Ken Howard was born in London but later moved to Cornwall, settling near Mousehole, where his studio was in an old school. This was the start of a long association with Cornwall. He was selected to represent his work in A Century of Art in Cornwall 1889-1989 held at NAG (put on by Newlyn Orion & Cornwall County Council), comprising 140 art works executed in Cornwall within that period. (A coloured photo of Howard appears facing p129, in Hardie 1995).

Strangely, there is no mention in Buckman (2006) about Howard's life in Cornwall in the otherwise excellent summary of his professional life and the numerous awards, scholarships and commissions that he received. Howard was a Vice-President of the Penlee House Museum, and a Patron of the Penzance School of Art. He was also Professor of Perspective at London's Royal College of Art.