Illustrator Gallery - Ken Eaton

Ken Eaton

• I’m a pre-published author/illustrator picture book maker, but my primary job is an automotive engineering manager.
  

  Born in Okinawa, raised in Ohio and living in Southeast Michigan since graduating from the University of Toledo, I have always enjoyed drawing, to see what’s in my mind’s eye become visible.  Throughout college and my engineering career, I carved out time to study and practice my art.  I enjoy the learning almost as much as making the art itself.
  

  Another love is books.  Libraries and bookstores were and are heaven, soaking up the words and pictures within them.  Growing up, I gravitated towards anything with monsters, strange animals, aliens and robots.  The images led me to the stories and facts surrounding them.  I was such a book nerd that I used to comb encyclopedias and dictionaries looking for the these things, which led to new discoveries and learning.

  But I won’t lie.  Comic books and comic strips were also mainstays of my literary diet, supplemented by cartoons, TV and movies. 

  I am not typically one for making art for art’s sake, which is why I like illustration. I consider it art with more of a purpose.
  Over the years I’ve struggled to find the right outlet for my creative skills, superhero comics, comic strips and commercial illustration didn’t quite click long term.
  Then I rediscovered picture books.  I like the limited, self-contained element of them.  And nowadays they cover any range of topics, fiction or non-fiction.

  I’m loving the process of learning the picture book craft, both illustrating and writing.  Through SCBWI I’ve been introduced to several new and interesting people.
  

  There is always something to learn, and I look forward to what comes next!