Born in Wales, Dodd trained at the Glasgow School of Art alongside Muirhead Bone who later went onto marry his sister. After being awarded the Haldane Scholarship in 1893, Dodd travelled across Europe to France, Italy and Spain. Charles Masterman, the head of the War Propaganda Bureau (WPB), appointed Dodd as the official war artist during World War I. Dodd produced more than 30 military portraits during this time while serving on the Western Front. Although these were the worst possible times for Britain, Dodd’s portraits gained him recognition and he was appointed a trustee of the Tate Gallery in 1929. He held this position for 6 years and was later appointed as an associate of the Royal Academy and later a member in 1935. Dodd lived out the rest of his life in Arundel House in Blackheath in London until 1949.