July 2018 Challenge: Forlinde - Red Sun and Stormy Seas

[NarramoreArt]

This is going to be my first Cartographer's Challenge
Option number 10 Forlinde is calling out to me, and I expect to expect to encounter a few challenges with it.
In order of increasing severity the issues I predict are:

Showing a medieval land full of nomads rules out a lot of details like castles and watermills, however I could attribute such things to gnomes.
I'd love to showcase the red sun, I wonder if that means I should make shadows green or brown?
More often than not I map forests instead of mountains, and I have never attempted a seriously mountainous region.

That said, I think it's worth challenging myself. I'll likely update next week with my progress.
Hopefully I've set up my entry correctly <3

### Latest WIP ###2018JulCartChallenge.jpg

[Diamond]

Nomadic dwarves, nice! Imagine a huge tribe riding massive goats, all on the move at once...

[AzureWings]

A neat place to start from! I agree that emphasizing the crimson sun somehow sounds like a good idea. I'd recommend against green shadows though, unless you're already planning on doing something where there isn't shadows to highlight the redness of the sun. On their own I feel like they would give the map more of a green feel overall, rather than red.

[Larb]

Glad t o see you diving right in, I look forward to seeing what you make.

[NarramoreArt]

I had to spend a fair bit of my time on other projects (As anticipated) however I was set back a fair bit by some ill health.
After a couple roughs and a little bit headscratching, I managed finish inking my map yesterday evening.
I'm using my calligraphic dip nib pens for this, and for the most part am pretty pleased with the result thus far.

Sadly though, I had some inkflow problems with the nib I was using for writing, and had to swap out to Pilot Parallel pen.
The ink in that pen, turned out to be water soluble which is quite frustrating. I will have to make sure that all of my dip nibs are properly cleaned soon, so as to avoid this problem in the future.
### Latest WIP ###
img002.jpg

Currently I'm working on the watercolour. The land is a rich yellow, the mountains shaded in a rosy red, and the sea is being built up to a mottled purple.
All of this with the intent of creating striking fantasy land, and bringing attention to the red sun that presides over this land of FORLINDE.

Note: I'm aware that the embellishment on the "L" in Forlinde is too tightly spaced, and I hope to correct this digitally (along with any ink bleed I suffer when colouring).
Other inking errors should be easier to correct

[NarramoreArt]

### Latest WIP ###Forlinde2.jpg

This latest version has been coloured and also slightly edited.
I don't know if I want to add any further text to it, I should have planned room for a signature.
Also, I've not yet created a border for the map. I'm unsure as to what colours/textures I should use.
However, I'm quite pleased with my edits so far. And in the light of a new day, I may well do some more.

[Adfor]

That water style is pretty cool, it gives you the idea of the uncertainty that water is known for. Looking forward to more detail on this one, Narramore!

[NarramoreArt]

### Latest WIP ###
ForlindeBorder001 copy 3web.jpg

Now that I've done a few more minor edits, and added the border, I feel like I'm pretty much done with this map for the moment.
Because I have other commitments, sadly I don't think there's time for me to do much else of note to the map of Forlinde before time's up.

I think I've produced a Map that I can be proud of. I'll be posting it to my twitter @NarramoreArt sometime soon.

Notes/Lessons Learned:
The main cartographic inspiration for this map is the "Carta Marina"
The Calligraphy is a Rotunda Variant of my own design
Next time text should be done with waterproof ink and a dip nib. (Any prep/cleaning time is worth it for consistent waterproof ink)
Doing the main map and then the border, proved a challenge, but was solved with Photoshop's Auto-align (collage) setting under the edit menu.