Introducing myself

[wisemoon]

Hello all. I've come into fantasy cartography in a way similar to many--through tabletop roleplaying games. I've been a reader of sci-fi and fantasy since I was just a whippersnapper, and playing D&D (and other games) since I was around 12. That's 30 years of my life. I've been making hand-drawn maps ever since. Lately, though, I've been playing around with using software to make maps instead of drawing them by hand. I've watched some of the Zombie Nirvana "Fantasy Cartography with Adobe Photoshop" videos, and by adapting the techniques to Gimp have started learning how to make much more artistic maps. I've also recently been working with Fractal Mapper, and the other products by NBOS. The only bad thing about using mapping software is, it takes a while to learn the ropes. The learning curve is a lot steeper and longer for this than it was for drawing by hand. I know the end result will be worth it, but it's been a bit frustrating.

So let's see...map-making is one of a couple of ways I exercise the small amount of artistic talent I have. I found this site doing web searches on "fantasy cartography". I hope to explore the resources here and learn a lot. Perhaps eventually I'll know enough to pass something along to some other member along the way.

Cheers,
wisemoon

[tilt]

welcome to the guild wisemoon, first off, you'll find a lot old guys like yourself in here so theres good company there allready
second, this is probably one of the best communities on the web - and I'm not kidding, so post your maps, even if you've only drawn a single line and get lots of good advice from your fellow cartographers - and have fun

[arsheesh]

Welcome to the Guild Wisemoon. Tilt is right, this is one of the best communities on the web, so feel free to ask questions and seek help from others (when needed) with impunity. Since you already have some software in hand, the Tutorials section is a great place to begin browsing. There are many GIMP tutorials therein (I'm not sure about Fractal Mapper); in fact, I think ZombieNirvana has some GIMP Tuts as well. Another good idea is to throw up a current WIP map; that way you can receive helpful feedback from the Guild. Look forward to seeing your first map post.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[Steel General]

Welcome Aboard!

[Gidde]

Welcome to the Guild!

[NeonKnight]

Welcome to the Guild!