Activating the size control on
belt, the man-mountain reduces
height from six hundred feet to six
feet, and agrees to talk with TSR PROFILES.

“I was born in West Covina, California,
on October 22, 1958,” Keith began,
“but moved around a lot.

My father was working his way up
the corporate ladder with GMAC, so we
moved to San Diego, New York, Miami, and
Lansing, Michigan, all before I graduated
high school.

“As a kid, I was in love with spaceships. I
collected posters and did lots of spaceship
drawings. But when I was twelve years old,
my interest in art took a back seat to music.
Much to my parents’ chagrin, I bought a
drum set with hard-earned money from
mowing lawns, and took several years of
drum lessons.

“I got involved with a rock & roll band in
high school, and played semi-professionally
all the way through high school and
into college. For several years, my band
toured on weekends. We were into heavy
metal, and played stuff by Blue Oyster Cult,
Rush, Led Zeppelin, and other heavy metal
monster groups.

“On one weekend gig, I met my future
wife, Mary, who is now the DRAGON Magazine
Advertising Coordinator. We have a
son, Nicholas, who is 21 months old, and a
dog, named Sluggo.”

Keith was also a dyed-in-the-wool science
fiction fan. “I guess I’ve read everything by
Heinlein and frank Herbert, and most other
mainstream SF authors. I didn’t ever read
much fantasy, though, except for Lord of
the Rings, which I loved.”

During his last year in high school, he
was invited by an art teacher to join a college
credit art course. “I had just discovered
Frank Frazetta, and was already a big
fan of Roger Dean from his Yes album covers.
Frazetta in particular is a big influence
on my work. . . but I guess he is for every
fantasy artist.”

Keith went to Michigan State University
for a year, studying art. “I thought their
act curriculum was the pits, so I left to study
commercial art at the Kendall School of Design
in Grand Rapids. I personally recommend
commercial art schools over
university study if you want to be an illustrator.
And I wanted to be an illustrator
rather than a ‘fine artist.’

“I was torn between art and music as a
career, and didn’t make up my mind until
my last year in school. The band wasn’t
great by any means, but we were nearing
the adequate mark. But I felt some responsibility
to my father, who had paid for my
education, which I appreciated (and still
do), and they worked hard to persuade me
that art was a better choice. The real consideration,
however, was that as a drummer
I wasn’t in control musically, and as an illustrator,
I was much more in control of my
work. So I went with art, and in hindsight,
I’m very glad.

“I did freelance work in Chicago for nine
months while looking for a job. I also sold
stereos — there’s a lot of money in sales!
But one day I got a response to a blind
newspaper ad, and got a job as a fantasy illustrator
with a company that did artwork
for pinball machines and video games.
Some of the games I worked on were Jungle
King, Tron, Iron Maiden, Viper, and
Krull.

One of the guys in the camera room was
a D&D player, and got me into the game.
The first night I played a ranger in B1, Keep <B2>
on the Borderlands, and I was hooked. We
played every week.

“I didn’t like a lot of the art I saw on D&D
game products, and the company was in
Lake Geneva, just over the border, so I
drove up one day to see if I could do some
freelance work.
Elmore, Jeff Easley, and Tim
Truman had all just joined the
company, and the art they were
working on was fantastic. It really
blew my mind. Jim Roslof, who was
the Art Director, hinted that I could join
the staff full-time, but I missed the hint. A
few days later, I called him about a job, and
he had just hired somebody else the day
before, but he’d keep me in mind. The next
day, he called back, and had an opening. I
joined the TSR staff in November 1982.”

Keith’s advice to would-be illustrators is:
“If you don’t love it, don’t get into it. It’s
hard, constant work, and you don’t get a lot
of sleep. Don’t be frustrated by what people
tell you about your work, but also listen
to serious criticism. One other thing: dress
the part. If you want to be taken seriously
as a professional, dress like one. It’s easier
to get in wearing a suit than blue jeans.

“Once you’re in, though, it’s a different
story. .