Todd Lockwood

TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF

I was born and grew up in Boulder, Colorado. I had the Rocky Mountains in my backyard, and I got to see the “summer of love” through the eyes of an eleven year old in a college town. I watched Lost in Space in the third grade, when G.I. Joe was new, and Star Trek after that. Ray Harryhausen’s movies were favorites. Needless to say, Science Fiction and Fantasy consumed my childhood. Later, in my teens, I discovered Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and Dungeons and Dragons not long after. I’ve been Role-Playing for 25+ years! As an adult I became fascinated with Mythology, particularly transformative mythology and the hidden meanings of Myth. Joseph Campbell is a hero of mine for his thoughtful and thorough exploration of the World’s Myths.

I have been drawing since before I can remember, literally since I was old enough to hold a pencil. Growing up, it was my main recreation. I taught myself to draw by making my own comic books on typing paper; it was great practice, drawing the same characters, objects, and settings in sequential multiples. It honed my story telling skills at the same time; story telling was really what was on my mind. The themes were almost always sci-fi or fantasy. That evolved later into Dungeons and Dragons play: I loved DMing for my friends.


ARE THERE ANY ARTISTS YOU WOULD CREDIT AS AN INSPIRATION TO A YOUNG TODD LOCKWOOD?

Absolutely: Disney, NC Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, Frazetta, Michael Whelan, Braldt Bralds (not sure I'm spelling that right), Jeff Jones, Tedema, Rembrandt, Wally Wood... there are more, but I could never think of all of them. There are the big hitters, though.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO GAMING?

One summer a friend came home from a tour of duty in Germany and brought a game with him he'd been playing on base. It was a little white box containing pamphlets of rules. Dungeons & Dragons.! I liked playing make-believe when I was a kid -- I got abuse from the other kids because my friends and I would grab up the baseball bats at recess time and use them as rifle or bazookas, when they wanted to play baseball. But here suddenly was this game that allowed a context for creative play amongst friends. It was like someone had kicked down a wall I didn't know was there. I could keep being a kid with my buds right on into adulthood. Amazing.

WHAT IS IT YOU FIND SO APPEALING ABOUT GAMING?

I think I just answered that, actually: creative play, cooperative story-telling, mind-expanding recreation. Perfect.

SHARE A FAVOURITE GAMING MOMENT WITH US
What... Pick one? That will be hard.

My first ever character was rolled up using three six-sided die, one roll per stat, no adjustments. I rolled 18s for Strength and Constitution. Obviously, a fighter. I believe his Charisma was 8, so there ya go. He was the only survivor in that first session of an inter-player brouhaha. It was a wild and exhilarating introduction to the game! 

There's the time that every character in our group was killed by a gang of monks until just my Wizard/illusionist remained, squared off against the last monk. We killed each other with our last actions. But we had one character whose Constitution was so high that he regenerated back to life, gathered us all up, and found a way to get everyone raised. Closest call ever.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY PLAYING?

Currently nothing. I left my old gaming group behind in Colorado when I moved to take the job at TSR, and have settled in the Pacific Northwest with my family. I did some gaming at Wizards when 3rd Edition was new, but honestly, I get my fantasy fix every day now. I do miss it sometimes, but I have so many other opportunities for creative play now...

CAN YOU TELL US WHAT YOUR FAVOURITE GAMES ARE?

D&D will always have a special place in my heart, but Shadowrun was also loads of fun, and then Earthdawn turned out to be a well-designed game system with a fascinating world. I played an Obsidiman who might possibly be my favorite of all the characters I've played, which is saying something.

WHAT WAS THE LAST GAME YOU PLAYED?

With my old Colorado group it was Earthdawn, and then a spacefaring game that one of the other DMs in my old group created. I only made a cameo in that game, however, on a visit to Colorado a few years back. I did play a little 3rd Edition D&D at Wizards.

WHICH PRODUCTS HAVE YOU HAD YOUR WORK PUBLISHED IN?

Oy... lemme think. Dungeons & Dragons, of course, from Dragonlance to Ravenloft to the Forgotten Realms to core rules; I did one Battletech cover; Magic the Gathering; Worlds of Warcraft; a Warhammer painting that I can never show; various video game illustrations; various d20 licensed games from Green Ronin and Paradigm Concepts; various covers for White Wolf vampire games... I'm probably missing something.


A WARHAMMER PAINTING YOU CAN NEVER SHOW?

Yeah, but I can't explain, either. I'm contractually bound to silence.


IF YOU COULD NOMINATE ONE OF YOUR WORKS AS YOUR BEST, WHICH WOULD IT BE?

That's tough. That's like asking me which of my children I like best. Some turned out great, others not so great. There are some still hanging around the house and some I wish I hadn't sold. The same is true of my artwork.

That's a joke, see. Don't make me explain it while you read it again... ;o)

ARE YOU WORKING ON ANY GAMING-RELATED PROJECTS AT THE MOMENT?

Actually no. Right now I'm not.

DO YOU HAVE ANY WEBPAGES OR SOCIAL NETWORK ACCOUNTS WHERE FANS CAN FIND YOU?

My website:

http://www.toddlockwood.com/

My blog:

http://www.tolo.biz/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/artoftoddlockwood