The City of Heldor

[Greg]

A commission done for Chris here on the Guild. I think J.Edward has worked with him on a couple of pieces as well. This one took a fair while to make, but I'm happy with how it turned out in the end. Heldor has ~1000 inhabitants, with mostly Spanish-type buildings alongside some newer Islamic ones. The city is situated alongside one of the main trading rivers, the Yaquir, as well as having the Empire Road running directly through it.


A recently constructed bridge spans the Yaquir, opening up further trade routes. With this, a small fort was also constructed to help protect the people and traders of the city.


The City of Heldor Small.jpg

Done on Photoshop, original size A2 ~7000x5000px. Hope you like it!

[Gidde]

It looks great! I love the cobble texture of the main road.

[Ilanthar]

Cities are always very time-consuming, aren't they?
Very nice work on this, Greg, I bet your client is very happy with it .

[Falconius]

That's a very nice city map. I like the little touches of the tower and bridge reflections on the water.

[Wingshaw]

Indeed, that's a very nice city map. Well done Greg!

The only critiques I would make are about the golden text in the legend (which I think is a bit too low-contrast) and the apparent emptiness of the surrounding countryside. But that last one might be deliberate, in which case ignore it

Wingshaw

[Greg]

Thanks everyone! Cities always do end up taking longer than I think, especially if you start getting bogged down in details... which I do...

The only critiques I would make are about the golden text in the legend (which I think is a bit too low-contrast) and the apparent emptiness of the surrounding countryside. But that last one might be deliberate, in which case ignore it

Wingshaw

Thank you, Wingshaw. Yep, deliberately kept the outside relatively sparse, because it's mostly just grasslands, but it does have the added bonus of making the city stand out a bit more.

Can see what you mean about the low contrast. Don't think it's too bad, but maybe I could have upped it a bit.

[DanielHasenbos]

Awesome map Greg! Love your attention to detail in this one. The houses look great and those walls must have taken forever to finish, but the result is amazing!

[Kellerica]

Beautiful city! Your delicate lineart works wonderfully with the harmonious color palette. I think the forts and city walls are my favorite part, the linework in there is glorious and the light color really lets it shine. I'm somewhat with Wingshaw though - the legend and title box I'm not that wild about. I can't say I much care for the font used in the title, plus the yellow color is a bit too bright for my taste and as Wingshaw said, doesn't quite contrast enough against the background. Not a huge issue, and like I said, the map itself looks fantastic.

Good work overall, nice to see you posting again! (is it just me or has it been a while again?)

[MistyBeee]

That's such a great map ! I definitely love the style, and mostly the colors, even if I agree with my fellows about the text on the legend. Maybe I would have made the roads a little more visible too, especially the one which cross the bridge
Anyway : superb, Greg !

[ThomasR]

Fantastic map Greg, no wonder why it took a long time. I bet the client is ecstatic