Hi folks!

Worldmap-Book1-concept05.jpg
This is a map that I did recently for a contract.
It was made using Adobe Photoshop, mostly with the brush and fill tool, then compounded with layer effects. The landmass itself is made from dropping down rough brush strokes, and then erasing out the shape to create the geographical contours. Lines are then drawn on another layer to accentuate the edges. A drop shadow is then added [gives it height] along with an outer blue glow to create the coastal edges. There is also a base brown colour texture placed over the entire land mass, followed by green and grey colour layers to add in more arid areas.

The clouds were also done using an effect of composite textures, again with drop shadow. Their primary purpose is to serve as scroll locks for the map [indicating the borders of the first campaign]. There is a small gap in the bottom right of the clouds, to indicate the location of the next extension.

Cheers!