Justin Todd: Glorious obsession

Back in the late 1960s, I found myself working in publishing. Nestled in a small office at the very top of a building on Queen Street, Mayfair, I was installed as the art director of William Heinemann at the tender age of 24.
 
For me, it was the beginning of a wonderful decade of education. I came into contact with not only some of the world’s greatest authors but also many of the best designers, photographers and illustrators working at that time. One of these was an illustrator who visited me to show his work. His name was Justin Todd and I was instantly smitten by the sheer originality and quality of his approach to illustration.

 
Book jacket for a Georgette Heyer novel around 1972

Following that meeting, he was constantly on my radar and became a regular collaborator on many of the book covers that I was responsible for, both at Heinemann and a little later when I moved onto William Collins’ Fontana Paperbacks in the mid-1970s.
 
At my original meeting with Todd, he left me a copy of a calendar that he’d illustrated for Midland Bank. Now, 44 years later, I still have it. The quality of that work still moves me…

 Lombard Merchants for Midland Bank 1970

My admiration for Todd was such that I edited and designed a large format illustrated paperback of his work, published by Fontana in 1978. Here it is:

Todd worked (and I’m sure still does) in a painstakingly laborious way, using gouache paint and a collection of extremely fine brushes. He slowly works from one side of his watercolour paper to the other within a predetermined grid in which he has meticulously planned his image.

Todd at work sandwiched between two anglepoise lamps. 1978

Each illustration takes many, many days, if not weeks, to produce and must have taken its toll on Todd’s eyesight. But he has been labouring away now for almost 6 decades and his later, exemplary illustrated bookwork earned him many awards and much praise.

The Wind in the Willows 1987

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 1996

The Wind in the Willows 1987 

Throughout his working career he also taught illustration. A large part of this was spent at the Brighton School of Art, where he encouraged and guided hundreds of students; I’m sure many are now flourishing as illustrators themselves. They owe a great debt to Todd’s dedication and enthusiasm.

Cover for The Journey East 1972

Cover for Tolkien's World 1975

Trial painting for The Legend of Tetuna 1977

Cover for Good News in Letters of Paul 1975

Christmas Witch card for the V&A

I have enormous admiration for any individual who spends their life adding nourishment to our world by creating things of beauty. They rarely earn a fortune for their labours, unlike those in the world of banking or equity management who give nothing and take everything. It is so unfair.
 
Justin Todd is a hero in my view, with a body of mind-bogglingly beautiful work that shines far brighter than any gold ingot.

Now in his 80s, long may he continue.

Comments

[Kellie]

I particularly like the Georgette Heyer cover at the top. Its absence of fantasy content highlights the fantasy of its rendering. In the colour and treatment of foliage it feels very tapestry-like, and the grid technique you mention fits with that. I presume this means he produced full colour roughs rather than leaving any major colour decisions to be decided in the final painting.

[mike dempsey]

Hello Kellie - Todd's roughs were always immaculate and meticulously planed.

[Ed Zaghini]

One of my favourite illustrators of all time. You can alwyas identify a Justin Todd's piece and that is what makes him so unique amongst his peers. An artist that I greatly admire.

[Tony Pritchard]

Thank you for honouring Justin Todd in this way. I was taught by him in the early 80s at Middlesex Polytechnic. He brought in the original paintings for his interpretation of Alice in Wonderland. His dry brush technique (in the abstract) was as fantastical as the subject matter it portrayed. His slow painting process of literally dragging virtually dry paint across paper was a genuine labour of love. He was very self-deprecating, feeling he was something of a flop in comparison to his contemporaries such as Raymond Briggs. His laborious process and figurative style seemed not to be so much in fashion at the time. He felt he needed a hit with Alice. He was fighting against a backdrop of 'cool'. I found the work inspiration but as a young illustrator turned designer I felt the approach belonged to an older age (more the pity). I remember how just looking at the paintings close up was in someways more true to teaching than being talked at. Justin and his body of work stand testament to perseverance through adversity.