1st Commission WIP Thread

[Blaidd Drwg]

As usual, critique, suggestions and so on always welcome.

These are looking great, Jim

Trying to be cute, aside, I don't really know what to say. They do look great. I'm not a huge fan of the "outer glow" (I assume?) edge on the cave walls, as they look more digital than the rest of the work. But I'm grasping here and a lot boils down to taste. And when your client is happy, why fiddle more? I know it's tempting, but like you say:

These have taken waaay too long for what I'm getting paid but I've now set up a template and I'll set up a 'brush preset library' so that I can produce additional maps consistently and faster, along with negotiating a better pay rate - hopefully...

Hehehe, that sounds very familiar. I recently converted a huge whopping mass of random rooftops I did for a client's city map to a seamless pattern. I never want to do that s*** again! I'd never really bothered to take a close look at the amount of time I put (sink or dump) into a map, but when I finally did ... Ouch XD

[damonjynx]

These are looking great, Jim

Trying to be cute, aside, I don't really know what to say. They do look great. I'm not a huge fan of the "outer glow" (I assume?) edge on the cave walls, as they look more digital than the rest of the work. But I'm grasping here and a lot boils down to taste. And when your client is happy, why fiddle more?

Thanks Blaidd.

The "style" if you want to call it that came about by me wanting to make quick(ish) b&w battlemats. I applied an outer glow and drop shadow to the line layer for the walls to give them a chiselled look. I didn't want to have to do it all by hand so I used a layer style which I tried to keep a bit subtle...maybe not subtle enough... In the end though, I like the look and it works the client so WIN:WIN!

I'd never really bothered to take a close look at the amount of time I put (sink or dump) into a map, but when I finally did ... Ouch XD

Hmmm, I know what you mean. None of these maps are difficult really, though some are a bit outside my comfort zone. For a more experienced cartographer they would be relatively easy, however, even simple maps take time to produce to a reasonable standard, so I think even with more experience I would struggle to do each one in less than 2 hours.

[damonjynx]

Another update folks.

Here is the WIP for the Local Scale Map. I'm not sure about the gradient fill for the ocean, I'll probably change that I think.

There are 4 differing terrains; Mountains, Cliffs, Hills & Marsh. I've still got to outline the islands and place an icon for the lighthouse.

Thoughts so far?

### Latest WIP ###

WIP Local Scale Map V3.jpg

[Dyson Logos]

Try out an old fashioned halftone for the water instead maybe? Like I did here: https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/...-seevers-mill/

[ThomasR]

You can also try some waves following the coast.

You can try a stroke at 10 px from the cost, another one at 15 px. Then draw shaky waves with the strokes as a loose guide (add gaps in the second rank). It really gives a good contrast between sea and land.

[damonjynx]

Thanks Guys.

@Dyson, that half-tone pattern you used, did you make that in PS or was it downloaded from somewhere?

@Thomas, do you mean use the stroke layer as a guide to do the hand drawn wavy bits and then hide it in the finished product? I know the technique you mean, I'm just not sure about the application...

[ThomasR]

That's it. The technique give an illusion of contrast between land and sea that helps differentiate both with very few lines. An example of "less is more".

[damonjynx]

That's it. The technique give an illusion of contrast between land and sea that helps differentiate both with very few lines. An example of "less is more".

I thought that's what you meant. I decided to go with this method, rather than using either the gradient, as per my post above but using greys instead of B&W or Dyson's suggestion. The primary reason being readability once I put the hex grid on and labelled it.

Anyway, here is the version I'll be submitting along with the others. Hopefully, there will not be any changes required...

Local Scale Map.jpg

Thanks for everyones sage advice, encouragement & well wishes. I'll post again here once I've heard back from the publisher re changes etc.

[damonjynx]

Well, had a response from the publisher;

Publisher: "Looks great to me."

Line Manager: "I think they look beautiful. Great work Jim."

I guess they're happy with them...what a relief.

Thanks again for everyone's comments, they helped a lot.

I'll post hi-res JPG's in the finished map section once the module is published.

Cheers,

Jim

[ChickPea]

Congrats! Glad you've got a happy client.