My first map created from scratch

[ChickPea]

Hi folks, thought I'd submit my first map for your review and criticism. A few comments:

• One day I hope to learn to draw mountains, but today is not that day. I used a brush. Same for the forests. Do they look reasonably authentic? I've spread out the trees a little and I think it conveys the sense of a forest or wood, but would like to hear what others think.
• I don't know an awful lot about geology and the like, but I tried to be mostly realistic. Are there any glaring inaccuracies?
• Anyone have any opinions on colouring or overall feel of the map? I'm not very good with shading and tended to plonk down my brush anywhere. Not sure if I've done too much or not enough.
• I have no imagination and it would have taken me about a month to come up with town/region names. I looked at a couple of fantasy name generators, but they either felt too cheesy or too much like two halves of British town names stuck together. But I had some inspiration and found a list of Scottish Gaelic place names on Wikipedia. These are the Gaelic translations of real Scottish places (I'm Scottish, though I don't speak Gaelic.) I thought these names give the map more of a fantasy feel, without being too 'trope-y'.
• Yeah, I have a whirlpool. As you do. Corryvreckan is a real-world whirlpool, and I thought that since I was going to use the gaelic name for it, I might as well stick one on the map. I suspect the people who aim for topographical accuracy are rolling their eyes furiously right now! I know, I know...

I'd love to hear some feedback from you guys. I'm the first to admit I'm no artist, but I feel really pleased by the way the map's turned out. However, there's always room for improvement and I hope some constructive criticism might help with the next map I do. Because there's going to be a next map soon. I'm addicted!

[Chick]

Well, I AM a geologist, and I can tell you that you have done an excellent job. The mountains are in one long range as they should be. The rivers run from high ground to the sea, as they should. They join correctly and wind about nicely, very natural. The color scheme is a very pretty one, very popular. Your labels and titles are slightly inconsistent, but nicely placed and readable. Your coastline is a very natural fractal-looking shape.

I'd give this map an A-. When you learn to draw mountains, you'll be awesome!

Have some rep!!

[Wingshaw]

I'll back up chick, on this.

The only comments I would make are:
--the mountains look a bit TOO straight, to my eye, but since I have nowhere near as much geological learning as chick, I'll bow to her superior knowledge;
--the overall map seems rather empty. It would be great (for this one or your next) if you could fill it up a bit. That continent/landmass/island in the lower left, especially, looks rather desolate;
--I do tend to think whirlpools are rather cliched, but, more importantly in this case, the style of your whirlpool doesn't suit the rest of the map; it looks almost photographic (really well done, though), whereas the rest of the map looks illustrative.

Highlights are:
--the forest: you really have done a good job of placing those trees, I think;
--the colour palette: like chick said, it is pleasing and attractive.

Have some rep. And the best thing to do with an addiction is to feed it (I am pretty sure there are some drug rehabilitation workers who just screamed at me for saying that) More maps!

THW

[ChickPea]

Thanks for your kind words, folks, and for taking time to give your opinions. It's appreciated.

Chick, yeah, I do want to try my hand at mountains. I've watched videos on YouTube that make it look so easy, but my own output looks like drunken ants marching across the page. I bought a graphics tablet recently, so maybe that will help.

HoarseWhisperer, I agree that some parts are quite empty. I was trying to restrain myself a little since I wasn't quite sure how it was all going to turn out. I didn't want to go overboard and end up with something too 'busy'. But, yeah, I probably held back too much. On the whirlpool, huh, I hadn't considered that it didn't really match the style, but I see what you're saying. It was just a Gimp filter with some layer blends and I drew some wiggly lines at the edges to break it up a bit. I should probably have tried to make it less perfectly formed throughout, though. Thanks for the feedback!

[Eilathen]

Wow, nice map, especially if this is a first effort.

One thing you could do is give credit to the brush-maker (and as it looks those are Star Raven's brushes). And don't feel bad, i am also not able to do all those things by myself ^^

I kind of disagree with THW about the forests...for me they do not look convincing. Granted it is a real pain in the ass to do forests well with single-tree brushes...but i think those could use some work (the trees are spaced to far appart and the mix and match is also a bit unconvincing to my eyes). The mountains look fine, but as you already have the approval of a geologist, i guess you don't need any further encouragement

Overall i really dig this map. It evokes atmosphere and makes me want to know more about your setting. So i'd say you achieved the goal of a fictional map well

[ChickPea]

Thanks for your comment, Eilathen. You're right about the brushes, I should have credited the maker. They're called Sketchy Cartography and I got them from Deviant Art. Not sure if that's the same person you're referring to? I'll need to look up the page again. I'll definitely add the creator's name next time.

I understand your point of view on the forests, and I want to try creating a denser forest next time to see if I can pull it off. Mostly, I didn't want to go with an amorphous green blob (even if it was a well-defined and shaded green blob!) I wanted to have individual trees showing, and I was torn between having them too spaced out, or putting them too close together where they began to lose form and merge into one big mass. I wanted to try creating the sense of undergrowth and shadows to fill out the space a little, but I'm not sure I entirely pulled it off.

Thanks for your comments and I'm happy you like the map.

[woekan]

Nice work! I like the map texture. I really like the naming. Maybe it can use a little more light/dark contrast?

[Freodin]

That's the way I like maps! Symbols (ok, you can't go wrong with this set of brushes ), colouration, labeling, texture, layout, execution... there isn't anything I would change.

Just one little thing (what would a review be without some nitpick?) : you did your best to roughen up the linework on your border... but you forgot to do the same for the four knots in the corners. Thus they are a little darker than the other lines and too (digitaly) perfect.

[ChickPea]

Woekan, thanks! Yeah, I thought the contrast between the land and sea would be enough to make the whole thing 'pop', but perhaps a little more colouring on the land areas would help too.

Freodin, nitpicking is good! Yeah, I completely overlooked roughing up the knots and they do stand out as too crisp compared to everything else. Oops. Glad you like the map.

[Norseword Bound]

I think this is fantastic, and I liked the mountains. Thought they were better than the forests.