Valeria Petrone is an Italian illustrator who lives and works in Rome and Milan. Her bright, graphic illustrations have appeared in numerous editorial publications, and she has illustrated over 40 books, many of them for children. Petrone has also created book covers, done extensive commercial work, designed characters for animation, and has had her artwork exhibited in Rome and Milan. Her work is colorful and simple, but brilliantly graphic and filled with sophisticated subtlety. 

MY LIFE:
I was born and spent my childhood in Emilia-Romagna, an Italian region famous for its beaches, fun and good food, which perhaps had an influence on my positive approach towards life and work. I have attended art school in Milan and London. Currently I live most of the time Rome—although I am closely linked to Milan, the city where I spent 20 years of my life and where most of my closest friends live. 

I began to illustrate my first books at 20, when still living in London. Since 1988 I have published over 40 titles in Italy, the United States, France and Great Britain. My work now ranges from children’s literature to illustrations for advertising, book jackets, newspapers and magazines.

MY WORKSPACE:
I am lucky enough to be able to live and work in Rome and Milan—two very different cities that I like for very different reasons. In both cities I work at home. In Rome I live in the historic center, in a house standing on the roof of an old building. Sometimes I use a very small studio—perfect to concentrate and come up with ideas—but more often I invade the living room where I have my desk, easel and painting material, because it’s more spacious, has a great light and views, overlooking several church domes and a synagogue.

HOW I MAKE MY ILLUSTRATIONS:
I started work in illustration with watercolors and acrylics at a time when digital art existed only in the minds of dreamers. I used to send the originals by post around Europe and the U.S. praying that they would arrive on time and in good condition. Then I happily switched to the computer and now I work digitally from sketch to finish. I still enjoy painting with acrylics on canvas or wood for most of my personal work. To come up with an idea I read the text or the brief I have to illustrate—several times. I have trained myself to visualize images related to the mood or the message of the text, thinking about some keywords, and then I take from there. If nothing comes up I try to clear my mind completely, take a nap and think about it in a state of semi-sleep. Usually it works!

MY FIRST BIG BREAK:
My very first break, the starting point of my career, was when I was 20 years old in London. The Association of Illustrators offered the opportunity to young illustrators like me to show their portfolio to an art director of their choice. The art director that I wanted to meet didn’t turn up and I ended up meeting a rep that liked my work and took me on right away and represented me for 10 years. A second important break that helped develop my style was the opportunity to exhibit my paintings in 2009 in a very small independent gallery called Limited No Art Gallery in Milan, owned by the artist, music producer and graphic designer Giacomo Spazio. Working on the paintings for that show gave me the chance to research my style and had a big impact also on the commissioned work I did after. The same year I had a very exciting assignment for a series of nine illustrations for a campaign with United Airlines.

MY INFLUENCES:
It would be a long list: Richard Scarry, Tony Ross, Edward Gorey, Saul Steinberg. But also Giotto, Picasso, David Hockney, Alex Katz, Henri Rousseau, Bruno Munari, Alexander Girard, Louis Barragán and Charles and Ray Eames.

MY MOST ADMIRED CREATIVE PERSON:
I really admire the work of theater director Romeo Castellucci. His extreme, conceptual, philosophical approach produces images in front of which one cannot remain indifferent. Whenever I attend his shows, I am struck by the manic, formal care of the staging. Also I love Grayson Perry, a British artist who works mainly with pottery and tapestry. His work is social, political, conceptual and very witty. It is a fantastic mix of traditional and contemporary art.

MY CREATIVE INSPIRATION:
I go regularly to the cinema, dance and theatre shows, art and design exhibitions and bookstores where I like to browse through books of all kinds. And finally I like strolling around Rome, which is an inspiring experience in itself.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF WORKING ALONE:
I love working on my own, not having a boss or a timetable set by others. I suppose the biggest challenge is the fine line between work and personal life. I can draw endlessly day and night, but I’m not a very good organizer of my time and always find myself in a rush struggling to manage my work, the unavoidable paperwork, my personal life and free time.

A MEMORABLE ASSIGNMENT FROM THE PAST YEAR:
My favorite assignment of this year is a small book that has been published in October by La Spiga Edizioni, called Tilda and the Moon. It’s a Christmas tale written by Umberto Sebastiano.

DREAM ASSIGNMENT:
I would love to do a very big illustration for a public space.

MY FAVORITE ART DIRECTOR:
Since 2010 I have enjoyed working on a regular basis with Maurizio Varotti, the art director of IO Donna, the Saturday magazine of Corriere della Sera (one of the two leading national newspapers in Italy). He has given me the chance to express myself in a humorous and often surreal way, illustrating very diverse articles, including the horoscope and the wine column. In the U.S. I love working with Wes Bausmith for the Los Angeles Times and Jim Hoover at Penguin Books.

SOME OF MY FAVORITE ILLUSTRATORS:
Again the list would be really long…I really admire the illustrators that have created a imaginative world of their own like Mark Ryden, J. Otto Seibold, Yuko Shimizu, and Victo Ngai. I like Maira Kalman for her poetic approach, Lorenzo Mattotti and Brecht Evens for their amazing use of color and composition, Benjamin Chaud for his humor and Séverine Millet for color composition and humor, and I love Henrik Drescher’s children’s books.

OTHER WORK:
In parallel with commissioned work, I paint, exhibit and sell my work in galleries. Among the most recent exhibitions have been one group show in 2015 in Spoleto at Palazzo Collicola Arti Visive and two solo exhibitions: in 2011 in Arezzo at the Palace Chianini- Vincenzi  and in 2014 in Rome in the gallery CR - Art Palazzo Taverna.

In recent years I have worked with my partner Umberto Sebastiano on some book projects. One of which I’m very proud of is a collection of his short stories and my illustrations, published on occasion of my solo exhibition in Rome.

In 2014, in collaboration with Studio Elastico in Milan, I designed the Dadas, “mini super heroes on the side of the little ones” as part of interactive stories (Good Night Dadas and Dadas and the Storm)for iPad and iPhone. In 2015 Goodnight Dadas received Special Mention at Bologna Ragazzi Digital Award and the Andersen Award for Digital Creation.

In 2015 the animated feature film Iqbal—Children Without Fear was released in cinemas, for which I had designed the dreams of the leading character.

In 2016 my illustration of St. Dorothy was part of the exhibition W-Women in Italian Design curated by Silvana Annicchiarico for the ninth edition of the Triennale Design Museum in Milan. St. Dorothy is part of a series of female patron saints holding an object or work tool, created by 10 Italian female illustrators and designers.

HOW I PROMOTE MYSELF:
My rep is doing most of the promotion for me. What I do on my side on a regular basis is submitting to competitions, posting on Facebook and Instagram and sending the occasional email for Christmas. In recent years social media has changed radically how to promote the work. I think that it is quite unpredictable though, to know what works and what doesn’t…I guess that what really matters is that the message gets through at the right time and not really what is the medium. It can be a printed or digital postcard, a post shared on Facebook or an image on Instagram, or a gathering at an opening. That’s why I think that the winning formula is mix of a traditional and social media promotion.

ADVICE FOR SOMEONE STARTING OUT:
I think that the most important thing is to find your own style, to both be recognizable and be happy to do this job. You’ve got to be receptive, informed, looking around as much as possible, feed yourself on images, but then filter it all through your personality, trusting your instincts.

See more Valeria Petrone illustrations, new work and updates:
Valeria Petrone website
Instagram: @00petronelli
Twitter: @valpetrone
Facebook
Portfolio on Workbook
Rep