Nell Brinkley

 

Nell Brinkley (September 5, 1886 – October 21, 1944) was an American illustrator and comic artist who was sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Comics" during her nearly four-decade career working with New York newspapers and magazines. She was the creator of the Brinkley Girl, a stylish character who appeared in her comics and became a popular symbol in songs, films and theatre.

He was born to Robert Serrett Brinkley and May French Brinkley in Denver, Colorado in 1886 and in 1893 her family moved to the small town of Edgewater on Denver's western border, facing Sloan's Lake at Manhattan Beach. His father Robert Brinkley would later become the mayor of Edgewater. As a small child, she drew place-setting illustrations of knobby-kneed kiddies for Mary Elitch's garden parties at Elitch Gardens. She had no formal arts training, and dropped out of high school to pursue a career in illustration. She did cover and interior illustrations for the 1906 children's book, Wally Wish and Maggie Magpie by A.U. Mayfield. She did pen-and-ink drawings for The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News.