John Coulter – Las Vegas.

Bank Bailout | editorial illustration

Chocolat Sauvage | see more
Submission for Terrible Yellow Eyes based on a vintage poster by Hervé Moran

Hacker | editorial illustration

Le Diable Vert | see more
John’s “cover” of the 1906 poster by Leonetto Cappiello, for Maurin Quina brand wine

Illustrator John Coulter works in a terrific retro style as seen above. He is represented by the Lilla Rogers Studio. I asked him to tell me about his background and his work:

I grew up on a farm near Joy, Illinois. I wanted to be “commercial artist” ever since I was a kid. I studied graphic design at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. Besides the usual graphic design courses, I took a lot of studio classes, like ceramics, painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and printmaking.

After college,  I was in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic from 1993-1995. Then I got a job as a graphic designer at a computer software company called ESRI, in Redlands, California. While there, I became the “go-to” guy for any type of illustration. In 1997 I went to work for EarthLink, doing many illustrations for their publications and website. Eventually, I realized I had a fairly large portfolio of illustrations. On a whim, I submitted my work to Lilla Rogers, and she invited me to be a part of her group, the Lilla Rogers Studio. I think this was around 1998.

My original style was more humorous, retro-flavored, with flat colors, but in recent years it has evolved into a more serious looking editorial style, with more textures [view]. I still have a humorous/cute style I like to do [view].

Currently, my “day job” is Creative Director of a travel website, VEGAS.com.

>> See more of John’s work on his blog + flickr
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