Charles William James Keeping was born in Lambeth, London in 1924. His upbringing in a working-class neighborhood of markets and cart-horses deeply influenced his artistic vision. He studied illustration and lithography at Regent Street Polytechnic (1949-1952), where he met his wife, fellow artist Renate Meyer.

Keeping was an influential British illustrator, author, and lithographer best known for his stark, expressive contributions to children’s literature and classic fiction. He made the illustrations for Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels for children. He created more than twenty picture books and also illustrated the complete works of Charles Dickens for the Folio Society.

Keeping won two Kate Greenaway Medals from the Library Association for the best children's book illustration of the year, for his own story “Charley, Charlotte and the Golden Canary” (1967) and for a new edition (1981) of Alfred Noyes's poem "The Highwayman". For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named his edition of “The Highwayman” one of the top ten winning works, which composed the ballot for a public election of the nation's favourite. He also illustrated “The God Beneath the Sea”, by Leon Garfield and Edward Blishen, which won the 1970 Carnegie Medal for children's literature. For his contribution as a children's illustrator Keeping was a runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1974.

His lithographs have been exhibited in London, Italy, Austria and the United States, including at the 1958 Fifth International Biennial of Contemporary Color Lithography in Cincinnati. He has prints in many collections, including at the Victoria and Albert Museum.