"Muse Within the Flames" // Packaging for Passione Pizza: Concept to Final Illustration

In April, I had the pleasure to illustrate for LA-based pizza dough brand, "Passsione Pizza". Passione'
is a young company, producing organic pizza dough mix with authentic, traditional Italian recipes.

"Created by Maestro Pizzaiolo Fabrizio Cercatore, “Passione Pizza” is a brand that specializes in true, high quality pizza ingredients that come straight from the culinary traditions of Italy."

For more info you can visit the site at: www.passionepizza.com.

I have to say the brief was quite a surprise - it was a very unusual one for me! "A muse within the flames". The flames, of course being a hot wood-fired pizza oven. The muse, being a sultry yet confident feminine presence, concealed within the flames and as somewhat of an optical illusion.

 Some time was taken to perfect the concept of the design. Below are just a selected few
of my designs and workings...

Of course the muse began in my usual illustration style, with details of a lady's face or silhouette...

 

 

 I took note that we needed to keep her from looking like a "tortured soul" !! This kept me giggling quite a bit as I worked on simplifying her features.

...to keep the optical illusion concept strong, he design was simplified down to a minimal lines, with the end designs being much more simple, looking very different from my starting point.

I also experimented with different ways of drawing flames, they can be curvy, curly and serene but then can also be jagged, sharp and angry...

And so, many ideas, sketches and lots of experimenting later, here is the final illustration,
ready to be used...

All images are (C) Amy Holliday 2013. Please do not use without permission.