Trying to refine my Hand drawn map making skills. Thoughts?

[Redleg]

Been writing a lore for this world for a while now and have gone through various maps because about halfway through I dont like the way it looks. My last map had a lot of bleeding from the ink and since I needed to put alot of detail in very small areas, I ended up scrapping it. This is my newest version, a map that I may not end up keeping, but I really like the quality. Any thoughts and feedback are welcome.

[Midgardsormr]

Your lettering is awesome! It looks like a pretty good start. I'm not sure about the uniform mountain symbol. It's not bad, but using the same mountain over and over seems like it's evading the strength of a hand-drawn approach, which is that you're not tied to using a brush or stamp.

Think about a wider tributary network for the rivers, and think about letting them meander a bit more. The high-frequency jitter is pleasing to the eye, but the longer ones are still quite straight overall.

What are you planning for settlement symbols?

[Redleg]

Yea I agree. I don't like the mountains either. The problem is though, that's the area I need the most practice in, so I'm working on better mountains. Thanks for the tips on rivers and whatnot. As for the settlement symbols, probably just standard dots, with larger ones signifying capitals, forts, ect. Any ideas on more ornate symbols for the cities and whatnot?

I've also been getting into Calligraphy lately, but being a left-hander, its taking a little longer to get a grasp on it. I would like to incorporate some minor calligraphy into my map, but I need to practice quite a bit before I implement something like that into one of my maps. The script I'm practicing is a modified Tolkien/LOTR one of sorts.

[Caenwyr]

Hi Redleg,

Being lefthanded myself, I absolutely sympathize! It's not only a question of rubbing out your ink, it's also about the position of the nib, and the fact that you're essentially pushing your pen across (and more often than you'd like: into) the paper instead of lightly dragging it across. One of the main reasons why I shifted to a drawing tablet, to be fair. That being said, I really like your calligraphy, it's simple yet feels astonishingly "right". Good job!

When it comes to drawing mountains, I found a trick that works perfectly without it being too time consuming (it does take more time than your mountains seem to do, however so the choice is up to you).

1. Being lefthanded I start at the right of the mountain, starting with an almost horizontal stroke. Mountains don't just pop up from the plains, they gradually rise up to their majestic peaks. So I make them curve ever more upwards, with some nice jittery strokes, ending in a nice and pointy apex.
2. I then do the same for the left flank, but starting from the top: steep at first, flatter towards the bottom.
3. The third thing I do, which really gives it depth and structure, is add a jagged ridgeline in the middle, which starts just a little below the bottom of the first two lines.

IMG_20141114_124459.JPG

All that's left to do now is the shading, left or right. Start at the top, where it's usually darkest, and work your way to the bottom in increasingly loose/soft/spaced-out strokes.


One final tip: If you want to convey a sense of massiveness (is that a word?) it helps to draw them closer together, maybe even overlapping them. Of course this means you'll have to draw more mountains for the same area, resulting in more work. So I guess that's up to you.

[foremost]

When it comes to drawing mountains, I found a trick that works perfectly without it being too time consuming (it does take more time than your mountains seem to do, however so the choice is up to you).

Thanks for sharing Caenwyr.

I too am left handed, and I find that while I can do some nice-looking mountains, I tend to get really sloppy after doing more than a dozen. I guess the biggest advice I could give the original poster, and myself, would be to take as much time on the mountains as is needed for them to look nice.

Also excellent suggestion by Midgard... revising your river systems might bring a more aesthetically pleasing and accurate look.

I sympathize with the smudge part of being left-handed. I suppose right-handed folk do it too, but I feel like it's harder to avoid smudging for us lefties.

Good luck!