Todd Aaron Smith

Your work has truly stretched across many medias of art, and all have been very successful. From animated shows to sketch cards for Topps (and everything in between), which experience would you say has been your most memorable?

That's a great question!  Wow, I think all of the areas in which I have been fortunate to work have been memorable in their own ways.  The third set of Major League Baseball cards that I did for Topps was particularly memorable, in that it was the artwork that attracted the attention of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  I have been a big baseball guy all of my life, and while I was a fairly decent ball player, I'll never be a member of the Hall of Fame.  Having my artwork voted into the Permanent Collection by the Acquisitions Committee of the Museum was an honor that will carry on after I am long gone.  My descendants long into the future will be able to go to the Hall of Fame and see artwork that I created.  As I get older, I have wondered what my legacy might be, or how people would remember me.  Well.... there it is.

Your attention to detail in your sketches - from the scenery to even the smallest details on the hands of the baseball players you have drawn - is truly amazing. What have been some of your favorites to sketch?

I greatly appreciate that. All of those life-drawing classes are paying off, I guess.  I have been honored to have the opportunity to draw some of the greatest guys to ever play the game. I've gotten to draw Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, and all the great ball players from the past on official Topps baseball cards.  That is something that I do not take lightly. I cannot express my appreciation enough for having gotten to do some of the things that I have done, and I wake up every day thankful.  By the way, there are some amazing things coming up in my world that I can't talk about yet, but please stay tuned... some big things are happening...!

Batman: The Animated Series has been my favorite version of Batman for an animated show. From watching the show, to then enjoying the character's versions in the comics, many still hold that version as their favorite. How does it feel being a part of the creation of such an iconic show?

I am truly grateful that people still remember that show and appreciate it.  I get to hear from people and talk with people who grew up watching it.  Lots of fans of the show ask me to make a sketch or Batman or Harley Quinn for them, and that's just amazing to me, because I worked on that more than 25 years ago!  It truly is an honor to have been a part of it.  I never forget to be thankful that I had the opportunity to work on Batman: The Animated Series.

Continuing the conversation of Batman: The Animated series… In 2018, you were finally able to meet Kevin Conroy - 27 years after the show - and presented him with an amazing sketch of Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne. Many presume that when a show is being made, all creators (artists, voice actors, and such) are involved simultaneously through the process. Working on so many shows, are there any voice actors you still are looking forward to meeting?

Kevin Conroy is such a great guy.  It really is a funny thing, because now and then I get to meet people who also worked on the show that I did not meet at the time that it was being created.  While it was being created, the voice people stayed in their areas of production, the writers stayed in their areas, the artists and animators stayed in theirs, so we never really interacted as much as people may think.  It's great to meet people with whom I have a project like Batman in common. I don't know if there is anyone I look forward to meeting specifically, but I really enjoy everyone I have had the opportunity to meet from the series.

Watching your YouTube video series, Sketching 101, and seeing your cards from Topps, do you prefer pencil over other medias? What are your ideas with animation and art done with computers?

I really do love to draw with pencils.  I always have something to draw with and something to draw on.  So I'm pretty much sketching all the time no matter where I am.  This can't be done with painting, sculpting, or other creative media, so I love sketching because I can do it just about any time or anywhere.  As for the computer age of animation, I'm very much a traditionalist and prefer hand-drawn animation.  There have been some truly wonderful films made with computer animation, but I'm the grumpy old guy who generally wants no part of it.  (HA!)  Storytelling is storytelling, though, and I do recognize that computer animation is an art form just like any other.

Being an artist/animator for many shows, as well as your work on cards, how enjoyable is it to not only illustrate for your children’s books but also be the author? Where did the inspiration for your writing come from? Did you always have interest in writing or was it a sudden curiosity?

My first book was “Cow Makes a Difference.”  It was originally going to be a short animated film that I was going to work on after hours in one of the animation studios.  I showed around some storyboards for my idea to get input from family and friends, and one of my friends said that they knew a book agent who might be interested in seeing those storyboards.  So I sent my storyboards off to Chicago to this agent.  He called me right away and said, "I think we really have something here, but what you have is far too long... can you bring it down to a 29 page story?"  I did revisions and re-sent it.  The agent then took the idea to a publisher who said, "Yes, we want to publish that, but we would like to release two books at the same time with the same characters.  Can you quickly create another one?"  So I wrote and illustrated "Cow in the Dark".  From there, I was able to get additional contracts for more books and kept doing that until I was distracted away from the book world by other creative ventures. 

It has truly been an honor getting to interview you. Thank you again for you time. We all look forward to seeing more of your incredible work.

The honor has been mine.  Thank you so much for chatting with me.  I am truly grateful for every opportunity.  I have worked very, very hard and I believe that the formula goes like this: Preparation + Opportunity = Success.  Opportunity comes along now and then.  If we are ready for it, we can be very successful.  When I began working on Batman: The Animated Series, I was in the right place at the right time with the right portfolio.  When I began drawing Topps baseball cards, I could have never imagined that I would soon be a part of the Permanent Collection at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.  Anybody can be a success if they work hard at what they love doing, and never, never forget to be thankful.

Follow Todd on social media at @todd_aaron_smith on Instagram and @TASdesign on Twitter. Also check out his website (www.toddaaronsmith.com). His drawing tutorials can be found on YouTube under “Sketching 101”. Also stop in and see him at Planet Comicon in Kansas City, August 14-16, 2020!

Keith Baldwin is a long-time geek with a family of (soon to be) seven. “Passing comic book and geek knowledge on to my kids.” He is the founder of Collector’s Maze.