Marathon Maps

[Wingshaw]

OK, so this is actually a suggestion for two connected challenges, with a reasonably simple concept:

Month 1: the challenge is to make a map, any style/subject, but with several key features left out--e.g. if it is an overland map, include only natural features (mountains, rivers, forests), but no labels, settlements, important sites; a city map can only include street layout, and not buildings etc.

Voting decides which is best, as usual.

Month 2: the winning map (or maps, in case of a draw) from the previous month are provided, and entrants to this challenge must finish it (or, if there are multiple, select one to finish)--i.e. add the labels, settlements, important sites etc.

THW

[xpian]

Sounds very cool. Similarities to the "Finish It!" challenge from a few months back. It's a neat idea for several reasons, not least of which is that we all have different styles and would presumably have to adjust and adapt to part 2 of the challenge.

[Jalyha]

I LOVE this idea. To be honest, lol, I think I would be better at month 2 - I've discovered I'm better at fixing other people's artwork/writing than creating my own ;(

[xpian]

It's funny, because I actually like the thought of month ONE a little better, I think... Sometimes it's fun just to work on the landscape features and not have to worry about borders, cartouches, icons, fonts, etc.

We could stipulate that month one should contain NO "enhancing" features of any kind. Just landscape. Or just cityscape. Top-down, satellite, isometric, whatever. Month two would be reserved for all of the rest, including modifications, additional symbols, roads, new rooms and buildings, etc.

[Jalyha]

It's funny, because I actually like the thought of month ONE a little better, I think...

Wow, I bet. I just went through and looked at your maps/website. Some beautiful landscapes there! (Read up on your novel too - hope you publish soon, I want to read more!)


Also, I kind of want to do the month 2 challenge on your island in the sky

okthnxbai

~

[xpian]

Wow, I bet. I just went through and looked at your maps/website. Some beautiful landscapes there! (Read up on your novel too - hope you publish soon, I want to read more!)
~

Wow, thanks very much. That's nice to hear. I worked really hard on the novel for a couple of years and it's a little frustrating to have it sitting there, waiting for me to revise and publish it. I'll make sure to let you and the guild know when that happens.

[tainotim]

Regrettably, THW, this Challenge is a 'no' for me. This challenge(month 2) is just like the "Finish it!" challenge, and this month's challenge, very excluding of all those cartographers that use traditional medium. I know we are a dying breed in this world of digital art, but, I'm not giving up just yet! 'Ink will flow through my veins until the end of days!'

Possibly this challenge could be altered, so that in Month 2, you had to finishing your own map – but following a certain theme provided by the challenge host. For example, after doing the groundwork of the map in month one, you get a theme, perhaps 'steampunk' or 'horror', at the beginning of month two.

Cheers,
Tainotim

[xpian]

@tainotim - I'm not so sure...couldn't you print it out and work on it that way? :-)

[tainotim]

Sure, but without a more expensive printer, most 'common-folk' that work with traditional medium would have to draw on A4 copy paper. Of course, that would be physically possibly – but not something I would recommend

Cheers,
Tainotim

[Wingshaw]

I understand your concern, tainotim, as I too have decided that I'm a pen and paper kind of person, rather than digitalist. When I put forward the suggestion, I just wanted to propose an idea I had had; if this challenge were run, I might not even enter. However, clearly there are some people to whom this appeals, and for different reasons. I can imagine you creating a great start map, and then seeing how various others people finish it off. I guess that that is the purpose of voting: let all who come here have their say.

As an extra suggestion, month 1 could be a regular challenge, and month 2 a lite one.

Some of the other ideas you guys have suggested also sound good: I like the idea of being given a theme after the map is halfway done; prohibiting embellishments is also a good one.

THW