The Western Shore

[S.Schloesser]

A commissioned piece a made a few months back and never came around posting here.



Western Shore cartographer.png

And here you can see how much work I put into each city


Western Shore detail.png

This was a new style for me. For a first try it turned out pretty well.
I wish I had more time though. I would have liked to get the level of detail I used for the cities everywhere.
This way there are so much vast stretches of land without anything in there at all.

What do you think?

[J.Edward]

That is awesome Stefan. I love it!!!
It's beautifully rendered and has a lot of character.
That said, some areas could stand a bit more ... clarity? contrast? darker lines to show detail a bit better...
The forests don't stand out quite as much as they should.
Compared to the dark lines of your mountains, the forests seem like they could at least stand a bit darker outline.
I'd maybe go with something other than grey for the rivers.

Still, that's just helpful critique. This map stands tall as it is. Really a nice style.
I think you should do some more like this one.
Definitely repped.

[S.Schloesser]

Thank you!

That is helpful critique. You are the second person to mention the forests so I probably screwed up there.
Something to keep in mind for the future.

I will try to post my work more often here

[soggymuse]

Wow. I love the mountains, and how the roads follow the peaks. I'd maybe choose blue for the coastline; that black really stands out, but clashes with the subtle tones of the rest of the map.

Awesome city detailing, though. I love that you can see tiny differences between them even at a zoomed-out level, such as roof colours and layout, and then zoom in to mini maps of the local towns.

[Teferi]

I like the map in its entirety, although I would personally differentiate the terra incognita of the savage tribes land further - it looks like a grey plane and integrates well with the rest of the map to such a point, that imho emotionally it does not clearly convey that it is basically unmapped.

I really like everything you did, woods, mountains, hills etc - they all mesh well because you kept a neat muted palette of colours.

Furthermore the Naming: Most of them are creative in a way that makes you feel like it's a proper place there, where people name the stuff in their surrounding: Most of them conjure up the image of a living world. However: This does not hold true for "Ancient Ruins" wich is just generic and does not fit - people wouldn't be calling it "Ancient Ruins" would they? They'd give it some Name and Descriptor, "Ruines of the WHOTEVER", no? Same with the Witch's Coven: Why is this a location remarkeable enough to be noted on a map that is simplistic to the point of only properly displaying the most significant landmarks - but at the same time insignificant enough to get a generic name like that? Has the Witch no Name? Do the People not know her?

The Hidden Monastery is a Name I love! <3

All in all: Splendid work!

[Pixie]

This map is quite catching to the eye. I think the blend of colors and the coastal "glow" are its bigger selling points, although mountains and villages are also very neatly drawn. All-in-all, the map is great!

But (sorry) I have a couple of nitpicks, all of which related to apparent "randomness":
- the apparent randomness for the shapes of the forests and, particularly, the shape of the marshes.
- the "mistery" of the south flowing rivers - the bottom border of the map seems awkwardly random as settlements would occupy those river valleys.
- the agricultural fields don't really work when zoomed out - again, their placement seems too random.

Of course, anyone who was to recognize my name in here would label me picky and "obsessed over detail", so feel free (utterly free) to ignore my worries.

[Ilanthar]

Great map! I like the global feeling and soft colors. I kinda agree with Pixie, notably about the crop fields.

[arsheesh]

Fantastic job S.Schloesser, really love those mountains. I'm with J. about the forests though, and personally I think the rivers would look better if they were the same color as the ocean. Otherwise excellent.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh