Genth Coastal Region

[Ilanthar]

Very fine map !

It remains me of a 3D map representing a part of the Alps hanged in my brother's house. I can easily imagine myself hiking in the Serpent's Valley ;-)

[Viking]

Thank you freehand and Ilanthar! I imagine hiking the serpent's valley might indeed be quite nice

[Viking]

Instead of catching up on much needed sleep I decided tonight would be great for putting a whole bunch of time into this map and bring it closer in line stylistically to my other two. Of note heere are the new border, compass and labels. Arinthia Genth Coastal 010.jpg

[Wingshaw]

I didn't even realise you had another map on the go. This map is looking just as good as the others.

I'm afraid I'm not sold on the compass rose, though. The problem, in my opinion, is that the compass rose you have here, and the one you include on Arinthia, don't fit with the painted style, because the lines are too crisp. What would happen if you made the compass rose/s blend with the blue of the sea, a bit like the labels of the Irontooth Mountains and the Hearth Sea on the previous version. They'd still be visible, but, as a watermark, they'd be more discrete and a bit less jarring. If it were me, I'd probably look for a more antique style of compass rose (like this for example), too, but that's possibly a matter of preference.

As for the borders, I've taken a look at the borders on three of your recent maps - the latest Genth update, the previous version of Genth, and the Arinthia map. My opinion - and again, it is just an opinion - is that the border on the previous version of Genth worked best with the overall map style - subtle, old-fashioned, and not too crisp. The latest border on Genth is also pretty good, though.

I'd love to know more about your technique, so I can steal it and make maps this good looking.

THW

[- Max -]

I agree with THW about the compass. I already noticed it in skenth wip : those compass are very nice but don't fit very well the painted style of your maps.

[Chashio]

I agree, the compass and border designs don't match the loose painterly quality of the map itself, it's a difficult thing to do with such a painterly map where the compass and often the border are used as specific or subtle measurement and orienteering tools. But they do fit pretty well with the style of the labels and there's the chance that if you make the compass and border more painterly we're all going to be after you to do the labels by hand too.

To try something and see if you like it, you could duplicate your compass layer and switch on a lock to keep the outside shape intact, then go over it by hand with the same approach you used on the landscape.

Then again, it's really not such a bad thing to have the border, compass, and all the labels in a cleaner style than the map. It'll definitely give it a nice, polished, straight look when you print it out and frame it.

Preference note, I do like this compass better than the other version (for this map); there's less going on but enough to make it distinctive.

[Viking]

Arinthia Genth Coastal 011.jpg

Thank you guys for all the feedback!!

I've tried to paint over the previous compass and subdued the colours. I'm not sure if I like it more or less. Does it look more painterly at least? The font has had it's opacity lowered a bit. I'm torn about the compass and border being distinct from the map itself. Part of me likes having that visual difference, as Chashio states, but maybe I'm just being stubborn or resistant to changing my ways :p For this map especially, it is quite a lot of work to bring up the sharpness of the landscape.

THW: Yea this map is an old one I have not touched in ages It was the first one I ever posted on this forum and the one I did before I started the Skenth world map.

Chashio: Handdrawn labels? :p My handwriting leaves a bit to be desired I fear! lol

[Chashio]

That looks good to me

The inner border edge made the difference for being able/arguing to keep the border style a bit different/separate. And I like the overall lightening of the lines and outlines. The compass looks more thought out and is a nice tie between the map and border styles (there's more of each represented in it now)... though you could maybe adjust upward the contrast on it a tad. Probably don't need to put a whole lot of extra detailing into the landscape, as much as you want to, of course, but for me anyway... I enjoy your loose interpretation - it leaves room for the imagination to play with specifics.

[Viking]

Thanks Chashio! I'm glad I could at improve it a bit. I suppose I'll call this done.

Also THW: I have been meaning to do a bit of a tutorial or something at some point. If I ever get around to it I'll let you know!