Daniel Bourbonnais

Everybody that knows me will tell you that I have been drawing and painting my whole life. Teaching myself the traditional skills of drawing from life, figure studies, portraits and painting with oil or acrylic on canvas and other media served to propel me forward to experiment with new techniques in watercolor, pastels and even airbrush. All of these illustrative skills prepared me to study for a future in graphic design & illustration. All artwork is copyright © 2010 Daniel Bourbonnais. No unauthorized use without permission by the artist
After graduating from Mt. San Jacinto College in 1979 with an Associates Degree, I started working as a technical illustrator in the aerospace industry in Los Angeles. I also painted 15 murals over the period of a year, for a company opening Quick Print Centers all over Southern California.
Moving to the Texas Gulf Coast in 1980 fulfilled my desire to experiment with painting sky & water. It also provided an opportunity for photographing and illustrating many aspects of the coastal lifestyle while working with some of the regional Ad Agencies. During this time I worked my way up to the role of Creative Director at Wells Media Associates and Art Director for several issues of the South Padre Island magazine and received a regional Addy Award for print work produced for hotel clients.
Working within the field of print and type design, there was a growing awareness of the emerging desktop revolution. So, I went to San Francisco in 1988 and studied some computer graphic applications at the Computer Arts Institute. Returning to Texas, I started working as a computer graphic consultant and freelancer. During the coastal evacuation for a hurricane in 1988, I followed up on a classified ad in the Austin newspaper and got a job as a staff artist for an entrepreneurial computer game company. During my tenure at Origin Systems I worked on 13 different computer game titles, including the Ultima and Wing Commander series. The successful fledgling company grew from about 10 people in 1988 to employ hundreds until it was ultimately purchased by Electronic Arts.
With the combination of print design experience and computer graphic skills I was in a good position to take advantage of the corporate trend toward setting up in-house departments, that was taking place in the early 90s. I went to work for Holt, Rinehart Winston as a Designer with their newly formed Interactive Design Team. Our team was involved in designing interactive educational programs on CD. We also developed experimental prototypes for interactive interfaces, which is a lot more fun than it sounds. It was a great gig, working with really great, fun people and new technology at a really great company.
Austin, Texas is a unique place to live. It has a small town feel, with all of the elements of a big city. Joan and I both loved the time we lived there. During the ten years we lived there, I painted many of the scenes around town, just because they were so inspiring. When Joans parents passed away, we decided to move back to Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1998 to be closer to family. By this time I felt that I could do computer graphics no matter where I live.
I have been working as a Computer Graphic Specialist at MSKTD & Associates, an architectural/engineering firm since 1999. I am responsible for 3D visualization, Photosimulations , PowerPoint presentations and Print Marketing materials for an Architectural Engineering firm. We design & produce architectural graphics including 3D Models and Animations, Digital Photography, Illustrated site plans & elevations. Examples of 3D Architectural Visualization can be viewed in the Members Gallery at the Vizdepot. I have included a link to the Vizdepot website in my info. Click on the letter for Dan Bourbonnais to view my gallery, but check out some of the work too, if you are interested in 3D visualization.
In 2009 I lost my job doing architectural visualizations. Since then I have been enrolled at Indiana/Purdue University in Fort Wayne working towards a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you may have. I have already received several messages from old friends and relatives and it's always great to hear from people.
All artwork is copyright © 2010 Daniel Bourbonnais. No unauthorized use without permission by the artist

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