Practice Map

[Lyandra]

Hi all!

I've decided to finally get back to mapping and thought I could start by actually learning how to map using Photoshop. Most of my maps up until this point were just simple sketches done on paper and not worth showing here in my opinion. One exception was a challenge map I've done back in November 2012. The problem is that I have never actually finished it. That's one of the reasons I've decided to start this thread. I've always had trouble with finishing any of my maps and this is meant to be another one of my miserable attempts at changing that. I hope that this time I am actually going to succeed... I have no idea where this map is going and how often I will have time to work on it, so updates might be slow coming. I will try to post something every week though - that's my goal at least, it's not much but for me it's very ambitious. ^^ During its creation I hope to learn new things and put into practice the knowledge I've gained from all the awesome tutorials found here. I especially want to learn how to paint digitally and how to label properly. I mainly want to concentrate on the artistic side of things but wish to figure out the technical stuff as well as much as I can. My hope is that posting a WIP thread will keep me motivated enough to continue working on this project. I'm also looking forward to all the constructive criticism you can give me. All comments are welcome and appreciated. I wish to improve myself and am counting on you to help me achieve that.

On the first WIP: I'm fairly happy with the shape of the landmasses but am not sure about the scale. As always it's extremely difficult for me to figure it out. I thought the area could be somewhat similar in size to the Mediterranean Sea and adjacent lands. Do you think it's plausible? It would mean that the upper half of the map is an area similar in size to Europe... I'm really at a loss here so any feedback would be appreciated.
When I've drawn the shapes I wasn't thinking too much about the geological side of things. I placed the mountain ranges where I thought they looked right and have no idea if they are probable in real world terms. I'm not too worried about this aspect since, as I've already said, I wish to mainly focus on honing my drawing skills, but if you think that something looks wrong please tell me, I want this map to be as natural looking as possible. I have figured out more or less where the rivers and such will go, so the next step will be to draw them.
I'm not sure about the paper texture, I might change it at some point.

Pleas tell me what you think so far!


I will be posting links to resources and tutorials that helped me along the way. I am going to update this list as my project progresses:

> Max's tips on drawing mountains
> Coyotemax's aged paper textures