Kody Chamberlain, writer, cartoonist, and graphic artist, has chosen to remain in Lafayette LA since graduating from USL (now UL - Lafayette) in 1997 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. A successful player in the creative arts industry, most of his peers live in New York City or Los Angeles, or even Portland or Austin, because they're drawn to "the scene," a community of other like-minded professionals with whom they can network and bounce ideas off each other. Kody is just fine here in Lafayette and acknowledges that the internet, dropbox, and other tools make this an easier task than when he started out twenty years ago.

Kody is well-known for his ability to pull together original and creative projects using all mediums and in diverse endeavors such as comic book art, board game design, creation of the 2019 Festival International Poster, or writing crime novels. These fetes are amazing given the fact that Kody didn't grow up thinking he was creative and didn't start drawing until he was 18 when he took his first beginner art class as a Freshman. Most artists start when they are small children so Kody had a bit of catching up to do.

Having never gotten better than a "C" for any art class he took in college, as he looks back, Kody doesn't feel he got to be good at drawing until he had worked at it for fifteen years or so! Yet he's worked on his craft with a loving touch as he always enjoyed it. "Natural ability without joy won't lead to success." He counsels people who come to him for advice to think about what they do in their spare time; if they're not doodling or drawing on a sketch pad, art may not be their forte.

Kody Chamberlain loves what he does and always has a sketch pad out, he's always doodling. "I think the reason I eventually got good at this is because I enjoyed it. Natural ability without joy won't lead to success."

He was first drawn to Lafayette when he visited friends at USL while attending Nichols State University in Thibodaux, and he particularly liked the vibe of Festival International. Midway through his college career, he transferred to USL because it offered a better Arts program and he liked Lafayette. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in advertising design under the direction of Professor Richard "Dutch" Keppler, where he learned to think creatively, write headlines and copy, and understand that quality results can be achieved using any medium.  Keppler had no interest in software at that time and Kody feels fortunate that he learned how to express ideas by utilizing any creative technique that could get a quality job done.

While he started out working with advertising agencies using his graphic design background, he wanted to write and tell stories and gradually transitioned into comic book writing and drawing while he free-lanced with local agencies so he could pay the bills. He was first paid for his art in 2008, eleven years after graduating and plugging away at his craft.

In 2011, Kody wrote, drew and published an original crime novel set in New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina; Sweets: A New Orleans Crime Story A murder-mystery dealing with a cop who had to solve a crime before the hurricane hits and crucial evidence is washed away. He also published a five-part accompanying comic book series through Image Comics, which garnered the Spinetingler Award. Kody turned to Kickstarter to obtain community support to fund the printing and promotional efforts like posters, flyers, tradeshow displays, trade show travel expenses, shipping, print and web advertising, and preview books (ashcans) that are sent out to the media for review. It is rare for a comic book writer to develop all aspects of a series from the original concept, art, lettering, and promotion yet Kody's efforts were a huge success.