Starborn (commission)

[Voolf]

A commission map I did for a indie game developer.
I do not have much time recently for mapping,
but it was nice to force myself to do this one after a longer break.
Throwing constellations on the sea was a fun part.

Starborn_map_N-Horizons_CG.jpg

Cheers
Rafal

[- JO -]

Superb map... as usual.
I love everything: the choice of colours, the quality of the line, the ways of representing the forests, the mountains, the sea. Really superb because it's simple, beautiful and very attractive to the eye.
But I think it's starting to annoy me : I look at your maps carefully and it looks so easy to do... then I try to do the same thing and the result is nowhere near the quality of your work. That's when you realise the value of your talent and all the work you've put in to achieve such a result!

[Kellerica]

Beautiful, as always! I love the dark tone of the sea, and the constellations are a nice touch!

As a side note, you seem to have a typo in your signature (missing a T in "insagram")

[Voolf]

Superb map... as usual.
I love everything: the choice of colours, the quality of the line, the ways of representing the forests, the mountains, the sea. Really superb because it's simple, beautiful and very attractive to the eye.
But I think it's starting to annoy me : I look at your maps carefully and it looks so easy to do... then I try to do the same thing and the result is nowhere near the quality of your work. That's when you realise the value of your talent and all the work you've put in to achieve such a result!

Thank you JO. I guess the answer could go both ways.
It seems easy to do and some parts really are. However, it is really hard to copy some art, if one does not know exact colors, layers blend, brushes etc.
We all have different "pen draw-flow" so to speak and draw stokes differently too.
The smallest difference shows instantly. A pro artists can most likely come pretty close in a first go when copying someone's style, but those who learn need to experiment more.
I do not know your process, but I would suggest to try things differently from time to time and see the effects.
You may think you fail one time after another. but in actuality you are learning what works and what not and moving forward.
The crucial part is actually remembering what was not working and avoid that. When the outcome is not desired, people often discard whole process, whilst there was a lesson or two to be learned.
Anyway keep at it. Your recent maps are really a huge step forward and look amazing.

Beautiful, as always! I love the dark tone of the sea, and the constellations are a nice touch!

As a side note, you seem to have a typo in your signature (missing a T in "insagram")

Thank you Kell.
Typo is my second name,
Corrected.

[Ink_alpinist]

Didn't knew your work, it is suberb. I think it stand out in the soft transition/gradient between biomes, the lineart of your mountains, and specially the shadows. As you guys said before, try to emulate your style must be a good learning exercise.

[Josiah VE]

Beautiful work as always. The constellations are a great touch!

[- JO -]

Tanks for your advices and kind words !

[ThomasR]

I love how the land pops out from the dark waters. I'd have gone a bit darker and played a bit more with the stars effect but I don't know the client's demands and the map is perfectly in character with YOUR style so, who am I to babble Another great one, Rafal !

[Voolf]

Didn't knew your work, it is suberb. I think it stand out in the soft transition/gradient between biomes, the lineart of your mountains, and specially the shadows. As you guys said before, try to emulate your style must be a good learning exercise.

Beautiful work as always. The constellations are a great touch!

Thank you very much

Tanks for your advices and kind words !

You are very welcome.

I love how the land pops out from the dark waters. I'd have gone a bit darker and played a bit more with the stars effect but I don't know the client's demands and the map is perfectly in character with YOUR style so, who am I to babble Another great one, Rafal !

Thanks Thom! The customer was not too picky, so I had a smooth ride with this map. I agree that the stars would look better on a darker sea.
However, I struggled a bit with keeping a good contrast between land and sea. Somehow darker sea was looking bad in my view, but it is a subjective point I guess

[ThomasR]

Thanks Thom! The customer was not too picky, so I had a smooth ride with this map. I agree that the stars would look better on a darker sea.
However, I struggled a bit with keeping a good contrast between land and sea. Somehow darker sea was looking bad in my view, but it is a subjective point I guess

Might be indeed. Might also be a matter of palette. I've tried to go towards more vivid colors like yours but failed repeatedly. You are right by talking about balance and contrast and I think it's the key to certain things working or not. And taste too, of course