Sera - World Map

[Alturax]

Hello! After an attempt at fantasy mapmaking, I felt confident in my older designs. I found some old mediocre maps from my younger years and reimagined them. I started with an a4 drawing of the area between the Icy Northern Area and the Desert-ish almost-equator zone.

Concept.jpg

Then I made a few changes to make it better sized:

Step 3.jpg

Before I go any further with the digital side of it, I'd like some critique. Is that believable for the area im trying to achieve? (Roughly from Finland to the Sahara)

- Alturax

[AzurePlanet]

Before I go any further with the digital side of it, I'd like some critique. Is that believable for the area im trying to achieve? (Roughly from Finland to the Sahara)

Yes, in my opinion it is definitely believable!
By the way, I think that the "sense of scale" is given, mostly, by the representation of smaller features (i.e. mountain ranges, rivers, cities...), but not so much by the outlines of coasts. Just think, for example, to the simple shape of Africa, or the very jagged shape of the Falkland Islands.

[Alturax]

An update:

Started drawing in the Land Mask with the Polygonal Lasso Tool. Planning on smoothing it out once I've got it all done, But i'm still a bit far from even thinking about it
I will re-update this post with the full Land mask once it's done.

Step 5.jpg

Another update:

Finished the Land Mask

Step 6.jpg

Now I'l find some inspiration in the Finished Map sections!

[arsheesh]

Ooh, cool land shapes. Look forward to seeing where this goes.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[Alturax]

Update:

Huge progress on the map. Decided to go for the hand-drawn (mouse drawn) look with a parchment texture. After a bit of work I found something I'm happy with. Ocean not fully done, however.

Step 8.jpg

[ChickPea]

This is looking very nice! My only comment is that, with a quick glance, it's not immediately obvious which is land and which is sea. However, I'm sure that will be rectified once you start to fill in details.

[Alturax]

@ChickPea - Yeah, I'm saving work on oceans for last, so I can focus alot more on the land and it's fantastic elements.

More updates: Started filling in Mountains, added the grassy/temperate zone. Made the cliffs too and worked a little bit with the colour schemes underlying the cliffside.
I wanted to just give it a little hint of colour, and I might eventually fade it even more. I was pondering even skipping adding colour, but It looked a bit too empty.
What do you think? (First one is full-on colour, second is faded)

39163ff75eb99c7ac9ee7fb1fb985931.jpg 7e813017e3b82b7ca82ae31158cc7a10.jpg

[ChickPea]

Hmmm, can't decide. Both are nice. I'm drawn to the second, faded image, but once you start adding forests, towns, labels etc. the vibrant colour might work better in standing out. So, basically, I don't know is the answer!

[Chick]

.....I was pondering even skipping adding colour, but It looked a bit too empty.
What do you think? (First one is full-on colour, second is faded)

With a parchment background, the color can easily too bright and overpower the purpose of the parchment texture (which is to look faded and old). If you like the parchment, I'd keep it muted color. If you like the brighter color, subdue the parchment texture or use a different texture altogether.

Here are some examples to compare where I used parchment texture with different levels of color (from full color to almost none):
http://www.cartographersguild.com/al...chmentid=77545
http://www.cartographersguild.com/al...chmentid=78269
http://www.cartographersguild.com/at...9&d=1432124722
http://www.cartographersguild.com/at...9&d=1444360478

So my advice is to decide what look you most want, and then adjust either the amount of color or the amount of texture to get it.

[a.coldyham]

It's strange but I somehow prefer the first map, the original a4 drawing. Maybe I've seen too many similar maps on here, maybe I prefer the landmasses closer together, or maybe it's my own preference for pencil drawing