Yer Samoht (personal project)

[Southern Crane]

Beautiful map. Well done.

[ThomasR]

Rafàl ! Green forests ! I knew it'd look even better ! It is a splendid map ! Elegant with discreet colors and subtle but very efficient shading. You truly are a master ! As for the dedication, I really cannot see it, cross my heart

Cheers mate !

[Voolf]

Woah! Definitely a very lovely piece! And i also have a clear favorite: the one with the colored forests (I just prefer my forests in green ).

The mountains are really nice! And as always, I love the city icons. This is something that really works for me.

Beautiful map!

Thank you very much.

Just gonna go ahead and dump this right in the ol' inspiration folder. I particularly love the decoration in the upper corner and the buildings-in fact I'm going with that representation style on my next map!

Nice, go for it. I still have some problems doing them, but it looks much better then dots small icons.

Superb.

Green forest version for me too

Thanks !

A fantastic map, Voolf. Not that I expect anything less from you. I can see the influence of Misty Beee in your town icons (and the Misty Woods, perhaps? )

Wingshaw

Yes, Misty's maps were a great deal of inspiration for this one, along with some others. The things i got from Misty are town illustrations and the custom font. I edited all the labels and added the curves.

Wonderful work, Voolf

I prefer the second one with the colour

Thanks Mouse. Everyone does, it seems. I owe that to Thomas R. He suggested to do that. Thanks Thom

Another vote for forest greenery, but it looks wonderful either way. The fonts are well-chosen. It also has some wonderful place names: The Cursed Rocks, Yelling Summit, Flong.

Thank you. Taking times with the labels paid off

You and me both, man.

I find myself prefering the colored forests as well. Mind you, I think the forests in both versions could benefit from having shadows!
I'm head over heels in love with these mountains, and those town icons are amazing too, not to forget the border decorations. The muted color theme works extremely well here. A fantastic piece, through and through! I can see Beee's influence in here...

Can't rep you right now, sadly, but it certainly would be more than deserved!

Thank you very much Kelleri, and damn you are right about the shadow for forests. I totally forgot about that o.O

Another vote for the green forests here. Lovely map, there's so much to see. Sadly, can't rep you at the moment.

Thank you Wired.

Nice!

(I am with Mouse on that I prefer the second one's colour. And quite a bit more too.)

Thank you XCali.

Beautiful map. Well done.

Thank you.

Rafàl ! Green forests ! I knew it'd look even better ! It is a splendid map ! Elegant with discreet colors and subtle but very efficient shading. You truly are a master ! As for the dedication, I really cannot see it, cross my heart

Cheers mate !

Thank you so much Thom. You were right!
It's good this is not a challange map, because it would seem like i bought your vote haha.

[DrWho42]

looks fantastic at the moment!

[- JO -]

Nice mix ! I can trace some inspiration, I think...
I love the labels and the forests, as well as the general feeling !

[MistyBeee]

Hmm... Let me guess...?

Now I'm just curious, and sorry if I broke a kind of taboo but... If you mention you used references for styles, why not identify them clearly ? That would be fair and really appreciated.
I know it's something often kept under the rug here, and I hate being the one talking about it, but... Imitation can be a compliment. Imitation helps a lot to progress. But when a style is imitated/used/stolen without credits, especially for commissions, it's such a pain for those who created them. Not the spirit of the Guild for me. I also know I'm not the only one thinking like this, but no-one dare to talk, since the Guild is precious to everyone of us

However.

Good map ^^

And sorry. Genuinely sorry. 'hate so much doing this.

[Voolf]

looks fantastic at the moment!

Thanks.

Nice mix ! I can trace some inspiration, I think...
I love the labels and the forests, as well as the general feeling !

Thank you JO.

Hmm... Let me guess...?

Yes that one inspired me a lot.

Now I'm just curious, and sorry if I broke a kind of taboo but... If you mention you used references for styles, why not identify them clearly ? That would be fair and really appreciated.
I know it's something often kept under the rug here, and I hate being the one talking about it, but... Imitation can be a compliment. Imitation helps a lot to progress. But when a style is imitated/used/stolen without credits, especially for commissions, it's such a pain for those who created them. Not the spirit of the Guild for me. I also know I'm not the only one thinking like this, but no-one dare to talk, since the Guild is precious to everyone of us

I usually do, especially if I follow explicitly one map of somebody else. That was true to Jonathan Robert's maps which i learned a great deal, then Ross McConnell battlemaps, then John Stevenson, Mike Schley, Max... the list goes on.

I usually skip that when I want to do something new and i gather a lot of inpirational pieces and put them together as a reference. For this particular piece it was your map (as stated above), B&W Inkmap by Mar_r, The Lands of Cha-Uari and Forgotten Ruin by J.E., Shall Teclex maps like Province of Lyria and Sword Coast, a map from Banner Saga game, Westedge Kingdoms by SylvaKnight.

I did get a lot from your maps making this one, so my deepest apology if you feel offended somehow. But please remember, that there are a lot of people out there making similar things. Art can be stolen, but style? unless its a 100% copy of particular art, I do not thnk so. You would have to sue a lot of people for drawing in the same style as others
A lot of people here follow others and we know our work and "borrow" ideas for next maps. I do not have problem when others are saing they will use some ideas from my maps for their own. I have seen people asked if they can use a style of something for their maps, I asked myself and the usual response is "sure go ahead".
I did not realised that this is a taboo topic here, is it?. If someone else feels that way please do say. I remember we had other problems here. Sometimes related to specific persons, posts were moderated and deleted, but that old times

[arsheesh]

Oh man I love those city illustrations! They each are quite simple and yet manage to convey a distinctive cultural flavor. The gear-like compass rose and border decor are really nifty as well. The overall color palette is quite soothing. And I quite like the font you are using for the regional and ocean labels. All around beautiful work, but then I've come to expect nothing less from you.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[ThomasR]

... there are a lot of people out there making similar things. Art can be stolen, but style? unless its a 100% copy of particular art, I do not thnk so. You would have to sue a lot of people for drawing in the same style as others
A lot of people here follow others and we know our work and "borrow" ideas for next maps. I do not have problem when others are saing they will use some ideas from my maps for their own. I have seen people asked if they can use a style of something for their maps, I asked myself and the usual response is "sure go ahead".

I'd like to say that it's a statement I entirely agree with. I doubt there is anyone at the Guild who hasn't been influenced by other people's work, be it cartographic work or more widely art. Plus, each of us produces maps that are not only the addition of what our mountains look like or our forests or the embellishments on our maps. There is a synergy at work between these identifiable elements and some others way more difficult to grasp.

I've said it a lot and I strongly believe that we artistically grow by imitating what we love but we stumble upon something more personal in the process. The important thing is not producing something similar to what others do, it's to find our own way.

I can see some likeness to others work in some features from Rafal's map but I doubt anyone but him could have produced the vibe this particular map broadcasts.

Also, I can understand people not seeing it that way and I think it's a topic worthy of being debated (maybe not in this thread though).

[Ilanthar]

Great map, Rafal! Very efficient and well done.