Eric Petersen was born in 1973 in Santa Monica, California, United States; the available biographical sources do not specify the exact day or month of his birth. He is an American illustrator and artist who was based in Olympia, Washington, during the early years of his professional career. He currently lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Petersen studied Art at California State University, Northridge, and continued his education at institutions including ArtCenter College of Design, Cooper Union, and the School of Visual Arts. Before becoming a professional illustrator in 2012, he spent approximately a decade programming websites for major companies in New York.
His distinctive style draws inspiration from instructional graphics, video games, and American comic books of the 1940s. Using uniform digital lines, forced perspectives, and unconventional colours, he creates ambiguous and subtly unsettling scenes. His clients include Apple, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Wired, and Scientific American. His work has also been recognised by Communication Arts, the Society of Illustrators, and 3×3.
