Killed it.

For months in Styles & Concepts, my professor, C.F. Payne, has been harping about reference (and trace paper but that's another story).  He was especially lecture-y about reference for our most recent project to redesign a book cover.  Granted, this guy is one of the best illustrators in the country, and he uses about 20 reference photos, at the very least, for one illustration.  But I intended to do something very vector oriented with minimal detail.  So after he made me take several reference photos of a trees, I drew a magnificent tree and realized that my illustration would no longer be graphic.  I painted up my drawing in Corel Painter.  Here's the outcome:

Not too bad, I think.  Then with my wicked design skills and love for Illustrator, I came up with this book cover design.

Needless to say, Payne loved the tree (and the cover)!  He was slightly disappointed about the lack of detail on the bird (and font choice)... but no surprise there, haha.  I managed to throw in a vector skyline and moon, which made me happy.  All-in-all I think it was successful and like the outcome.  I'll probably start using this style more often.