Fisher was born in Brooklyn, New York City and began to draw at an early age. Both his father and his grandfather were artists.[1] Fisher spent much of his youth in San Francisco, and studied at the San Francisco Art Association. In 1898, he moved back to New York and began his career as a newspaper and magazine illustrator.[1] He became known particularly for his drawings of women, which won him acclaim as the successor of Charles Dana Gibson.[1] Together with fellow artists Howard Chandler Christy and Neysa McMein, he constituted the Motion Picture Classic magazine's, "Fame and Fortune" contest jury of 1921/1922, who discovered the It-girl, Clara Bow.[2] Fisher's work appeared regularly on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine from the early 1900s until his death 1934.