Federico Salis paints bold, glossy women who refuse to be looked at the usual way

Creative Boom: Inspiration Illustration Federico Salis paints bold, glossy women who refuse to be looked at the usual way The Milan-based, Sardinia-born illustrator reimagines retro glamour as something stranger and far more self-possessed – and he got there by taking the long way round. Written By: Katy Cowan 24 June 2026 The women in Federico Salis's illustrations are not waiting to be admired. They turn their backs to you at the poolside in a red polka-dot swimsuit. They drive off in a yellow convertible without even a second glance.

They hold a martini behind a slab of golden hair, or hide behind flame-lensed sunglasses, or simply dissolve into soft, wavy ribbons before you can pin them down. They are sensual, full-figured and rendered in glorious, glossy, saturated colour. And they are completely, magnificently unbothered by the fact that you might be watching. That's what makes Federico's work stand out. It features a cast of confident, voluptuous female figures, painted with the high-shine finish of vintage advertising and tattoo flash, then sometimes twisted into something surreal and knowing. A face melts into a stack of curves.

A woman becomes a fish, her shoal swimming across a patterned sea. Retro pin-up is the starting point, but Federico keeps pulling it somewhere odder and more tender. Colour is doing a lot of that work. "I'm an extremely emotional person, and in some ways I have a dark and gothic soul," he tells Creative Boom. "I love mystery, and I feel attracted to shadows. But when I draw, colour naturally emerges." Those saturated tones, he says, let him "express all the different shades of our emotions" and "bring light to things that are sometimes difficult to explain with words".

It explains the consistency of his palettes – the reds and golds and pool blues that recur like a signature – and the strange warmth that sits beneath even his coolest, most graphic images. The long way round The training behind all this had nothing to do with illustration. Federico studied 3D Effects for Performance and Fashion at the London College of Fashion, and he chose it because it frightened him a little. "It felt completely new to me. It pushed me outside my comfort zone," he says. There was something else in the decision, too: a way of sidestepping the comparison that can paralyse anyone arriving in the art world.

"Maybe I was also afraid of being judged for the way I drew. Doing something unfamiliar removed that measuring scale." Looking back, he credits that detour with teaching him to "embrace experimentation and to trust unconventional paths" – and you can see the fashion thinking everywhere, in the styling, the poses... the love of a strong silhouette. For a long time, he says, the people around him could see where he was heading. "It almost felt like everyone around me understood what I was meant to do before I did," he says.

"Only in recent years have I realised that I was the only one who didn't believe it was possible." There was no single piece, no lightning-bolt commission, that tipped illustration from a side interest into a career – just a slow process of self-discovery, and eventually a decision he repeated to himself until it stuck. "It became a daily mantra. Drawing is what I want to do with my life." Slowing things down Look closely, and something else emerges: a deliberate stillness. Even the woman in the convertible, mid-drive with the wheel blurred under her hands, feels suspended rather than rushing.

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The article discusses a unique artistic approach that challenges conventional representations, which can influence brand identity and strategy, making it significant and relevant for professionals in the industry.