An amateur needs some feedback and critisism...

[sletnern]

Hi! I am new to this forum, and new to making maps. I am a roleplayer going on his 18th year of playing. I have to admit, there's been alot of dwarves, but the occational human fighter too. But back to the main issue. I have spent a couple of hours and drawn a little battle map. I call "Bridge encounter". I was very pleased when I finished it, but now I just see it as amateurish. Why is it so? Please look at the map, and give me some pointers. I am not a very skilled drawer, so I guess alot of the issue lays there.(Sorry for some poor English. I am Norwegian + a itsy bitsy drunk).


Bridge encounter farger.jpg

[Midgardsormr]

I quite like it, although it could use some refinement.

The things that jump out at me immediately as needing work are the hairy water and the timid lines in the lower right corner.

When you're working on your lighting, try using a white colored pencil to add some highlights. I think that the water would look much better with some of that rather than the dark pencil lines. It would also help to add some contour to the stones of the bridge. Just a little bit along the lit edges of those blocks will give them a bit more shape.

The stuff in the lower right, I'm not sure what you're depicting there. The shapes make me think of rocks, but the color says bushes. The lines seem hesitant in comparison to everything else, so I get the sense that you're not confident about them.

Keep posting; I like to see more hand drawn maps!

[sletnern]

Thanks for the feedback. Highlighting! So obvious once you mentioned it. The thing in the low right corner was first intended as boulders, the when I coloured it I thought, "I'll turn the into bushes". So it became nothing in the end. I will follow your recommendations then post it again. Btw. It is hand drawn, but on a computer with tablet and Sketchbook pro. Again, thanks.

[Midgardsormr]

Wow, I wouldn't have guessed it was digital! I guess I need to take a harder look at Sketchbook. I've heard people say how much they like it, but this is the first evidence I've seen that it could fool me!

[Chashio]

Neat map! Sketchbook Pro, hmm? I tried out the non-pro version when I first got my tablet... The dry media handling was really quite good, I thought, but the wet was not up to what I wanted to do and the software version I had was a little buggy with a rude tendency to die or freeze randomly. Lots of fun for scribbling, but the risk for loosing work made me not wish to attempt anything more. Anyhoo... Tangent

I agree with Midgardsormr's comments. The only other thing that gets me is the really heavy amount of black crosshatching with the relatively thin tool on your cast shadows. It doesn't really fit well with the beautiful bright color washes, in my opinion.

I usually try to stay clear of using black pigment for shadows as it tends to make things look dull or dirty. The crosshatching... for something like this, my preference would be to limit it to just a subtle texturing effect to add some interest for detail... using something like a colored pencil, if you'd like, in a shade darker or lighter than the wash tone OR go completely opposite in color for a complimentary kick! Which brings me to the last part... when you have a pretty big area to cover, usually (not in every case, it depends on style, but generally speaking) it's a good idea to use a larger brush size. In this case I'd vote for a watercolor type wash, as I think it'd look fabulous with the rest of what you've got going. Well, that's me anyway.

[sletnern]

Thanks for all the helpful feedback!!! I will try to post an enhanced version during the weekend.

[sletnern]

Bridge encounter farger2.jpg Done some improvements. The river turned out fine, so did the tiles on the roof. The stones in the bridge was just too poorly drawn, so the became better, but not good. Removed the boulderbush in the corner. Learned alot from your feedback guys. I will come back stronger, with a better map! Keep the feedback coming on this one though, I bet there's alot of stuff I haven't noticed(stuff done wrong/bad)