Paul Bransom, (July 1885 - July 1979) was an American painter, cartoonist and Illustrator of animals. Born in Washington, D.C. and as a child he started sketching animals he saw in his backyard and at the National Zoo. He began his career as a technical draftsman for the U.S. Patent Office when he was 13 years old. He relocated in New York in 1903 and began drawing comic strips for the New York Evening Journal. He drew the comic strip The Latest News from Bugville (1903-1912). After moving to New York, his talent as a wildlife artist was recognized while creating studies of the animals at the Bronx Zoo. His earliest commissions were covers for the Saturday Evening Post and illustrations for editions of Kipling's Just So Stories and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.