The Twelve Kingdom of Dacassan (personal project)

[Voolf]

Hi folks

Here is a map I was slowly scribbling this month.
My unspoken resolution this year is to get a bit better at designing frames for maps.
It takes me days to come up with something interesting. Absolutely not my forte.
However oftentimes i just give up after one day and go for a simple rectangle on a torn parchment

Well, this time I took my time and I think it is a step forward.

Dacassan_CG_by_New_Horizons.jpg

As always any comments welcome.

Cheers
Rafal

[Naima]

Beautiful map , but, the color tone makes it low contrasted and kind of less visible I think.

[Kellerica]

Very nice! I love the border and the style of the labels! A really nice idea, the way the crest is a part of the label. I think some of the text within the scrolls is a tiny bit out of place (I personally would have just tried to have the name sit as centered as possible) but that is really, really nitpicking. The little illustrations are delightful and THAT BEAVER IS ADORABLE AND I LOVE IT. 10/10, map has beaver, map is perfect.

I really like beavers.

[Diamond]

That is D@MN fine work. I'm kind of with Naima; a little bit of sepia shadowing or washes would give it some depth, but that's a minor nitpick - it works beautifully as is. And the frame is awesome.

[AP.]

Absolutely love this map! Will you be adding any more shading, or perhaps colour at all? Really awesome work as always though, and I am in love with how you do your forests. Where do you look for inspiration for map borders/frames? It's something I really need to work on as I tend to do rather plain frames or none at all.

[Voolf]

Beautiful map , but, the color tone makes it low contrasted and kind of less visible I think.

Thank you. Hmm, maybe having lines darker would help, but somehow I did not like going any darker than the current colour.

Very nice! I love the border and the style of the labels! A really nice idea, the way the crest is a part of the label. I think some of the text within the scrolls is a tiny bit out of place (I personally would have just tried to have the name sit as centered as possible) but that is really, really nitpicking. The little illustrations are delightful and THAT BEAVER IS ADORABLE AND I LOVE IT. 10/10, map has beaver, map is perfect.

I really like beavers.

Hehe, good to know. Have to draw more of them on maps then .
As for the labels, after you mentioned it. I can see some that could be positioned a bit better. You are right. At a labelling stage I am usually rushing to finish :/

That is D@MN fine work. I'm kind of with Naima; a little bit of sepia shadowing or washes would give it some depth, but that's a minor nitpick - it works beautifully as is. And the frame is awesome.

Thanks Diamond. I agree with the shadows. I actually started them, but realising how much time it would take to properly shade everything, I decided to leave it B&W (so to speak) on a parchment background.

Absolutely love this map! Will you be adding any more shading, or perhaps colour at all? Really awesome work as always though, and I am in love with how you do your forests. Where do you look for inspiration for map borders/frames? It's something I really need to work on as I tend to do rather plain frames or none at all.

Not right now, maybe in the future I will go back to it, but for know I will focus on some other projects.
As for the frames I am not good with them as well. Good inspirations are Francesca Baerald (she is an absolute master), Marc Moureau, l'Arpenteur and Misty Beee.

[Bot.Saul]

Great job! The border sets a good feel for the map.
I could see this being rolled out of some explorer's backpack.

I agree with the above post that the closeness of the line color to the parchment can make it more difficult to see. But it also makes it looked aged/worn.

Either way, well done!

[Tom]

Just beautiful, I love the lineart and I'm jealous of your mountains!
I like the new year resolution, I need to improve on frames too!

[Voolf]

Great job! The border sets a good feel for the map.
I could see this being rolled out of some explorer's backpack.

I agree with the above post that the closeness of the line color to the parchment can make it more difficult to see. But it also makes it looked aged/worn.

Either way, well done!

Thank you.

Just beautiful, I love the lineart and I'm jealous of your mountains!
I like the new year resolution, I need to improve on frames too!

Thank you and good luck with the frames. They are no so easy as it may seem.