Corel Painter Master - Todd Lockwood

Name: Todd Lockwood Occupation/Profession: Illustrator Location: Bonney Lake, Washington Hobbies: Writing, Gardening, Hiking, Landscaping, History, Sculpture URL: www.toddlockwood.com

Biography

How long have you been in this profession?
27 years

Why did you choose this profession? How did you get started?
It chose me! I don't remember actually choosing to be an artist. Commercial art was a choice, I suppose, but fifteen years of advertising art nearly drove me into real estate. It wasn't until I fired my agents and pursued work on my own that I stated to get the kinds of work I enjoyed. That led me naturally into fantasy and science fiction, where I finally began to find my "voice."

What are your most important accomplishments?
Taking charge of my own career ranks high. Everything else that followed came because I stopped waiting for other people to get me what I wanted. The job at TSR, then the makers of Dungeons & Dragons, was pivotal. Eventually they were bought by Wizards of the Coast, where I led the team that redesigned the look of the game for the release of the 3rd Edition of the rules. It proved to be the most successful version of D&D ever. You can't have more fun that designing the dragons for D&D! It became the launch pad for other successes.

Why did you choose Painter?
Painter enables me to paint digitally the same way I painted traditionally, which was important to me. I didn't want a traditional look and a digital look--I wanted a seamless transition. Painter made that possible.

Do you have any interesting/funny/noteworthy stories?
To be honest, I chose Painter as much out of fear as anything. In my advertising days, computers changed the landscape, and many artists I knew went out of business, unable to compete with studios that could afford to spend $100,000 on computer equipment. I ran to TSR in part because they were still using traditional art. But then in 1999 I started to see work by other artists being done with Painter. I was blown away! It looked like paint, not like the Photoshop airbrush analog or photo-montage stuff I'd seen previously.