"Practice" continental-scale map in GIMP (WIP)

[jmach]

I posted the first version of this map in the "new member introduction" forum a few days ago. It's a map I created mostly to practice some of the techniques I saw in the tutorials here and to familiarize myself with GIMP. Here's the original again:

island.png

In response to some constructive criticism, I:
1. Created a layer mask with feathered edges to smooth out the coastlines, and applied it to the base land layer.
2. Used a Gaussian blur on the "grass" layer and the "forest" layer to reduce pixilation.
3. Toned down the color intensity of the "forest" layer a bit.
4. Used a Gaussian blur on the "river" layer to make the rivers and lakes smoother.

Here's the revised map:

island-2.png

The pixel dimensions of the image are relatively small ( 1024x768 ) because a) I started it on a laptop using the laptop screen (not much screen real estate), and b) because this is a "practice" map, I wanted to keep the size small enough that I could work quickly.

Thanks in advance for any constructive comments and suggestions.

[Troedel]

Nice landmass. I look at this map the first time and I think that the revised one looks a bit out of focus because of the blur. Perhaps the wood layer texture should be changed for a less pixelated look. But there are others around who could give more elaborated advice. There is a river crossing the whole continent with a lake in the middle. I would advise for seperating the river for a more natural look. And perhaps you could dim down the coastal glow,it seems a bit intensive. Hope it helps, looking forward to a new version.

[tilt]

I second troedels comments, they pretty much sum it up nicely