Thalassios
Hi folks,
A couple of weeks ago I finished this map for a former client. Tried to do a WIP thread like in the good old days but did not stick to it unfortunately.
Thalassios lighter post.jpg
The map shows a mostly tropical continent with a lot of pirate activity hence the navigational chart choice.
A wink to the old days too, the map is said to have been charted by Hattam Reyes, the Scrivener of the Ancients
Hope you like it !
Cheers !
I like the fact that you didn't colorize the sea. It's way more effective so !
Very nice job !
I wondered what happened to this one! Really nice work; me like.
Haven't been around for quite a while, but I keep lurking. Just had to pop along here and say that this is great work Tom!
Merci beaucoup JoëlOriginally Posted by - JO -
Yeah, I've been a bit inconsistent with the WIP and hit some personal snags along the way. Glad you like it D. :-)
Hey Tonquani ! Long time no seeGlad you like it, I had fun drawinng it.
Great map, with your unmistakable parchment style.
It is an eye catching style I have to confess it
1. First impression is that the edges of the map utterly dominate the eye. That part of the map is quite fabulous.
2. The colors in play on this map are subtle, inviting. They lure the eye in, whispering that a stay is in order. My eyes wander across this map in a leisurely fashion. It's a peaceful-looking map.
3. Nothing about it makes pirates come to mind. Nautical, perhaps, but not pirates.
4. One population center marked on the entire map. Maybe that's supposed to be an indicator of a pirate hideout. But it is a lonely place, visually insignificant in the grand scheme of this map's visual delights. It's very easy to overlook, to miss it entirely.
5. Are those volcanoes just right of the center of the map? Tads of orange - perhaps indicators of lava? So very hard to tell, though. Such small details that blend in so well (perhaps a little too well, but that's just my own personal taste, not an indictment of your choice to render them that way).
6. Other than the bold Thalassios in the bottom right, which draws the eye to it, this map has very little use for text, overall. Lots of forests, plenty of mountains, none of which were worthy of text to implant them more firmly in the mind.
7. All things considered, it's a lovely map - more lovely than memorable, I'm afraid. But that seems to have been a conscious decision on the part of the cartographer. It looks better than most fantasy maps that I've seen, but for all of its visual grandeur, it doesn't really capture my imagination.
8. This map is awash in coastlines, almost everywhere that my eyes look. This enhances this map's overall beauty several fold.
9. The rhumb lines (or whatever the preferred term is) are the icing of this map's cake, and make short work of the map's white space, which predominantly takes the form of seas on this map. This map would probably look quite naked without them.
10. The compass rose in the upper left corner of the map is gargantuan in size, but it fits quite well, there. It is oversized and has visual heft, yet seems right at hand, there, imbuing the map with more visual balance, overall.
That is a thorough review, thanks for that
1- Thanks, I like my torn parchments.
2- The map was planned as a handout which forbade vivid colors. Plus, the absence of border guided the choice of something discreet for the ocean to avoid a clash at the border and have it blend better with the parchment color.
3- You are right, a skull was originally planned for the compass rose or the O in the title but we decided to keep the map more simple, like a regular map no matter who uses it.
4- The scarce labels are because the region will be populated along the campaign and will be labeled later on.
5- This one is on me as I tried some smoke but decided to remove it. Also, the map is drawn at twice the size you experiment here and will be printed 4 times bigger.
6- Again, new world/terra incognita vibe demanded by the client.
7- Hey, you do you
8- Glad you like my jagged coasts.
9- The rhumbs were planned to give the map the closest nautical chart vibe I could. Without them, the ocean would have gotten a very different treatment indeed.
10- This is a big one indeed. Originally a decorative enameled like skull was planed in the middle but the idea was dropped out. I also contemplated making the rose as a read one set on top of the map but we went in a different direction.
Again, thanks for the detailed review, I've missed these
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