Ryan Peltier plays with scale in his neatly constructed space-themed illustrations

Minneapolis-based illustrator Ryan Peltier’s miniature figures in colossal landscapes play with scale and imagination. His work has appeared in The New York Times and the New Yorker but it’s this series titled Space Station! that has hooked us in as Ryan imagines what the future might look like.

Ryan employs a minimalist approach to the cosmic and far away, and his illustrations use a beige backdrop to house his abstract ideas. Loose, formless figures socialise with aliens on neat walkways and travel in infinite loops among the stars. The illustrator’s portfolio is a mixture of character studies with larger scenes, but his latest work feels more accomplished with a beautiful contrast being created between his linear backgrounds and his freer, more painterly forms.