Food & Menu Illustration
A dish, an ingredient, a small ritual—drawn with its own character.
Commission food artwork by Adelya for a menu, cookbook, brand or editorial story. From a single ingredient to a connected collection, the illustrations are shaped around the food and the place the images will appear.
Discuss food illustrationExplore the artwork
Show the dish.
Tell the story around it.
Menus & seasonal specials
A set of dishes, drinks or ingredients can give a menu a distinct visual voice. The illustrations can sit beside descriptions, identify sections or lead a seasonal feature without competing with the information guests need to read.
Cookbooks & food stories
Illustration can show a finished dish, a useful ingredient or a moment around cooking and eating. A recipe page and a narrative feature need different amounts of explanation and atmosphere.
Food-brand artwork
A recognisable ingredient, playful character or repeated motif can connect packaging and promotional materials. For a full label or product range, the illustration is planned with the existing identity and production specifications.
Not every tomato
needs to look the same.
The tomato sketch uses bold color and stripes; the shrimp study concentrates attention on a dish; the tangerines share the picture with the texture of a knitted bag. Each makes a different decision about what to emphasize.
Your brief can be just as specific. A bakery might want the form of a signature pastry. A cookbook may need a consistent family of ingredient drawings. A restaurant feature may need a scene that suggests the experience of eating there.
Share the actual food, not only a style reference. Photographs of dishes, ingredients and serving pieces help identify what is essential to the subject. The treatment can then be discussed without losing the qualities that make the food yours.
Leave room
for the information.
A menu illustration must work with names, descriptions and prices. A recipe may need space for quantities and instructions. Provide the layout or intended dimensions early so the drawing can fit the page naturally.
Illustration, menu typesetting, copywriting and print production are separate tasks. The quote should identify which are included and who approves the final wording, ingredient descriptions and dietary information.
Packaging & label artwork
Restaurant & café projects
Book illustration
Start with what
makes the food distinctive.
1. Subject & use
Share reference photographs, the number of images, intended applications and visual guidelines. Include dimensions, deadlines and any seasonal launch date.
2. Direction & sketches
Agree the level of detail, palette and composition. For a set, establish how the images will relate to one another before every dish is developed.
3. Artwork & handoff
Review the illustrations at the agreed stages and prepare the approved exports for the specified use. Extra menu items, new formats or packaging adaptations can be quoted as additional scope.
Before the first course.
Can you illustrate our actual dishes from photographs?
Share clear images and identify the details that should remain accurate: ingredients, presentation, serving pieces or a particular garnish. The references can then be reviewed for the intended treatment and size.
Can you create a whole illustrated menu?
A coordinated set of food illustrations can be scoped together. Complete menu layout, typesetting, printing and later price updates need to be included separately when required.
Can the artwork also be used on packaging or social media?
Include those uses in the brief. Different formats may need separate compositions or exports, and the commercial licence should cover the planned channels and products.
What determines the cost?
The number and complexity of images, visual development, required formats, usage and schedule. A few ingredient drawings and a detailed set of plated dishes are different commissions.
Can you work to a seasonal launch?
Send the launch date early, including time needed for reviews and printing. Availability and the final schedule must be agreed before an order is accepted; an inquiry does not reserve a production slot.
Who checks the recipe or menu information?
Your food or publishing team should provide and approve the factual content. Illustration does not replace review of ingredients, recipes or dietary statements. The current terms and written quote define the project responsibilities.
Put this direction into a useful brief.
Bring a relevant portfolio example and describe what you like about it: the handling of colour, the expression, the texture or the composition. Then describe your own subject and where the artwork will appear. The reference starts the discussion; the new work is developed for your particular purpose.
Build a short project brief · Ask about using an existing artworkWhat is on your menu?
Send the food, the intended use and a sense of the atmosphere you want the artwork to have.
Start a food-illustration briefEmail Adelya