 Roy Best was best know for his illustrations of Peter Pan. In 1931 he was painting pin-up calendars for Joseph Hoover and Sons Calendar Company when he was awarded a commission from Whitman Publishing Company to illustrate a children's book. The book was The Peter Pan Picture Book, based on J.M Barrie's play Peter Pan.
Best was born in Waverly, Ohio and attended the Art Institute of Cincinnati. He later moved to Chicago and enrolled in the School of the Art Institute there.
Later, Best was represented in New York by American Artists, an agency which handled nearly a hundred highly regarded illustrators. While he was represented by American Artists, he painted several covers for the Saturday Evening Post. In 1942. Roy Best also painted artwork for calendars for the Gerlach Barklow Company of Joliet, Illinois and Brown and Bigelow of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Accepting these offers he went on to a highly successful calendar career.
Source:
Tim and Michelle Smith, who have researched Roy Best's artwork as illustration art collectors.
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