Coles Phillips

Here is another one of my favorite historical illustrators. I like Coles Phillips work because he has a designer-ly approach to his illustrations.

Coles Phillips was an American artist and illustrator born in Springfield, Ohio. He studied at Kenyon College and the Chase School of Art. In 1907 he met with the publisher of Life magazine, and was hired on to the staff. Phillips is well known for developing the "fadeaway girl", where the figure disappears into the background, and the viewer uses closure to complete the image. He uses negative space to allow the viewer to fill in the image. Phillips worked in water-colour and painted from life to create his illustrations.