Few artists have captured the raw power and sensual beauty of the female form like Olivia De Berardinis. Known professionally as Olivia, she has spent nearly five decades mastering the art of the pin-up, elevating it through technique, elegance, and imagination. Among her many artistic milestones, her 13 cover paintings for Heavy Metal magazine stand as a vital chapter in both her career and the magazine’s visual legacy.

A celebrated painter since the 1970s, Olivia has carved a space for herself in a genre largely dominated by male artists. After studying at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and creating minimalist works in the early '70s, Olivia turned to commercial illustration in 1975 out of financial necessity. What followed was a transformation—not just of her career, but of the landscape of erotic and fantasy art. By 1985, she was contributing to Playboy, where her monthly pin-up page (often accompanied by captions written by Hugh Hefner himself) ran for years.

Olivia's work is typically created using airbrush and mixed media, bringing a luminous, tactile quality to her portraits. While she’s painted a wide array of iconic figures, from Anna Nicole Smith to Courtney Love, few collaborations were as impactful as her work with the late model Julie Strain.

One of Olivia's most beloved Heavy Metal covers is Banshee, which first appeared on the May 1997 issue and also served as the cover for her book Second Slice and the 1999 Heavy Metal calendar. The original large-format painting—measuring 30" x 40"—features Strain in a dramatic, winged pose. A smaller version, created in 1996 using watercolor and gouache, reveals Olivia’s meticulous process as she worked toward the final design.

From Olivia’s own reflections in Second Slice:

“Julie is right up there with Bella and Rhonda Ridley for me. These are my most animated models. I’ve painted them over and over again, for years, because they have great versatility, camera sense, and their personalities are strong. Julie has a large, aggressive cast of characters that I just play off of. She is my super-bitch-heroine-terminator... I wish all paintings would fall together so fast and magically as this one did.”

The result is a painting that blends mythology, raw energy, and unmistakable femininity. The image, like many of Olivia’s works, is both fierce and ethereal—an otherworldly pose made believable through skill, vision, and collaboration.

Another standout piece is Quigley, a 1995 cover study which would eventually lead to the May 1996 Heavy Metal cover. Rendered in mixed media and airbrush on board. Measuring 20x15 inches, the painting hit the open market in October 2023 via Heritage Auctions. Quigley represents Olivia’s ongoing dialogue between fantasy and realism—a theme that runs through several of her Heavy Metal contributions.

Olivia’s impact on the genre cannot be overstated. She has been called the “leading female pinup artist” and remains one of the few women to achieve lasting fame in that field. Her work is represented in galleries across the United States, and her images continue to circulate widely among collectors, fans, and fellow artists. For us at Heavy Metal, Olivia’s covers aren’t just among the most striking and sought-after we’ve ever published; they’ve helped define the visual soul of the magazine.

Though each Heavy Metal cover stands on its own, together they form a cohesive body of work—one that reflects both the evolution of Olivia's artistry and the shifting aesthetics of fantasy illustration. More than just magazine covers, these are portraits of power, mystery, and female form, rendered with uncommon grace and technical precision.

In recent years, Olivia has partnered with Sideshow Collectibles on several collaborations that bring her iconic pin-up paintings into the third dimension. These meticulously crafted statues translate her signature style into sculptural form. Olivia often shares behind-the-scenes glimpses of the creative process on her Instagram, offering fans a peek behind the scenes at how her painted visions come to life in 3D.

You can follow her ongoing work at @oliviapinupart and explore more of her art and limited editions at eolivia.com.

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