Illustrations for Art in the Blood

The following illustrations were painted by author Bonnie MacBird generally using the techniques of Sidney Paget, one of the first and arguably the most famous illustrator of the original Conan Doyle stories. As Paget did, she had her friends photographed (ours were period costumes, his contemporary, obviously) in scenes from the book, then sketched these up, added backgrounds, and painted them in monochromatic watercolor, pen and ink. That all her friends were actors added considerably to the dramatic feeling. See cast list below.

2.Waste Of TimeARTEDDavid_JPGSmall — 2: “Come, Watson. I fear our visit has been a waste of time.”

3.WatsonWatsonARTEDDavid_JPGSmall — 3: “Watson, Watson!”

ARTED_JPGSmall — 4: “The dangerous one dies first.”

5. VIDOCQARTEDDavid_JPGSmall — 5: “Jean Vidocq. And you must be Dr. Watson.”

6.PunchARTEDDavid_JPGSmall — 6: I hesitated no longer but struck him a hard right to the jaw.

7.NearMissPallMallFINALDavid_JPGSmall — 7: “Holmes!” I shouted and seized his arm.

8_Hands_Photos_CaptionDavid_JPGSmall — 8: “The tale is darker than I feared. Take a look at this.”

9.StrothersandDaughterARTEDDavid_JPGSmall — 9: “Annabelle!” he moaned in agony. “My child! Oh, my God!”

10.ABitStuckARTEDDavid_JPGSmall — 10: “At the risk of stating the obvious, I am a bit stuck.”

12.AsOneWouldApproachLionARTEDDavid_JPGSmall — 12: “…as one would approach a circus lion.”

13_A_Heroic_Fight_ARTEDDavid_JPGSmall — 13: “Leaping and parrying with his shovel, Holmes easily fought off both of them. But against four…”

Special thanks to Robert Mammana who took the photographs and posed for Vidocq, Rob Arbogast and Paul Denniston who modeled for Holmes and Watson, and Miguel Perez, Samara Bay, Brad Bose, Jonathan LeBillon, and Ryan Johnson who also modeled.