Hi folks, thought I'd submit my first map for your review and criticism. A few comments:
- One day I hope to learn to draw mountains, but today is not that day. I used a brush. Same for the forests. Do they look reasonably authentic? I've spread out the trees a little and I think it conveys the sense of a forest or wood, but would like to hear what others think.
- I don't know an awful lot about geology and the like, but I tried to be mostly realistic. Are there any glaring inaccuracies?
- Anyone have any opinions on colouring or overall feel of the map? I'm not very good with shading and tended to plonk down my brush anywhere. Not sure if I've done too much or not enough.
- I have no imagination and it would have taken me about a month to come up with town/region names. I looked at a couple of fantasy name generators, but they either felt too cheesy or too much like two halves of British town names stuck together. But I had some inspiration and found a list of Scottish Gaelic place names on Wikipedia. These are the Gaelic translations of real Scottish places (I'm Scottish, though I don't speak Gaelic.) I thought these names give the map more of a fantasy feel, without being too 'trope-y'.
- Yeah, I have a whirlpool. As you do. Corryvreckan is a real-world whirlpool, and I thought that since I was going to use the gaelic name for it, I might as well stick one on the map. I suspect the people who aim for topographical accuracy are rolling their eyes furiously right now! I know, I know...
I'd love to hear some feedback from you guys. I'm the first to admit I'm no artist, but I feel really pleased by the way the map's turned out. However, there's always room for improvement and I hope some constructive criticism might help with the next map I do. Because there's going to be a next map soon. I'm addicted!