Mark Todd, an artist and illustrator whose work appears in all the right places, from Rolling Stone to Mtv to the New York Times, currently has a solo sow of his art at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in L.A. I caught up with him for an email interview this week; here’s what we wrote:

Peggy Roalf:  You have what many people – especially teens – would call “a dream job”: Drawing and painting comics and other fun stuff. Did your parents worry about your future when you told them you wanted to be an artist?

Mark Todd: Not so much. My mom was especially supportive. She really trusted me from the very beginning. Looking back I realize that she was so blindly optimistic. When I was in junior high my brother and I nearly talked her into quitting her job to open a comic book store. We knew nothing about how to run a business – we just liked comics. Luckily we kind of realized that and gave up on the idea before she went along with it. But I always wanted to be an artist of some sort. All I did was draw. I don't know what would have happened if it didn't work out.

Installation views of Mark Todd: Force Field, on view at La Luz de Jesus Gallery through July 31st. Photos: courtesy FunChicken.com.

PR: What's your favorite kind of assignment?

MT: I like the jobs where I can interpret the assignment in interesting way. Book reviews and covers are good for that. Or shirt designs, things like that. I like to create work that captures and certain mood, not so much the ones that need to show a specific moment in time. Portraits are also a fun challenge. I like to try and capture an expression that can engage the viewer.

PR: Of all the publications that have folded in the last few years, was there one in particular that was really fun to work for – and why?

MT: Actually, what I miss more is the music. CD packaging was always fun and open to interesting work.

PR: Do you ever put yourself into the shoes of the character in a story you're illustrating? For example, have you ever climbed a mountain, kayaked to a remote island or sneaked onto the commodities trading floor just to get into the spirit of an assignment?

MT: When I read those stories I just feel so damn lazy. I haven't done any of those things! I have gone "on assignment" a few times for work. The L.A. Times sent me to Hollywood to draw and this weekend I’m going to UCLA to do a story about the Madrid soccer team training. Those types of jobs are always fun because you never know what you are going to get.

PR: You and your wife (illustrator Esther Pearl Watson) did the cover art and all the dividers for American Illustration 22 back in 2003. What was it like to collaborate on a big project like that one?

MT: It was great. We just jumped right in. We created tons of work, probably dozens of pieces. Then we packed it all up and mailed it off. We had no idea that so much of the work would end up being used. We were just planning for the cover. It was a nice surprise. I think people could see and feel the energy we put into that book.

PR: What's your favorite time of day for drawing and painting?

MT: Well, I am not a morning person so much although I also seem to get up early to get my daughter to school or camp, etc. I guess I do get a lot done before noon. But my favorite time to work is at night when things have quieted down. I don't get to do that too often and I always pay for it the next morning. But its worth it. I think I work five times faster at night.

PR: What are you listening to now?

MT: All sorts of things I guess. I still have a 400 disk changer in my studio, usually set to random. I switch between that and Pandora. Miles Davis, Neil Diamond, Little Wings, the knife, Lavender Diamond...NPR in the car almost always.

PR: How do you balance or divide your time between personal work (exhibirts and books); assignments; and teaching?

MT: It can be a problem. I just try and do it all. It's all so enjoyable. Sometimes I freak out and feel like I should slow down.

PR: Do you mainly draw and paint directly on paper or board?

MT: For commercial work I draw on paper. For painting I tend to work on panel.

PR: What's your favorite kind of paper or board to work on?

MT: Nothing fancy. Xerox paper.

PR: Do you collect books and printed matter and ephemera for inspiration and how do you organize it?

MT: I have a ton of books. Not enough space. The bookshelf is overflowing and the books lay in piles all over the studio. So no, I am not very organized.

PR: What’s your favorite place to be when you’re not in your studio?

MT: I like road trips. Esther, our daughter Lili, a photographer friend and our French bulldog Mr. Pickles are going to drive to Texas at the end of the month. I also like going anywhere that has good beer.

PR: What's the nicest thing an art director ever said to you?

MT: Your giant painting is framed and hanging in my house.

PR: What's the nicest thing you ever said to an art director?

MT: I love working for you.

PR: Here’s what the La Luz de Jesus gallery director wrote about Mark’s show: Mark Todd's last show with us (January 2010 at BSFA) was covered by USA Today. He continues his process of reinterpreting, deconstructing and adopting classic iconic comic imagery in his July 2011 La Luz de Jesus Gallery show, Force Field. The works reference snippets of abstracted comics and combine many covers and characters, melding them together in mixed media paintings and layered collage works, producing rich layers of oozing, fragmented and multiple plains. Anchoring the show [is] a large dimensional centerpiece installation – a full scale, comics inspired fireworks stand composed of wood, chicken wire, lights and flags with painted surfaces.

Mark Todd: Force Field, continues at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, 4633 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA. through July 31^st. Visit Mark’s blog here.

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