A Panoramic View of Island Town (commission)

[Lingon]

Well… A map! (I never know how to start threads…)

Ok, so maybe someone remembers, probably not, this map I made a little while ago, for the writer Arianne Tex Thompson's book One night in Sixes. It was released the other day now, and in time for the release I made a second version of the map, for a poster, in color.

The idea was to show the town, now renamed Island Town, in a panoramic view and with a transition from day to night across the map, to show the many lights in the north half of the town (it's oriented with west up, because we liked the composition that gave) but still let the colorful pueblo in the south be visible.

Usual for me, it's pencil, ink and watercolors, with labels, lights and the day-night color gradient added in Photoshop. It's taken extremely long, but finally, and luckily timed, it's ready

Island Town.jpg
©Arianne Tex Thompson, posted with permission.

[Diamond]

Dude! I had totally forgot it was you that did that map for One Night in Sixes! I just bought that book yesterday and I was like, "Man, this map looks familiar..." LOL!

And this one is especially beautiful.

[Ilanthar]

By Lingon
Well… A map! (I never know how to start threads…)

Glad to know that I'm not the only one ! Lovely colors - as usual - and excellent perspective view.

[Lingon]

Dude! I had totally forgot it was you that did that map for One Night in Sixes! I just bought that book yesterday and I was like, "Man, this map looks familiar..." LOL!

And this one is especially beautiful.

Haha, that's funny! So have you had time to read a bit yet? I'm pretty curious about it, Tex does such a brilliant job pitching it Thanks for the compliment and the rep!

Glad to know that I'm not the only one ! Lovely colors - as usual - and excellent perspective view.

Lol… There are dozens of us, dozens! (been watching Arrested Development…) Anyway… Thank you

[Diamond]

Nah, haven't started reading it yet; it'll be in my to-read stack for a while until I can plow through some of the rest first...

[eishiya]

I think it's a bit odd that the numbering on the map goes from left to right while the location list is effectively right to left. The list also separates "Eaden" from the rest of the map. The visual effect of having the list along the coast is quite attractive, but I think in this case it makes the map appear disorganized and potentially confusing. I am of the opinion that clarity should trump beauty if both cannot be achieved.

I have to admit, I skipped clicking the thumbnail to see the full map the first time I saw this thread because the gradient made me think it was a crappy photograph rather than an intentional effect. It looks okay in the full version and I think it's a neat idea, but perhaps it might be better to push the yellow-red further off to the side and have more "daylight"? The narrow white/neutral area at present contrasts with the red and purple and looks greenish. Combined with the even widths of the colour bands, it gives the appearance of the accidental colour bands that sometimes happen in photos of B&W artwork taken by crappy cameras (an example of what I mean).

I'm glad I ended up taking a look though. Aside from the criticisms above, I think this looks good and wouldn't look out of place in a tourist brochure.