Ittara, Commission-maybe.

[rdanhenry]

Is that second river from the right really supposed to disappear before reaching the coast? Oh, and there's another one near the tip of the peninsula.

The hachure brush is producing something almost as much cuneiform as caterpillar, but I think could work. It's hard to judge one element in isolation, but I think it's worth trying.

[damonjynx]

Thanks for the feedback rdnahenry.

Is that second river from the right really supposed to disappear before reaching the coast? Oh, and there's another one near the tip of the peninsula.

Absolutely not! The same with the others, they will all end up in the sea or off the map.

The hachure brush is producing something almost as much cuneiform as caterpillar, but I think could work. It's hard to judge one element in isolation, but I think it's worth trying.

It kind of looks OK at print resolution; though on the bit I tried my shading is a bit off.

This all a bit of experimentation at the moment - I like the hachure style for antique maps and for this particular book the style would suit, but I'm not prepared to spend days and days doing the hachures by hand. Area and city maps are not my forte, so I'm trying my best to come up with something that will work but not take hours to do. Which probably sounds a bit weird because it's taking me hours to work out how to get the look I want, but I can't bill clients for my time in learning how to do a map in a particular style, I can only charge them for the actual time spent on the map, if that makes sense.

My plan, at the moment - which will probably change, is to do all the basic line work (separate layers of course) for the coastline, rivers and relief, in Ps (only because I've already started and I haven't got the hang of dynamic brushes in Ai) then export to Ai to create vectors so I can scale in & out, manipulate individual paths (for the hachures mainly) and use Ai pencil/art brushes to give it a "hand drawn look", then back to Ps for some touch ups, textured background, most likely a canvas, coloured inner glows for the various regions etc.

Thankfully there is no contract at the moment, so time is not an issue. It maybe the entire work never sees the light of day, but I will have learnt some valuable skills for future projects and the author will get a couple of nice maps to go with his work...if the publisher the work is pitched at doeasn't take it, we may self-publish like we did with our other collaboration.

[damonjynx]

Hi Folks,

I've used the above mountain style and I'd really love some critique on my "hachure" style and shading - neither of which I'm super confident about. I think it looks ok but....

### Latest WIP ###

Wip_Ittara_Regional4.jpg

[GSEC]

Deleted by user.

[damonjynx]

Maybe I'm just weird, but the main land mass looks like the head and neck of a bird of prey. Guess that's what you get when you're eyes don't want to work right. Or have watched too much beer pass the lips.

Hi GSEC,

You're not far off, just the wrong end The peninsula is supposed to end in 3 smaller peninsula's that are known as "The Talon's" due to their similarity to an eagles claw. Though I see where you're coming from, one could imagine the side of the land mass to be wings...

[damonjynx]

Hi Folks,

Still trying to find something I like - really, I have no idea...

The below is all done in Ai. Imagine it on a parchment/canvas background, displaced etc in Ps, do you think it looks vintage... for the actual map, I'll reflect it and re-draw "The Talons" part

### Latest WIP ###

Ittara-01.png

[Naima]

I don't get it, you scrapped your original map to copy Italy ?

[Falconius]

Well, Italy is pretty interesting

[damonjynx]

I don't get it, you scrapped your original map to copy Italy ?

Hi Naima, It's not scrapped at all. I'm just trying something different. By copying Italy directly, I can ensure the primary geographic features are in the correct places then I can flip and modify it to match my original post. I couldn't figure out how to import my Ps file into Ai and still have the layers etc, so I thought it'd be easier just to re draw it.

Well, Italy is pretty interesting

Thanks Falconius, I think I'm assuming you like what I've done with it thus far I'm trying to get the hang of Ai, it's a far more complicated program than Ps, with lots of hidden functionality and it takes a while to get used to. I'm going to re-draw the rivers using a Calligraphic brush with pressure sensitivity so I can get them tapering from their origins. I also used the same style brush to make the mountain and hill symbols, I think they look suitably "vintage".

I think from now on, depending on how this project goes, I'll do my line work in Ai and import to Ps to add the fluff.

[damonjynx]

Well, after much dithering about, I've settled on the above "style". Illustrator sure is a strange beast compared to Ps. I placed the symbols using the symbol sprayer, which as far as I can tell, is as close to a Ps dynamic brush as you can get. Then I've used the other symbol tools to adjust them here and there, the sizer and shifter. I created a border brush. Now the basic line work is done. Each element is on a separate layer so selecting individual paths or groups of paths shouldn't be a problem.

Still to do:
Ocean waves (wood-cut style?)
Add regional borders
Add rhumb lines (I think this map will need them) and an appropriate compass rose.
Inset map of the primary region
Labels
Key

Then, I'll think about colouring and other fancy bits.

### Latest WIP ###
Wip_Ittara_Regional5.jpg