The Sydala Isles - A Valentine's Day Map

[Dhelian]

Hello there everyone! Last month I started working on a wee map for Valentine's day and it was quite a lot of fun to do something with such a shape. Created this with Photoshop and my dear Wacom tablet, which I will also presumably enjoy spending my evening with on the 14th while the two of us create more art.

Dhelian - February - 2022 - map.png

I wrote a tiny bit of worldbuilding as well for it. Nothing special, but just something to perhaps explain a few things:

"The Sydala Isles are a collection of islands with one great landmass in the heart of it all. This land seems broken, torn apart by suffering and divided between two civilisations. The land and its people are closely tied together. As relations between the two civilisations have waned, the ground itself has reacted violently, tearing the two halves of the isle further apart. It is up to you to decide what comes of this land. Will pain and heartbreak divide the land in two, or will the two make amends and come together as one, healing what was broken?"

I'd love to hear your thoughts or any criticisms

[AP.]

Apologies if you get tired of hearing me say this....but I really like this map! I love the torn paper details, the style of the key with the flag and little bird...and the detailing on your signature scroll piece too. I can't tell if it's an optical illusion but I was just wondering if the reddish part of the compass detail could match the red of your logo background, I think that would tie in quite nicely. But again, I can't tell if they are the same but the blue background makes them look different!

I'm also going to opt for the "healing what was broken" and bridging the gap option. Or if not successful, that they would at least try to!

As always, great work Dhel!

[Dhelian]

Thank you AP! I think I did try making those the same reddish colour but the additional texture on the Ð might make it seem a tad different.

[Diamond]

I love the way you do your forests - just enough detail to complement the mountains, without becoming too overwhelming (if that makes sense). Great linework, great map.

[Dhelian]

Thank you! I love my forests as well but they are a massive pain to do since they take forever. They take a lot of patience sometimes, but I'm glad that people like them