Illustrator Albert Tercero’s satisfying portfolio of allegories and metaphors

Albert Tercero’s illustration work caught our eye for obvious reasons: his consistent style and restricted use of colour makes for a considered and satisfying portfolio of images. Born and raised in Barcelona, it was while studying at La Massana art and design centre, under the guidance of tutors like Pep Montserrat and Riki Blanco, that he was introduced to the idea that “illustration doesn’t have to just be decorative but also has the power to communicate many things.”

Albert’s illustrations are deceptively simple, with the ability to convey rather a lot with relatively little. He first started experimenting with various creative mediums in his grandfather’s workshop as a child. “He was a wood artist from the old Chinese neighbourhood in Barcelona (now known as el Raval) and after messing around with different techniques, I started to feel most comfortable with drawing,” he tells It’s Nice That.

It was this discovery in his grandfather’s workshop that sparked a passion for this form of communication: “One of the things I like the most is the immediacy with which you can read an image and how, as an illustrator, you can make something happen. It fascinates me that I can go anywhere with my notebook and develop any idea, whenever I feel like it.”

Throughout his illustration work, Albert’s aim to construct images that are understandable without any explanation. His recent work has focussed on the concept of allegories, metaphors and situations and how these can be comprehended when one key element is removed.

When working on a project, Albert starts by posing a series of questions, slowly unpacking and answering them one by one. “Some questions are more relevant than others and this ends up being reflected in the images,” he explains. However, if drawing without a brief as a starting point, he references objects that surround him, pulling out the “strange, surreal or unusual connections it may have.”

In a recent project, Albert was tasked with creating a series of postcards that illustrate quotes from a journalist who “left his sedentary lifestyle to become a crazy sports addict.” For example, in one mini-series, Albert tells the story of how the journalist underwent ten “ironman” challenges in ten days.