Small City Map - Sketch

[Vaxfiend]

Hello all. Attached is a city map I sketched today with a rather dull #2. I have the majority of structures, but no details yet, and no surrounding topography.

I drew this for a campaign episode, but I want to work with this and take it from the hand-drawn pencil sketch to something more polished. I figure this will be a good exercise to learn the ropes here, and all the tricks and tool you all utilize.

I just have to figure out when to stop drawing this by hand (I'll ink it in next), and move it to digital format. I also need a better camera than my phone - I can't seem to get an even level of light over the drawing.

Any comments are very welcome!

Thanks,
Eric

[ChickPea]

I seem to recall someone posting somewhere about tips for photographing maps and how to improve them in Photoshop... but I have no idea where I saw it and I'm not sure what sort of results the site's search would turn up. Pity.

Looking forward to your next update, as you're off to a cracking start.

[foxtrot]

I seem to recall someone posting somewhere about tips for photographing maps and how to improve them in Photoshop... but I have no idea where I saw it and I'm not sure what sort of results the site's search would turn up. Pity.

See Torstan's short tutorial, halfway down this page:
https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...t=16819&page=7

[Vaxfiend]

See Torstan's short tutorial, halfway down this page:
https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...t=16819&page=7

Brilliant, thanks! I'll use that mask for my next photo.

[Vaxfiend]

Thanks! I'm working on the next step now. And kudos for using 'cracking' - love that word, I must use it today.

[Vaxfiend]

Here's my inked-in version. I think I'm done drawing with pen; time to move to digital and work with the stylus.

smallcitytk-wip2.jpg

[XCali]

Here's my inked-in version. I think I'm done drawing with pen; time to move to digital and work with the stylus.

Nice job man! Looks great!

A side note, remember, while it is still black and white it is easier to CUT and PASTE buildings and stuff to move them around digitally. It was just something I found useful with my own drawn map.

Goodluck! and have fun.

[aeshnidae]

Really impressive, especially for such a big city! What's your plan for moving to digital? I'm at the point where I need to move to digital but I'm still learning the ropes (Wacom Intuos Pro tablet and Photoshop, but I'm considering Illustrator instead).

[Vaxfiend]

Really impressive, especially for such a big city! What's your plan for moving to digital? I'm at the point where I need to move to digital but I'm still learning the ropes (Wacom Intuos Pro tablet and Photoshop, but I'm considering Illustrator instead).

Welcome! I'm new as well, still learning methods and techniques. I'm using a Wacom tablet as well, and photoshop. I'm tempted to try illustrator for a vector image vs. a raster, but I will stick with the psd format for now. I'm done drawing with pen and paper, having snapped pics and imported into photoshop. I have the black image isolated on its own layer so now I can do work with fills and other tricks. But only after I do a lot of work on it.

[ChickPea]

Nice one!