Bruce Robert Wood grew up studying art in the studios of his parents, author and illustrator Audrey and Don Wood, and in the studio of his artist grandfather, Edwin Brewer.

Bruce’s first computer was purchased when he was in the fourth grade. It was at this time that he became infatuated with the creative possibilities inherent in computers.

“My friends and I spent hours after school creating games and animation on that old Commodore 64.”

At fifteen, Bruce’s interest in both art and drama led him to attend his sophomore year of high school at Isomata, a performing arts high school high in the hills of Idyllwild, California. At Isomata he studied drama, painting, sculpture and photography. “I was trying to decide which I liked the best, but I couldn’t. I enjoyed them all!”

After graduating from high school in 1991, Bruce was accepted, at the uncommon age of 18, into California Institute of the Arts. Although his major was acting, Bruce discovered his true passion while hanging out in Cal Art’s state of the art 3-D animation and digital art department.

“I had discovered a medium that allowed me to combine all the things I enjoyed the most. When designing on a computer I use elements of drama, art, photography, drawing, painting, and sculpture. Anyone who believes the computer is not a creative tool is sadly misinformed!”

In 1993 Bruce’s passion for digital illustration led him to be among the first to enroll at the innovative San Francisco State Multimedia Center where he pursued specialized studies in graphic design, and 3-D modeling. “That’s where I found my home -- a place where I could play to my heart’s content. At the Center I had access to high end art computers 24 hours a day.”

The Center quickly recognized Bruce’s artistic abilities, and computer skills. After only one semester, the youngest student in the program was promoted from mere student to Teacher’s Assistant. Eventually he became TA for two of the most popular instructors. “The professors often let me teach the entire class all by myself, and nearly everyone was twice my age. It was amazing. I was having a wonderful time and getting paid to go to school!”

While in San Francisco, Bruce also studied at the Academy of Arts and the Center for Electronic Design.

During this time Bruce landed outside commissions where he could put his skills to work. “I had several jobs that kept me afloat. I did everything from designing book covers to magazine work to assisting modelers at the world’s foremost genetic research lab. They were trying to 3-D model DNA helixes and they had tangled them hopelessly. I was hired as an untangler.”

Following his life long artistic pattern, Bruce continues to create in many media. “I consider myself a 3-D modeler, and a digital artist who also works in traditional media such as oil and canvas and sculpture.

Bruce has created four digitally illustrated books for Blue Sky Press/Scholastic Books. Two of his books, ALPHABET ADVENTURE and ALPHABET MYSTERY, received starred reviews from Publishers’ Weekly. Bruce’s latest book, TEN LITTLE FISH, will be published by Blue Sky Press in fall, 2004.