Work in Progress I need your help!

[Nian]

I had so much fun with making my last map which I posted a few days ago in the Finished part of the forum I decided to make something similar but on a bigger scale.
I want to show you what I came up with right now. First my hills which took me forever to paint:
new_map.jpg
I really don't have any talent when it comes to paiting so making this map is ridiculously hard for me b/c almost everything is hand painted. I will try to post updates from time to time so please any suggestions are welcome. ^^

[Falconius]

For a person with no "talent" when it comes to painting your last map was pretty damn good. It would've been good for a person with "talent."

I like the hills with farms on 'em. That's a good idea. Also putting trees on the hills seems to be working which is nice to see. Understandably people often avoid treeing hills cause it can get confusing, you seem to be making it work however which is awesome.

[Sapiento]

The transition between the hills and the ground could be softer, but generally a good looking style. Do you use gradients for the colour of the hills and mountains?
I had actually considered to do my challenge entry this month in a similar style as it would fit the theme of the map.

[Diamond]

That looks really awesome! I must've missed your map in the Finished section; I'll have to check it out.

[Lingon]

That's really quite lovely Has a sort of Japanese feel, and at the same time pretty personal. I somewhat agree with Sapiento about softening the ground-to-hill transitions, but I also think the sharp edge is part of the style…

[Chashio]

Oh, that's a really nice way to set hills into the water. I like it very much!

[arsheesh]

Looking great! I agree with Sapiento that the transitions could be a bit softer but the overall effect is marvelous.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[Nian]

To tell you the truth hopefully there won't be any "ground" when i finish up. the whole map will be made up from hills, mountains and forests. At least that's the plan I never know how it will trully end up looking.
I said that I don't have a drawing talents and that is true. I use A LOT of stock images and brushes but I'm not that bad at merging everything together. Finally I'm at home.. it's 10 pm and I can spend the rest of the night on the map =P Hopefully tomorrow I will post an update ^^

Ps. Yes I use gradients extensively b/c it's the easiest and fastest way to give some colour variation.

[Midgardsormr]

I said that I don't have a drawing talents and that is true. I use A LOT of stock images and brushes but I'm not that bad at merging everything together.

As a professional compositor, I feel compelled to say that that is talent enough!

[Failtality]

Looks great! I really like the scallop texture you are using. I sort of wanted to use something similar for my map at some point. Where did you get it?