Experience, Skills and Talent.

[Cunning Cartographer]

Weekly maps, in a year are are 48 maps, you not did the first hand draw map by miracle, was the experience that you got in all passed years doing map that gave to you this result
So maybe i am wrong about counting the maps done, but i fell that i only understand the lesson when i finish one.

It all depends on what is causing your "blind moment". If it's a creative process and not being able to come up with ideas on what makes a map interesting, then sure those 48 maps helped out, but I already knew how to use Photoshop before then. I actually had a check on my DA site and this is the first map I ever made, this was the first map used in our Star Wars tabletop Campaign (though much larger scale):

sheon_maps___main_city_by_yospeck-d4qlmu4.jpg

So whilst you can say "You made 48 maps", they're not the type of hand drawn maps I have in my linked CG gallery, so style/technique wise they've contributed equally to my current maps as every other piece of non-map artwork I've made in those 4 years. However, I didn't always make high quality maps each week and some of my later maps were really quick and easy and very basic because I might have had only a little time to make them or designed them last minute.

I think all in all I'm not really sure what you are referring to when you talk about your "blind moment", if it's when you look at a map and something just doesn't look right, or you can't get the effect that you want, then making non-map artwork will contribute to that, putting in hours of drawing anything will help you learn the tools you need. If it's a creative process and you're not sure what makes a good World/Region/Battle map then there's plenty of guides and articles to highlight what makes a realistic world/interesting battlemap.

It does feel like you're looking past what everyone is saying when they say "there is no <x> number of maps" because you really want to be able to quantify how many maps you might need to make before you're at a point you're happy with. Sorry, that's just not how it works. If it helps though, they say if you put in 10,000 hours of anything then you can become a master of it So if you put in 4 hours a day then in 7 years you'll be a photoshop/map making master.

[Larb]

Imagination vs Skill are two way different things. You can pick up the skill no matter who you are. You can learn how to draw X style maps really well. You can learn to draw wonderful pencil sketches of the person sitting infront of you. It is a visual-mechanical skill that you can learn (anyone cam - just ask Professor Betty Edwards). Imagination is not something that can be taught though. You gotta look inside yourself, or outside to find that.

[waldronate]

That is all said, only for repetition that u get the experience. I am new doing maps, a lots of things to learn but i am spending like 4 hours day trying to do something. Sometimes i just dont do nothing, just search , surf in the web, read o lots of post here in the forum and try do some experiences. But how i will check everthing that i trained? Believe doing a map. And after some critiques, will be able to do improvements and finish you suppose class

As a wise one once said "experience is what you get just after you need it." That is, you learn by doing and by recognizing your mistakes. In my opinion, the best way to become more proficient in a skill is to seek feedback on your process as well as your finished product from those whose work you admire.

In the context of this site, that means starting a WIP and running it through to completion, asking questions from anyone who views the thread. Most folks won't say anything, some will say harsh things, and some will say overly nice things; only a tiny bit of the feedback (if any at all) will be useful. The hardest part of this activity is to take the things said without getting your ego involved. Most folks aren't setting out to attack you personally, they are commenting on what they see. Take the comments at face value, incorporate only the parts that you find useful, and (of critical importance) don't stop working until you consider that map complete and it's posted to the completed maps section. If you get blocked on a map and need to start a different WIP, go for it, but never stop asking for feedback.

[aquarits]

That is, you learn by doing and by recognizing your mistakes.

waldronate said everything that i wanted to say about the "Blindness". What i mean is exactly it, coz lack of experience, cant identify few mistakes, ofc i cant, cos i never experienced this mistake before. For this i just CANT see (or identify) since is a new thing for me.
If Yospeck got a great map in his first experience, we cant make it a global interpretation, most of cases, ppl start with a sux map and start grow work by work. I have few maps in Finished Maps section, they are finished for me, yeah yeah, after few comments i noticed new things too, where i have to work, what make me disagree about show to the world, coz the job is finished, only thing that u can get from this learn wut you did wrong and make right in next, or fix it in a parallel work.

Pls, dont understand me bad. What i noticed here is the comparative with new mappers and old pros, what make the things completely different. Old mappers have a criticism eye with a lots of experience to compare things with other things, beginners just draw few lines and put a backgroung to think the map amazing, are the parameters of the eye.
Right, cant measure the experience by number of maps but i believe in my case that to do a lots to practice, since never worked with it before and still new using some tool and softwares.

Really good this conversation, like in a bar drinking a beer and sharing the experiences.

[Midgardsormr]

A couple of other observations, if I may, and now that I don't feel like I'm stealing time at work:

You'll have noticed the challenges that the Guild runs on a monthly basis. If you haven't already done so, start entering them. They're wonderful for increasing your skill for several reasons: They're timed, so when the month is done, your map is finished, which serves to push some of us out of fiddling with things for ages. They're themed, so you'll wind up making a map you never would have come up with when given complete freedom. Finally, they're guaranteed to be looked at, and probably critiqued. At the very least, many voters will leave some brief comments about why they chose the map(s) they voted for. There are two challenges every month: one that's open to everyone, and the Lite Challenge, which is only open to those who have never won the main challenge or had a Featured Map or won, I think, three of the Lite Challenges. If you want to advance quickly, enter both.

Now, the second thing I had to say… I've forgotten what it was. I'll probably be back in a couple of minutes.

Edit: I remembered! I have found that the absolute best way of learning something is to try to teach it to someone else. I'm not sure how best to apply that to your situation here, but if you come up with a technique that someone admires, or you learn something that is of use to your mapping endeavours, make a tutorial about it. Spend some time looking at other people's work, and try to pass on the same wisdom to new mappers that you've already received. By thinking about these things and putting them in your own words, you'll take possession of that knowledge. The first few times, you'll say, "Max showed me this," or "Torstan posted a great tutorial about that," but after a while, the techniques will no longer be Max's or Torstan's; you will have appropriated them into your own repertoire, and probably put your own spin on using them.

[aquarits]

i try analyse all chalenges, and just not subscribe. I try do somethings following the themes exactly about you said. New chalenges and new knowledge, i like the competition cos inspires you to research for new information. you right about it.
In the end i pass more time reading WIPs then drawing something, just cos is intersting to see how the other ppl maps start to grow. I test some of the ways that ppl do and some o just try to put in action doing a map. Tutos i have alots here, most part are printed to a fast check and easy annotation. i dunno if i am doing a lots of time not respecting the time for more feed back about my work, wut not mean that i cannot ask

Like i said before, i was just curios about it, not rushing to get a lots of maps or to learn. I am respecting the time of learning.