Born in 1969 in Texas, Todd White was raised in an artistic family. His mother, a schoolteacher, painted both for pleasure and professionally, and she consistently guided and encouraged White’s artistic talents. He decided to pursue painting as a career partially because of her remarkable encouragement and he moved to Hollywood, California to work as an animator. He quickly became a valuable member of the Warner Bros. Studios lead character design team for the internationally acclaimed cartoon show, SpongeBob SquarePants. It was during this time that White was able to study and explore artistic styles and concepts previously unavailable to him. This study led him to develop his unique creative process. Unlike many designers and painters, White begins each piece by giving it a title and he visualizes every character and their personalities before he even begins to paint. Until he has a story and concept secure in his imagination, he will not begin a painting. He also limits the images to what is necessary: “what isn’t necessary to the story isn’t on the canvas.”

The stories White relates often focus on the glamour and excitement and vibrancy of the Hollywood lifestyle. With bold, contrasting colors and distinctive, careful details, he portrays the people around him with notable clarity. Each face and each body tells a tale, particularly the hands of his subjects. “Everyone’s hands are full of personality,” White explains, so he often uses them as a focal point of a painting to reflect the subject’s state of mind as much as body language and facial expressions do. What is in the subject’s hands can be equally crucial, whether it is a glass of red wine or a cigarette trailing tendrils of smoke. Capturing what seems to be obvious, White depicts a “known intimacy,” something that is in plain sight but reveals the vulnerability and details of a person’s life. The exaggerated features and textured skin of his characters simply reinforce the impressions he relays, whether it is a moment of passion, of fear, or of humor.

White’s creations have become wildly popular, especially among the elite in Hollywood. In fact, he has become something of a style icon, impressing and inspiring the people who, in turn, inspire his work.