Keith LaFond

I was born in Norwich, Connecticut and grew up on the East Side. I now live in Yantic. I like sci fi, comedy, rock and roll, pop, classical, jazz and a little pit of punk. I don’t like seafood, politics and bullies.

I’ve been drawing for as long as I remember.  In the third grade I got in trouble at school for drawing naked ladies.  I’ve sold a few cartoons and jokes over the years, but when the National Lampoon magazine shut down I saw little chance of anyone else being interested in my odd sense of humor.  But I am recently inspired to resume my cartooning by new markets like the Adult Swim cable network.  But for the last four years or so all I’ve been doing is painting.  I had an oil painting class in high school but it is only now that I’m pursuing it seriously.  In fact I’ve neglected to pick any medium of color until now, but I think I’m learning the vocabulary of color pretty quickly.  It took a while to get over the lack of control a brush offers compared to the precision of the pointed tip of a pen or pencil.  But I think I can paint better now then I could ever draw, especially in black and white.  I had a show in 2008 with a dozen or so paintings at the Spirit Gallery in Franklin Ct.  But in my rush to finish a number of the paintings in time, I neglected to do enough to publicize the show.  I sold one painting and that was encouraging.  In the years since I think I’ve improved and am ready to show the world my work.

 

 

http://www.reverbnation.com/keithlafond

 

I can’t remember if my first instrument was the saxophone or guitar.  I learned half a dozen guitar chords at the YMCA when I was in the third or fourth grade.  About that time I took saxophone lessons at school and played in the school band there and in junior high. By the time I was in high school I was playing bass in one garage band after another.  Then at sixteen I somehow wound up in a progressive rock band playing Genesis, Pink Floyd,  Kansas, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer.  It was challenging and a real gas to know I could play this stuff.  But I was still a kid and the band replaced me after about a year when I failed to keep up.  But after that I was no longer satisfied playing stuff like AC/DC and Bad Company.  I didn’t play in another band for years and turned to home recording and writing my own quirky songs.  I bought a four track recorder and a drum machine.  I resumed my guitar playing and taught myself to play the keyboard.  I spent a summer playing some of my songs with a band called Blue Cake.  More recently I played with The Bottles covering the songs of bands such as The Monkees, The Beatles, Squeeze, and XTC.

  I now use a sixteen track digital recorder and usually sing and play everything but the drums.  But I’ve been practicing on a Yamaha drum pad and soon will play everything including the drums. 

My main goal is to establish a career with  my painting.  I’m also putting together a group of original songs.  After doing the best I can recording them at home I hope to bring them to a professional studio with a new band.  I’m digging up some old cartoons and stories and along with some new ideas, I hope to establish a cartoon strip, comic book, and/or a TV show.

   This is my first website and am learning as I go.  There will be many changes, additions and improvements to come, so please check back often.

                                                                                                 Keith