Salt In Wounds Fantasy Setting City Map Commission

[whipstache]

I've recently had the exciting privilege of receiving my first commission for a published work, the successfully kickstarted Salt In Wounds fantasy setting city map for D&D and Pathfinder. On the back of my Ashtalon world map, the creators reached out to me and have hired me to make their official map!

The setting is pretty dark fantasy, as the city of Salt in Wounds is based around the continuous carving up of a perpetually regenerating Tarrasque (think Godzilla meets Stegosaurus). I'm going to try to mesh with that style by using grittier brushes and lines, while sticking to using a single color of ink.

I thought it might be fun to track my progress here, as I've seen others do. I welcome feedback all along the way. Off we go!


Here's the map that I received from the creator. I am converting it to a top down view, rather than isometric.
saltinwounds_layer_map.png

And, here's my initial sketch.
Salt In Wounds Sketch@0,5x.jpg

I was then able to put down a few lines (including drawing out the Tarrasque and its gory runoff) before sending it back to the producer for style approval. I'm not 100% happy with the way the creature itself turned out. I may asked the artist they hired to do the illustrations if he wants to take a crack at drawing in about the same space as a penny a godzilla-sized kaiju that's pinned to the ground.
Salt In Wounds Map draft 1@x33.png


I have some ideas to really spruce up the final product, but, I still have a way to go before I can think about finishing details. Thanks for reading!

---

I'll try to keep the latest WIP up here so you don't have to scroll to the end as I keep posting.

### Latest WIP ###
Salt In Wounds Map.2.4.2@0,5x wm.png

[whipstache]

After receiving the go-ahead from the producer, I filled in the rest of the district blocks. Next up will be some surround geography.

Salt In Wounds Map WIP@0,5x.jpg

[Diamond]

Well that's certainly unique - I don't think I'd want to live there though...

Looks pretty good so far!

[whipstache]

Thanks, @Diamond! I also would not want to live in this city.

I started adding in the surrounding hills. Should out to @Meshon for helping me understand how to show elevation. I'm not sure I've pulled it off all that well, but, I think if I keep messing with it I'll end up with something I like. Anyway, any shortcoming on my part isn't a reflection on his help.

In the end, these will likely get covered up, as I'm planning to draw illustrations of the twelve major towers in the city around the outside. But, it's good practice, and important to show that the city is nestled among some rocky hills.

As always, feedback is welcome!

### Latest WIP ###
Salt In Wounds Map.2@0,5x.jpg

[whipstache]

Made some progress since the last update.

1) finished the first round on the hills, then promptly covered them up with illustrations of 12 towers that reside in one of the districts of the city.
2) Added hatching to the city blocks to simulate in an abstract way both depth and roof tiles/shingles.
3) Added a border and title. I'm not 100% happy with either of these, so I'll probably tweak them (or ditch them and start over with a new idea).

Still to come:
- Rearrange the layout to give room for some labels or a possible key
- Detailing the illustration of the terrasque
- Detailing the illustrations of the towers
- Additional shading and texturing

I'm not quite where I want to be yet, but I feel like I'm honing in on a finished product.

Feedback welcomed!

### Latest WIP ###
salt in wounds map.2.4@0,5x.png

[Diamond]

Well, I really like the tower illustrations - each one is so unique from the others. If it were me, I would definitely either make them smaller though, or increase the size of your canvas. I feel like not only are all those lovely hills (which look pretty good) covered up, but your title banner is wayyyyyy overshadowed. The whole thing feels a little cramped.

[whipstache]

Thanks for the feedback.

I agree. After I added the title and realized how little room I had, I started thinking about changing the layout of the whole thing. I'm thinking of shrinking the whole map portion down a bit and moving the circles to an L-shaped track along the edge, outside of the actual map.

Just a thought at this point, but seems like it would help. And, after coming up with this idea, I found two other maps that did the same thing, so there are examples of the concept working.

Great feedback, Diamond. Thanks for your help.

[Diamond]

No problem. It's a great concept and a very cool map, so I want to see it work perfectly! Also, I pity those fools in the city if the tarrasque ever gets loose...

[whipstache]

Quick update.

Changed the layout to try to give the whole thing a bit more breathing space. Added a bit of detail in a few places.

Pressing on.

### Latest WIP ###
Salt In Wounds Map.2.4.2@0,5x wm.png

[whipstache]

Added a few more textural bits, some detailing around the outside, a few buildings in the circle near the monster, and some shading.

Submitted for approval tonight!

Once the client approves, and gives the okay to share the final map, I'll post it here as well as in the finished maps section of the guild.