March 2016 Challenge: An illustrated archeological survey

[Lingon]

I've always seen these challenges as primarily to challenge yourself, and that's hardly a viewpoint I can keep up with a clean conscience without entering this one! I've never done an underground map, but I do find caves and crypts quite fascinating, so I don't really know why I haven't explored that genre before. Anyway, here's my first sketch. It shows an ancient tomb, viewed from the side, and then becomes a cave system, where the archeologists stumble on the sealed entrance to a completely different, probably even older, underground complex.

### LATEST WIP ###
grotta1.jpg

[Carnifex]

looking forward to seeing this. Looks promising.

[Bogie]

Very cool idea!

[ravells]

loving the look of this already in the early stages. Is it going to be b&w or colour? (I'm assuming b&w)

[Diamond]

Yay, another Challenge entry from Lingon! I really like that weeping face thing - very cool.

[Greg]

Great start Lingon, it's already looking nice and it's just the sketch.

[jpstod]

Mappers like me don't stand a chance against these type of Maps.

[Lingon]

Thanks everyone, very encouraging! I'm planning to make it colored, too many of my commissions are black&white so I need to get my watercolors wet on my private projects, haha. And Jpstod, it seems like you mainly do RPG maps? It may be true that they don't often get the most votes in the challenges, but mappers like me don't stand a chance against your types when someone wants to game!

Here's an update, copied the sketch onto some stretched 300g paper and inked and detailed it, with a pen for the outlines of the rooms and brush-applied ink for everything inside them.
### LATEST WIP ###
grotta2.jpg

[snodsy]

Really nice sketch, looking forward to seeing this develop, nice elements along the way, like the story, maybe incorporate the story into the white spaces, I want to know what the elements mean. Nice job.

[jpstod]

but mappers like me don't stand a chance against your types when someone wants to game!

You gotta be kidding me...This type of Map is what Mappers like me, who have no artist skills wish our Programs could do also. We are limited top down single layered artwork from 1 Angle. This is the Kinda Map that I would love to frame and display on a Wall all the Time. This is the Kind of Map that players love to receive as a Handout. Players don't want to receive 10 flat maps that when laid out would not make any sense to them. This map as players move from top to bottom they can easily track their Location. I can only create a Map because someone else has created the elements for me already.

Artists have the Advantage because yall can create Individual art without repetitiveness..People like me are Waiting for Someone to create new art to keep our maps from looking stale. I get shot down on a Commissions because I am to "Nostalgic".

Only reason I have not entered is I have been working on one of the Re-creation Maps I do for people for Old Maps for VTT in scaled format got that finished Now to throw something together just for fun.