I don't have much background information on Ronald McLeod (1897-1977). He attended the University of Chicago for two years, served in the Canadian army during the Great War, and then began his career in illustration. It seems he was largely self-taught, but influenced by the style of Ludwig Hohlwein. His preferred medium was watercolor, perhaps supplemented by gouache.
And I don't have examples of his earliest work. Nor his latest: most images found on the Web are Collier's magazine covers. His style was simple, strong, poster-like. He was successful enough by 1930 to illustrate the cover of Fortune magazine and advertisements by Chevrolet.
Walt Reed credits McLeod as being prolific and successful, doing much advertising work as well as the better known magazine covers. As mentioned, images of his work available on the Internet provide only a limited picture of what he did, especially in the years after World War 2.
Gallery
Illustration for Chevrolet advertisement - 1930. As I said above, "simple, strong, poster-like."
Fortune Magazine Cover - December 1930. Time, Inc.'s new, prestige business magazine.
1931 Chevrolet illustration.
Collier's Magazine cover - 8 August 1931. Interesting composition. Simplified figures. Very Moderne.
October 1934 cover for The Elks Magazine. He did many football illustrations, his work apparently influencing artwork on college football program publications.
Collier's Magazine cover - 11 April 1936. He also had baseball as a subject.
Collier's Magazine cover - 10 January 1939. The King and Queen of England visited North America in 1939.
Collier's Magazine cover - 18 February 1939. Anticipating the opening of the 1939 San Francisco fair.
Saturday Evening Post cover - 6 May 1939. This is credited to McLeod, and does seem to be his work. But it is unsigned. I suspect that was because he contributed considerably to Collier's, the Post's main rival, and some discretion was required.
Collier's Magazine cover - 11 April 1942. An example of wartime "Loose Lips Sink Ships" publicity.
Collier's Magazine cover - 19 January 1943. McLeod used this First Sergeant on several wartime Collier's covers. Norman Rockwell did the same with an army private earlier in the war.
Advertisement by New England Mutual Life - 1958. One of the few examples of McLeod's postwar work I could locate.
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