Tiago Galo’s refreshing, travel-themed illustrations remind us of sunnier times

Illustrator Tiago Galo’s portfolio has been updated with an array of travel-themed images that relate to his recent commissions for Condé Nast Travel, National Geographic Travel and British Airways Magazine among others. “It’s been exciting working with different art directors, sometimes at the same time, and realising that my personal style and approach in my illustrations can sometimes evolve into something unexpected even for me,” explains Tiago. “I find myself exploring different themes and situations at the eyes of other creatives and that really pushes my illustrations to the next level.”

Depicting large-limbed characters lazing on a beach, rushing for taxi in their bikini and diving into an empty pool, Tiago’s traditional style still feels fresh through his compositions and his tendency to create simple animations with his images. “I continue to work exclusively on digital even though all my brainstorming process is done by sketching on a plain sketchbook, and lately I’ve been exploring the capabilities of the Apple Pencil,” says Tiago.

When we last featured the illustrator’s work he was favouring a vivid palette of blue and red, but he’s since shifted onto to cooler tones as well as embracing an array of other hues. “I’m always testing new colour schemes for my work, and that can be a tough process since a good colour palette doesn’t necessarily fit in every illustration,” Tiago says. “It requires a lot of experimenting and it’s personal for each drawing. These last illustration briefs made me think a lot about that – it’s why these last illustrations feature different colour schemes compared to past works.”