The Heartpine Dome - Another Noss Saga map

[joabaldwin]

I have a LOT of maps in my new fantasy series, the Noss Saga. Most are fully illustrated, but some are in-world objects drawn by the characters, so I made those by hand so they can exist in reality and feel tangible.

This is the interior of the Heartpine Dome. It shows the interior geography of the eighty-mile-wide structure and it's supporting vine columns, with a perspective view from the western side (labeled as Thornridge).

Ockam's Map - Heartpine.jpg

Created in: Paper, ink, dip pen (Esterbrook radio pen nib), aspen leaves.

Photographed in Canon R5, then lightly touched up in Photoshop to change a river direction that was making no sense. I modeled the entire dome in Maya to have as a reference while writing, and used that to sketch this from so it's all to scale. If you noticed the embossed aspen leaves, I actually pressed them into the paper to get those textures (they are relevant to the story).

[joabaldwin]

Here's how I planned this. I printed this out and placed it under the textured paper so I could trace over most of it.
Sketch - Ockam dome ref.jpg

[KMAlexander]

I absolutely love the style you have going on here. The ink (and colors) work really well and evoke a perfect field-journal feel.

[Turambar]

Looking great! I'm a big fan of all of your Noss maps so far. And congrats on the release of your first novel!

[ThomasR]

This is an absolute gem ! You nailed the style and the paper is a great touch.

[Kellerica]

I absolutely love diegetic maps and other illustrations like this! I think the redness of the ink is maybe a tad too saturated for my taste, but the artwork itself is amazing. Wonderful work!

[Ilanthar]

Excellent! The sketchy work feel is well rendered and the lineart is great.

[HINDSIGHT]

Nice work. It confused me a bit in regards to what technique was used, which is a good thing. Reminded me of both woodblock or some stamp technique.

[joabaldwin]

Thanks, everyone! The red ink I used is the Dragon's Napalm Noodler's Ink, which I really loved until I found out the owner of the company who makes it is an antisemitic ass

I got another map in the same style I'll post later when I get back, with more blue ink instead.