(WIP) Attempting to use an 18th century atlas map as a style model

[Pixie]

I am planning to spend some hobby time, in the coming weeks, working on a map I have in the back burner. It started out as fooling around with textures and brushes to mimic a late rennaissance look, but with no ambition to make it a complete piece. However, I took interest in it again recently, but I am struggling with a few things - composition, fonts, etc. And that's why I'm sharing it at such an early stage - I need advice from you experts.

But first, let me show where I am at:
WIP_HistoricalKane_composition.jpg
This is the full size, as to show composition. It will take a border, cartouche and the whole lot, but I didn't quite devote time to think about those... Any suggestions?
The map is obviously about the Kane Empire, but my original file goes a little larger than this, so I can crop it again, farther or closer to Kane's borders, or even neglecting the islands - anything goes.

WIP_HistoricalKane_detail.jpg
This higher resolution goes to show the size and kind of fonts I am using, as well as the linework on mountains and rivers (and trees). Mountains and trees are done using plain brushes as they are there since my initial sketches and I really have no drawing ability. A lot of rivers aren't still drawn, and most of the labelling is incomplete (I reckon I will have to invent hundreds of words) - for now, I think I am still "testing the style".
But I am mostly struggling with the fonts. It's not that I completely dislike my choices, it's just that it looks too neat. I want to "age" it in the end, but I haven't yet made my mind about what kind of font/effect I should apply. Also, the coloring of the borders isn't as perfect as I would like it, suggestions also welcome for that...
In reality, any comments, on any issue, are very very welcome!

Lastly, let me show what I used as a model to start with:
Reference_style_2.jpg
This is a Russian Atlas from 1745, as seen at David Rumsey's Collection. Maps of this age are filled with labeling and have very fine linework - those are the key characteristics I want to achieve with this, but I feel I am pretty far, and your guidance could probably save me tons of hours of experiments.

Many thanks folks, for reading the post and for all the pointers you can provide.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

I think I can help with something. Check out this site for fonts: http://iginomarini.com/fell/ This guy pulled some antique looking fonts and completely re-did them. I've used some for historical looking maps before.

Edit: great start by the way. What software are you using, and what was your process for coloring the borders?

[Pixie]

Wow, those fonts are awesome and exactly what I needed. Thank you, thank you!

The map looks better already.


As for the borders (using photoshop), here's how I go about it... First I have solid black on transparent shapes for each country, each country on its separate layer. To create a border, I select one of those shapes, then modify that selection into "border", a wide one, and then modify it again, feathering it. This I paint (basic bucket fill) on a new layer with any color, I go for dark gray normally. Now I start a new selection, encompassing the solid shapes of all the countries around this one, and I use this selection to delete the "outer half" of the dark gray border I just painted.
Once this is done, you can apply some filters to give it a more "handmade" appearance - a bit of noise, a bit of whatever you see is working for you. Once it looks less uniform, just colorize the layer, and fine tune the opacity - it's done. Colorizing a gray layer, instead of painting it originally with different colors, makes it easier to change the color of any border later, or to have two non-adjacent countries to be colored with the same tint.

Did I say thanks for the fonts?...

[Pixie]

Well, just to unwind between work related chores, I decided to pop by the guild and share the current state of this piece.

The fonts suggested by GreatWhiteNorth are working great in giving the whole thing a more dated look. So I am (and will continue to be for some time) in the process of labelling the beast.

This is the area where I have more labels and rivers by now and it is growing on me. Still, I feel this is at the extreme top of my ability with labelling and that I'm at a fine line with absolute cr*p.
WIP_HistoricalKane_newfont.jpg

I also cropped the "under the skin data" of the same area - that is to say, the original image from the large world-scale colored heightmap, which was expanded and then traced over. In this image, you can see that layer (as well as an old version of the "modern day" borders which went merged with it) and the mountains and cities layers on top of it.
I think I am showing this more to share my line of thought about the creation of this map than anything else..
WIP_HistoricalKane_originlayer.jpg

[- Max -]

Good job Pixie, I like it! THe ImFell family is indeed a pretty good choice. As feedbacks I would say that if you can have more variety in mountains brushes, that would be cool, the only one repetitive pattern looks a bit odd. Coastal water ripples could also be improved to avoid the too obvious repetitive pattern

[Pixie]

Thanks for the comment.

The mountains are indeed a single brush (used it as a "stamp", really). I just coppied one handdrawn single mountain from that russian atlas, made it a brush and went on stamping every mountain location - this was the initial fooling around and it's there ever since. Now that I am taking this a little more seriously (in terms of making it a completed map), I think I will have to devote some time to make a proper set of brushes from those original atlas maps and if so, I reckon it would be rude not to share them here.

The same with coastal ripples, that was a silly pattern fill I used, just to experiment, and it's been there ever since Will definitely be changed as it isn't, in any way, at the standard I want it. Still, I want to avoid handdrawing... any suggestions?

[- Max -]

You could make your own pattern without handdrawing, by tracing lines with an irregular grungy/noisy/shaky/whatever you feel works the best brush, turn it into a pattern. Make sure that there isn't an obvious irregularity in your pattern that the eye will easily spot once the pattern will be applied.
Also may I ask if there was a special reason why you use curved labels for the cities?

[Pixie]

Also may I ask if there was a special reason why you use curved labels for the cities?

The cartographer than drew this, 300 years ago, loved curved labels - it was the proper way to do it, at that time, in the Kane Empire.

It's a choice of style, really, but I am also thinking about how this map would be done in 1700 or so. Slowly and very carefully drawn by hand, with an extremely sharp black ink tip. The cartographer would probably prefer to avoid areas already painted on, hence he would avoid where something was already drawn (mountains and such), labeling around those.

[- Max -]

Though it looks pretty weird, even from the cartographer's point of view, to curve cities labels when you have room to go straight with them. It doesn't really make sense to me. Well, that's just my two cents

[A Blood Red Fox]

Though it looks pretty weird, even from the cartographer's point of view, to curve cities labels when you have room to go straight with them. It doesn't really make sense to me. Well, that's just my two cents

I rather like it, it makes me think of one of the labels on the maps in games by Paradox Interactive, like in Victoria 2 or something.