Dolden - Thorpe or Hamlet - WIP

[Kier]

I like little towns, thorpes or hamlits if you will. I like them a little scattered and not necessarily planned out, more sporadic as if the town grew as it lay. A gathering of houses, not too close, but not too far away. Safety in numbers but still recluse. I seem to have latched onto this simple parchment type style of late, trying to keep the parchment showing through the grass and the water as if the dye settled in.

As is everything, this look is an evolution. I tried to work on some little things, bringing in some shadows for elevation, something I didnt do in my Abberdale map, cutting some banks above the roadline and fading some shadows to show the rise up, etc. Some still need work, a little sloppy on some. Really pleased though with the trees this time around, especially the thicker woods. Having 4 different layers of trees and then shadows for each, I think gave depth to the forests.

I still want to work on my rivers and roads as I make more maps along this line and make them a little less stark, but not cross over to the realistic line either.

The muted brown rectangles are the buildings that will be put down in the coming days. Still working on the actual houses, while I do not have a problem using some brushes that are out there, I do like to make or adapt my own when I can(If time permits), that fit the style of the map I am going for.

For the most part this is pretty much done though, besides the houses, and their shadows, Title, and Compass and border and final story behind it. I don’t think I have ever put a compass on a map yet, but first time for everything. I think I want to add another bigger building up towards the top center there, above the 3 buildings in the center, and remove a tree down in the slope going up to the 3 buildings. Fighting the urge to add an elevation to the bottom part town on the map. It sort of screams for one, but with the row of trees along the road doesn’t seem to quite fit either. And I have a little cleaning to do on some of it as well.

All thoughts and comments are welcome, what works for you, what doesn't?

Thanks