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In 1995, London Ladd began his bachelor’s degree in illustration at Syracuse University. He wasn’t your “typical” undergraduate student. He was married with a daughter and slightly older than his classmates. He was working part time at SU’s Parking and Transportation Services office, taking part time classes, hell-bent on graduating and getting out of school.

In 2006, Ladd’s last semester at SU, he worked on a collage for a class assignment. Seniors would display their work at Lubin House and receive feedback from professionals in New York City. Ladd’s collage garnered significant attention, leading to early success. But he admits he might not have broadened his horizons back then.

“Being so single-minded, I pushed the collage again like, ‘Great, but I want to paint,’” Ladd said. “I put it on the shelf and kept doing what I was doing until I got tired of what I was doing because it was too repetitive.”

A year later, Ladd got his first contract and by 2008, he was published. After spending time working and publishing, Ladd came back to SU in 2019 for his master’s degree, where he’s now an assistant professor of illustration.

Author Cheryl Willis Hudson’s new book, “When I Hear Spirituals,” which Ladd illustrated, was released Jan. 7. It’s a collection of poems inspired by traditional African American spirituals.The title comes from a poem Willis Hudson wrote about 40 years ago of the same name.

So why, if he was so successful with illustrations, did Ladd come back for his master’s degree? He wanted to learn more. Plus, once he got back on campus, he realized he could take advantage of resources he’d neglected in his undergraduate time. He said he regrets not previously using Comstock Art Facility and other similar spaces during his time as an SU student.

Ladd had learning experiences outside of illustration, too. At the height of the #NotAgainSU movement, he noticed some of the Chinese international students in his master’s degree classes stayed home because they didn’t feel safe. It broke his heart, he said, so he took on a fatherly role, checking on his classmates and helping them if needed.

“As a dad, I wouldn’t want that for my daughter. I wouldn’t want that for any child to go to school to experience a hostile environment,” Ladd said. “You’re here to learn. You’re here to grow.”

Ladd still stays in contact with his classmates. Last semester, he took a few of his current students on a field trip to the Society of Illustrators in New York City, and ran into his old classmates, who he was thrilled to see, giving each of them a hug.

“They’re beautiful people, and they were so instrumental in my success,” Ladd said. “I really cared for all those kids, and I finally got that really close bonding experience with classmates that I never had as an undergrad.”

Ladd’s been around a while, sure, but he’s not “old” in any sense of the word. Expressive wrinkles on his brow and some graying in his goatee betray his youthful spirit.

That spirit is reflected in his teaching style. His students, like sophomores Vivian Baltzer and Cyna Peters, praised his one-on-one teaching style and ability to individually help students.

Peters shared an anecdote about a figure drawing session, where Ladd gave her his own pen after watching her draw. He let her use it for the whole class.

“It was a parallel pen, and I absolutely loved it,” Peters said. “After I told him that, he came back over to me and showed me the Amazon links and all the different colors of ink they have. He was clearly super excited that I liked it.”

One thing about illustration: there’s plenty of creative freedom. An illustrator could draw comic books, graphics for newspapers or magazines — really any topic. But Ladd has focused primarily on children’s books since the late 1990s.

The first children’s book Ladd remembers reading was “Goodnight, Moon,” which he read to his daughter, who was born right before Ladd’s first semester in undergrad. Bob Dacey, another illustration professor at SU, introduced him to more children’s books, including ones by Black illustrators like Jerry Pinkney and James Ransome.

Once Ladd saw these books, that was it. With blinders on, all he focused on was illustrating children’s books.

Courtesy of London Ladd

A scene from author Cheryl Hudson’s new book, “When I Hear Spirituals,” illustrated by artist London Ladd, depicts a daughter hugging her father as he works on his laptop. Ladd focuses on children’s books that tie into his own life.

There’s a scene in Ladd’s new book that’s personal to him. A daughter hugs her father as he works on his laptop.

It’s emblematic of Ladd’s newer style. He started his career with historical illustrations in biographies on figures like Oprah Winfrey and Fredrick Douglass, but has since gravitated to personal work inspired by his own life.

“I felt like I limited myself,” Ladd said. “After a certain point, you feel like you need to grow.”

Historical work burned him out. Researching these topics was “very depressing,” he said. When Ladd looked at his illustrator friends’ books, they were joyful and colorful by contrast. By 2019, he had started the new phase of his career and his personal life changed.

In 2018, Ladd got divorced. After the divorce, Ladd’s mom was a source of support. But his mom got sick, then died a year later.

The year was rough, but it pushed Ladd as an illustrator. It reminds him of the scene in “Avengers: Infinity War,” when Thanos confronts his daughter, who asks him if he succeeded and at what cost. Thanos responds, “Everything.”

“Instead of slinking away and really disappearing, which I almost did, I really pushed,” Ladd said. “What I do now has more value and purpose.”

Willis Hudson has known Ladd for about 20 years, and kept up with his work on Facebook and Instagram. In 2020, around the time of the Black Lives Matter movement, she was moved by a portrait Ladd did of Breonna Taylor.

“He was developing a newer, more freeing kind of illustration,” Willis Hudson said. “They were so full of movement and rhythm and color.”

“When I Hear Spirituals” was a perfect match for Ladd. Willis Hudson views spirituals as not just auditory, but visual, too, and the direction Ladd was taking was exactly what she needed.

When authors and illustrators work together on books, the protocol is to keep them separate. Authors don’t influence the illustrations, and illustrators don’t influence the words. It’s an individual process.

With “When I Hear Spirituals,” Ladd and Willis Hudson followed the set protocol. Ladd asked a few brief questions, and Willis Hudson sent him a recording of her reading the poems, but that was the only contact they had. Yet, when the final illustrations were in, it was exactly what Willis Hudson had envisioned from listening to the spirituals and writing the poems.

“When I Hear Spirituals” represents a full circle moment for Ladd. He started off with more personal illustrations, things inspired by his life experience or the poems Willis Hudson wrote. Toward the end of the book, illustrations become more inspired by history, including when Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis famously crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.

It’s almost like the inverse of his career, which started with historical work and ended with personal work.

“It’s like a Christopher Nolan movie,” Ladd joked.

Published on January 16, 2025 at 1:18 am