June 2018 Challenge: All Things Serve the Beam

[aeshnidae]

If you've read Stephen King's Dark Tower series, you know that all of Mid-World is basically a frontier at this point, as direction and distance in the world-that-was no longer hold sway. This, and King's inconsistencies with geography over 30 years, make mapping Mid-World a real treat. But I'm toying with the idea of mapping the small portion of Mid-World that we read about in the books and this seems like a good place to test out some ideas. It also seems like an opportunity to finally try the bird's eye perspective, which is a bit scary since I don't have any classical art skills. (And if I can't acquire a modicum of them in time, this might change to a map of Blaine the Mono's tracks. )

The map starts just prior to the bridge into Lud and follows the bear/turtle beam to the Dark Tower, off in the distance. Lud borders the Wastelands, a sunken nightmare area. Topeka, at the other end of the monorail line, is surrounded by a Thinny where the fabric of existence is breaking down. Topeka also serves as the informal marker between Mid-World and End-World, so frontiers abound.

I'm still a bit "meh" on this map. I have a feeling I'll be using this challenge mostly as a learning experience so advice is even more appreciated than usual.

"See the TURTLE of amazing girth!
On his back he holds the earth.
His thought is slow but always kind;
He holds us all within his mind."

### Latest WIP ###
Lud to Tower sketch.jpg

[Mouse]

It looks like a pretty interesting start

[LizardInk]

I LOVE that you're basing it on TDT! Such a great series, and a frontier for sure. The perspective here is very cool; love the way you did the bridge.

[Diamond]

YES!!! GREAT idea, and you might already have my vote.

[aeshnidae]

Ooh, I'm glad there's interest in The Dark Tower! Work has gotten in the way of making progress on the map, but I finally got a good skyline of NYC...I mean, Lud...done yesterday. It was bittersweet to draw the twin towers, but the skyline looks decent in terms of perspective, so I think I can actually make this work. Now I'm working on finalizing the bridge. It's supposed to look like the George Washington Bridge and boy is that a lot of linework. Hopefully I'll be able to post an updated WIP soon.

[Diamond]

...Just don't include anything from the last three books.

[aeshnidae]

...Just don't include anything from the last three books.

I love the first three books and I actually really liked the last one (meaning The Dark Tower, not The Wind Through the Keyhole). I need to reread the whole series; I've read the first three books a bunch of times but the rest of them only once. I recall being let down by Wizard and Glass but that's probably because I waited so darned long for it. (And now George R.R. Martin has taught me that 6 years is not really a long time to wait for a book.)

I also absolutely love Insomnia and always considered it a Dark Tower book, so I was very happy that Stephen King also thinks so. I'm surprised by the number of folks who loathed it...but I have always suffered from early waking insomnia, so maybe it spoke to me differently than it did to those who don't struggle with sleep.

Anyhoo...made some progress last night by finishing the main portions of the bridge and getting my rough sketch transferred to Photoshop. I can say with confidence that this is about 2% complete.

### Latest WIP ###
Path of the Beam v1.jpg

[XCali]

Definitely a fun perspective for a map.
Are those cliffs in the middle left area?
Good luck on the challenge!

[aeshnidae]

Thanks, XCali! There is a river running between the Badlands and Thunderclap but I've been puzzled about which way the Great Arc of the Callas spreads and whether there are cliffs before Thunderclap. I'm hoping to find that info in the books this weekend.

[aeshnidae]

Work has been horrendously busy but I finally found some time to work on my entry. I made some adjustments to the Wastelands (not labeled, but it's the sunken area), finished the bridge, and did some coloring. That bridge...oy.

### Latest WIP ###
Path of the Beam v2.jpg