Soon available to paint 4U

[The Antra]

Todd,

As much as it is utterly frightening having you as competition here on the freelance d20 market, I am glad your art will grace other products other than D&D.

I believe it is basically what everyone above is telling you, but here it is again:

You are a true inspiration, an amazing artist and an all-time nice guy. Thanks for all the tips you gave me when I started my career.

Just for the records: You managed to share the seat as my all-time favorite artist with Larry Elmore (and that guy has been sitting there for a loooooong time!).

Best wishes,
Marcio Fiorito

 

[Nathanael]

That royally sucks. I'm a huge Lockwood fan. His work brought me back to D&D after 18 years by dint of the art design of the new PHB catching my eye, so believe me when I say that this is an incredibly stupid move. WOTC believes that, with the core stuff mostly finished, they have no need for creatives anymore. How wrong can you be?!

I'm no expert businessman (although the economy has forced me into freelance work as well), but if I had the talent at my disposal that WOTC had, then I wouldn't get rid of them at the end of the production cylce. I'd start a new production cycle for a new product that isn't D&D related and let all those brilliant designers and artists come up with the next 'big thing,' which I'm sure they would have been well capable of doing. Let's face it, Magic: the Gathering and Pokemon didn't create themselves. Talented artists and designers did and that's what created the huge business that WOTC once enjoyed.

Corporate Business Logic. If ever there was an oxymoron...

 

[beta-ray]

Todd,
Although I am not surprised at the events (considering what is apparently happening to D&D at WotC), it does sadden me. I thought yours was some of the best that 3e had to offer. Hopefully your art will conrinue to grace the pages of other RPG related books in the near future so we can all benefit.

Much luck to you!

 

[Foundry of Decay]

Ah, the wonderful life of an artist

Artists always seem to get the wrong end of the broomhandle when it comes to big corporate business. I've been ousted myself from every art job I ever had (I've had several, one of which actually paid.. The others fled to Mexico).

I'm VERY sorry to see this happen. Mr. Lockwood's artwork is among the highest in quality that I've seen in any RPG, and releasing him will only result in bad, amatuerish 'contract' artwork.. By that I mean, there will be too many styles, and too likely the artist who bids for the smallest pay will get the job.. Artists who make the smallest bids tend to be.. Well.. Not great.

This also means that the 'new' miniatures game that they are rumoring to come out next year isn't going to look anywhere as good as Chainmail did, I'd wager. Of course, it's likely that the miniatures plan will be scrapped anyway, as that has always been low priority with them ever since they turfed Chris Pramas (Now there was a guy who liked miniatures!).

I wish Mr. Lockwood the best, and like others have stated, I'm sure he won't go wanting for very long!

 

[Desdichado]

Not to stir up any trouble, or anything, but does any other game company keep in-house artists? Or any publishing company, for that matter? I thought freelance was really the standard for even the bigger publishing industry, much more so for RPGs. Rather than automatically assume someone at WotC upper management is smoking dope, I have to ask why they had the only in-house art department in the industry in the first place. If it's such a great way to run things, at least big publishers like Tor, or DelRey or someone would do the same thing, right?

 

[2WS-Steve]

If you can afford it I imagine the in-house art staff is a real boon to the creative process. By having your artists just down the hall you can talk with them more often to help develop a consistent overall theme to the art in a product. 3e has a distinctive feel and even the smaller pieces such as the Spelljammer bit in Polyhedron probably looked better and more consistent because they had artists on staff.

Also, with the caliber of artist WotC employs the artists could contribute to the creative process. If a card artist or RPG artist is playing around with some illustrations in their spare time those illustrations could inspire a writer to come up with a new monster, place, character, or whatever. These guys are experts at creating a visual so having them around to help inspire the text people has got to be nice.

 

[toddlockwood]

Regarding staff artists

TSR in the eighties used a staff of artists to define the Dragonlance series... one of the most successful book lines out there. D&D set a high standard for a long time by having in house artists creating a consistent look. 2E wandered a bit, with turnover in the art staff. The look of the game began to meander. Freelancers did what they wanted for the most part. No consistency.

With 3E, Sam and I got a chance to right a foundering ship. With the creation for the first time of an actual Style Guide, D&D as an IP (Intellectual property) finally had a LOOK of its own. That's important to an IP, it makes it instantly recognizable, and easier to market. Consistency is everything.

Even before acquiring TSR, Wizards of the Coast had some fine artists on staff, Mark Tedin and Anthony Waters. Games Workshop has a staff of talented artists keeping their look consistent. Many computer gaming companies keep staff artists. It is a recognized benefit, as proven by TSR, WotC, GW, and many others.

Hasbro is breaking the mold.

 

[Cyanide]

Beyond Rage

To say that this is a monumental ball dropping by Hasbro is to say Lord of the Rings was a little influential. As great as all of the artists have been in recent WotC works, I associate 3e with Todd Lockwood's material more than any other. Not unlike Elmore or Easley with past editions.

The very recent self-destruction of WotC, mostly by Hasbro, has been chasing me away from RPGing, and this is truly the last straw. People who continue to buy Hasbro products are, despite their wishes, condone these "business" decisions. Hasbro is a cancer, and it is killing WotC - it's just a matter of time. Perhaps somebody will pick up the rotted pieces and rebuild - I'll be gone by then, so I don't really care. This entire recent Hasbro/WotC saga reminds me of something a friend of mine told me just after Episode 2 came out. He was so disappointed, he truly felt George Lucas was killing his childhood pleasures. I feel that way about D&D. I guess I just miss the certainty - and now, Todd Lockwood's wonderful art.

Later,

Me

 

[ForceUser]

Man I love your art. You are, to me, the quintessential 3E artist. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do next! Best of luck to you, Todd!

 

[rounser]

3E's style of gear reminded me of the style used in the Baldur's Gate CRPG series in the item descriptions to an extent - most noticeably the quite stylistic shields. It made me wonder whether they were an influence on the 3E look.