Carcerem (Regional Map WIP)

[Wired]

I've been working on this one for the past few days. It's a commission for a forum game; layout et. al. were handed to me be the client. I did the mountains without central ridgeline linework as a test, trying to only give them contours via coloring and shading. Didn't work out 100% so I'll be back to a more traditional approach with the next map.

Everything past the eastern mountains is terra incognita; not sure what to do with the space; either I'll cover it with the map's legend or with a layer of clouds...

I've started working with Illustrator the other day and have done the two sets of border forts shown here in the program. All in all there will be four culturally distinct sets of locations: forts, towns and cities. Aside from the locations I'll have to add fields around the main centers of civilization, maybe a few coats of arms (once I get the descriptions) and a finishing texture layer with which you'll have to help me decide.

Thoughts, ideas, constructive criticism?

Latest WIP:

GeneralXanatos Commission2.jpg

[arsheesh]

Beautiful colors. Highlights for me would be the ornate borders and compass, the overall composition and colors and the trees. Not quite so fond of the contours on the mountains, but like you said, they were an experiment.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[ChickPea]

I have to agree that I'm also not overly fond of the mountains. They look a little blurry and don't really blend well with the other elements. However, as Arsheesh said, you have to try new things and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

The colouring is very attractive and vivid and I absolutely adore the celtic border. I also like how you've done different types of forests. The ground texture and the hills look great too.

[Wired]

Beautiful colors. Highlights for me would be the ornate borders and compass, the overall composition and colors and the trees. Not quite so fond of the contours on the mountains, but like you said, they were an experiment.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

I have to agree that I'm also not overly fond of the mountains. They look a little blurry and don't really blend well with the other elements. However, as Arsheesh said, you have to try new things and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

The colouring is very attractive and vivid and I absolutely adore the celtic border. I also like how you've done different types of forests. The ground texture and the hills look great too.

Thank you, both of you. Honestly, I'm thinking about reworking those mountains, but right now I'm totally out of time (Christmas season at work = extra hours) and what little time I do have is spent on trying to work with Illustrator.

Anyways, less complaining, more updating! Here's a preview at one of the four different city images; linework done in Illustrator, coloring in PS.

Dwarven Desert City.jpg

[ChickPea]

Very pretty! I love the detail.

[Ilanthar]

Well, that's a lovely city !

[Tom]

Oh! pretty cool work there Wired! I like the trees a lot!! also the overall color scheme and the border! This can become a serious piece!
As the other guildies stated above, even for me the mountains color looks a bit odd, in my opinion you should focus the shadow on a side, rather than the middle.
Anyway keep up the good job!

[Wired]

Oh! pretty cool work there Wired! I like the trees a lot!! also the overall color scheme and the border! This can become a serious piece!
As the other guildies stated above, even for me the mountains color looks a bit odd, in my opinion you should focus the shadow on a side, rather than the middle.
Anyway keep up the good job!

Thanks, I'll try.

As for the mountains, I feel I should explain my motivation as for why they look the way they look. I thought of that 'totally cool' and 'super time-saving idea' of using Photoshop's layer styles to act as shortcuts for the design process, which I'm sure nobody has ever before tried. :p Okay, maybe my thoughts weren't quite as grandiose as that, but the basic idea was the same: use drop shadows, textures, and bevel & emboss to create depth and shadows for the mountains, while the 'shadow' itself creates the main ridges. Yeah, sounded nice on paper, but the result is that rather smudgy mess you can see above. Well, it was a learning experience: didn't work, back to the functioning approaches (and, rather literally, the drawing board ).

[ChickPea]

Hehe I have wasted so much time over the last year trying to find 'shortcuts' that end up taking three times as long or, more likely, have to be scrapped halfway through. So I feel ya!

Looking forward to your next update.

[Wired]

Didn't get much done as I was away from home, but here are two WIP coats of arms for the map (WIP because I didn't notice the smudges when I saved them in PS...). Left one is for the Dwarven Kingdom, the right one for the central empire.
Coat of Arms 1.pngCoat of Arms 2.png