Andrea Tarella illustration for Valentino.
MILAN — Illustrations can be as powerful as photographs and their visual imagery often lives on, influencing our subconscious.
They can be an arresting medium to cut through the avalanche of photos on our screen feeds today, and become an interesting marketing and communication tool. To wit, Andrea Tarella has succeeded in transforming his passion for drawing into a profession, working with brands ranging from Prada and Gucci to Valentino.
Most recently Tarella drew a forest of animals and plants for the surprising urban oasis in Bantian Vanke Plaza mall in Shenzhen, China, reflecting his lifelong admiration for fauna and flora. The drawing in Shenzhen allowed him to discover the local animals and plants, hoping to inspire others “to explore the beauties of these territories.”
Originally from Verbania, an Italian town overlooking Lake Maggiore, “surrounded by woods and mountains,” he was always “fascinated by nature,” he recalled. At the age of 18, he moved to Milan to pursue his creative path. A self-taught artist, in an interview Tarella looked back to his early years, and how he was “discovered” by Elio Fiorucci.
“It was a baptism of fire,” said Tarella with a smile, sitting in his garden, a hidden gem in Milan, where turtles, rabbits and hens live.
“One of my dear friends worked with Fiorucci and, for his birthday, I made a bouquet of roses in crepe paper. To my surprise, Fiorucci saw them and asked me to create 300 of them for the inauguration of a new line. After that, for the first edition of Vogue’s Fashion’s Night Out, I sat in his store drawing elves, butterflies, mushrooms, sketches of an imaginative world for his Love Therapy project, as gifts for customers and anyone who wandered in.”
The watercolor cards were a success, with a long line spilling out of the store, he said. “At one point, Elio was called into the store and standing next to me, he greeted everyone coming in. That’s when I realized this could be more than a passion.”
Watercolor and ink are his favorite tools, and nature — with its plants and animals — remains his main source of inspiration. In fact, he also created the illustrations for a children’s book, “Lucciole, squaletti e un po’ di pastina [Fireflies, sharklings and a bit of tiny soup pasta]” published by Salani this year, and written by Donatella Di Pietrantonio, the winner of Italy’s most important literary award, the Premio Strega.
“The book has quickly become a bestseller in the children’s literature category,” he said proudly, flipping through the pages, filled with his whimsical creatures and floral decorations. “Working in publishing and in editorial was one of my dreams.”
Last year he was selected to create the Strega d’autore artwork for the prestigious prize. He also created illustrations for “Guanti Rossi [Red Gloves],” a series of educational books aimed at promoting Italian Sign Language and bilingual education methods for deaf children.
A major step in his career was creating the artwork for Prada’s “Minimal Baroque” sunglasses collection campaign launched in 2011. “At the time, illustration was undervalued, but of course Prada paved the way and others followed, bringing this medium back,” said Tarella. “Miuccia Prada for the first time wanted a campaign entirely dedicated to eyewear,” he said of the glasses, highly recognizable for the curls embellishing the accessories.
Prada’s Minimal Baroque eyewear campaign, illustration by Andrea Tarella.
Ivo Bisignano and Marcela Gutiérrez were also tapped for the campaign. “Social media was not as developed as it is today. Sure there were blogs and Facebook, but the success was immediate, and we went from zero to 100, there were suddenly editorials everywhere, window dressing and so on,” he still marveled.
“Illustrations go through cycles, and clearly during the pandemic there was a boom driven by social distancing, which pushed people to experiment, try alternative ways to communicate, that I was hoping would linger.”
Over the years he has worked with a number of established luxury brands, from Agnona, Buccellati and Bulgari to Dior, Etro, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo, Tod’s, Trussardi, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent. He cherishes every experience, “learning from each, understanding company dynamics, processes and briefs and working with the creative directors and their teams.”
Andrea Tarella illustration for Gucci.
Tarella was selected for a live artistic appearance during the 30th anniversary celebration of the YSL “Paris” fragrance in 2013, during which he created a series of unique paintings using the brand’s makeup products. These were exhibited in the show “Fenetres,” part of “The Super Ego of the Eye” at Milan’s SpazioRAW.
Tarella worked with Coty on the launch of the first fragrance by Alessandro Michele for Gucci, called “Bloom” — fitting for the artist.
He often does not sign the drawings. “I really like to work and always do different things. This gives me independence,” he explained.
Now that he has established his name, his dream project would be to stage an exhibition. “It’s one of my resolutions, and now it’s becoming a personal urgency,” he admitted.