About

I’ve loved to draw for about as far back as I can remember. When I was a child, one of my favorite things to do was to take a few sheets of typing paper, fold and staple them and create an illustrated storybook. So it’s not surprising that as a grownup I love having a role in making books and magazines. Today I’m a freelance illustrator and designer living in Franklin, Tennessee. I studied Illustration at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, and am a longtime member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). I like to make use of the unique advantages of traditional and digital media, and most of my work is a combination of both. I start with a pencil sketch, and complete the artwork using some combination of graphite (or other type of pencil), ink, watercolor, Adobe Photoshop, and/or Adobe Illustrator. The technique I choose depends on the project, taking into consideration the needs of the client and whatever it takes to create the best illustration for the project.

Here is a partial list of books and publications for which I’m pleased to have created illustrations:
Books:

Five Huge Dinosaurs (Frog Street Press)
Developmental Storybook (Frog Street Press)
Skidamarink (Frog Street Press)
Numeral Dance (Frog Street Press)
Middle School Matters (Incentive Publications)
Getting Off on the Right Foot (Incentive Publications)
That’s What I Need (Incentive Publications)
Because You Teach (Incentive Publications)
A Guide to Using Caddie Woodlawn in the Classroom (Teacher Created Resources)
A Guide to Using Sounder in the Classroom (Teacher Created Resources)
A Guide to Using Anne of Green Gables in the Classroom (Teacher Created Resources)
A Guide to Using I Heard the Owl Call My Name in the Classroom (Teacher Created Resources)
A Guide to Using Peter Pan in the Classroom (Teacher Created Resources)

Publications:

FFA New Horizons
Tennessee Home & Farm
Grown In Montana
South Carolina: Our Amazing Agriculture
Nebraska Agriculture And You
Mississippi Agriculture
Georgia Grown
Illinois Farm Bureau Partners
Tennessee Ag Insider
Michigan Agriculture
Arkansas Grown
Fresh From Florida
Virginia Agriculture
My Indiana Home
Livability Southern Idaho
Livability.com
Tennessee Economic Development
Texas Wide Open For Business
Nashville Parent
The Leaf Chronicle (Clarksville, Tennessee)
The Orange County Register (California)

I can be reached by email at kris@krissexton.com.

This was supposed to be a photo of my sister Lynn, but apparently I had to get into the picture!