ESU Alum’s Artwork Chosen for New ABC Crime Show

East Stroudsburg University alumna Abigail Braman is involved in a crime drama, and the only way she got her hands dirty is through her paintings.

If you watch ABC’s new crime drama “Forever” this season, you might get to see some original artwork by Abigail Braman ’13.

The ABC television network is renting the images of six of Braman’s paintings, for use on the set of “Forever” as posters in a character’s room.

“All of those nights spent painting instead of sleeping worked in my favor,” she says.

“Forever” premieres on Sept. 22 and 23, is about a medical examiner who works on criminal cases while trying to solve his own personal mystery: why he is immortal.

Braman, a freelance artist and illustrator, was thrilled to have her work chosen for a show that will be televised across the country. It is all thanks, in part, thanks to two ESU professors.

She thanks David Mazure, an assistant professor of Art + Design, and Yoshinori Tanokura, assistant professor of Theatre, for helping her make the connection with ABC.

Mazure explains how Tanokura “sent me an e-mail saying he had a contact in the [comic book] industry who was looking for an illustrator to do a noir comic book.”. Mazure thought of Braman, who graduated last December with a bachelor’s degree in fine art with a concentration in art history for the gig.

“I thought her style would be perfect,” Mazure says. “It’s unique. The way she used a very dark color palate with a dark type of scenery kind of lends itself to that noir style where there’s extreme lighting with a lot of dark backgrounds. And she’s a very talented illustrator as well so she could draw anything more or less. Whatever they needed her to draw, I was pretty confident she would be able to do that.”

Mazure passed the information on to Braman, who applied for the noir comic book commission. The person she contacted turned out to be the art director for “Forever.”

The Art Director told Braman she really liked her portfolio but they were looking for something different for the comic book covers. The director did, however, ask to rent images of six of Braman’s original paintings for the ABC drama. Braman was told the images might appear in Episode 6 of the first season.

That connection and the national exposure Braman’s artwork will receive is invaluable to an artist, says Joni Oye-Benintende, chairwoman of the ESU Art + Design Department.

“Once people know that somebody else wants you, it makes you that much more attractive,” Oye-Benintende says. “It’s good for her resume.”

Braman says she learned a lot about illustrating from Mazure.

“He challenged me,” Braman says. “He definitely helped me get better.”

Braman also credits Melissa Geiger, an associate professor of Art History, for fueling her passion for art history and helping her become a better student and a better writer.

When Braman isn’t painting and illustrating, she’s making music and working part-time in the Big Bug Music store in Stroudsburg.

Braman plays banjo, guitar and sings with the band, The Killer Pines, a Rockabilly/Swing/Folk music band that sometimes performs at the Sarah Street Bar & Grill in Stroudsburg.

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