Marietta College, 175th Anniversary Magazine Cover

Marietta College called on me to do their magazine cover celebrating the 175th anniversary of the school. They wanted a classic look that celebrated their heritage and the look of campus (think lots of brick and trees...kind of New England style).

I sketched a few ideas and they picked this one. A single student reading under a tree. I like that the girl looks like she could be from any era. And the palette is light and autumn colors, almost a parchment look which I think went well with the history of the school.

I also used color to make the student the focal point by making the tree light in tone and hardly any definition between earth and sky. The school was also done in linework only to keep the main focus on the student.

Here's how it turned out:

And here's the illustration in layout.