151 Van Ness Avenue at Broadway, Academy of Art University Chapel (Formerly St. Brigid's Church) San Francisco, California, Thursday, June 5, 2008, 7 pm.