[WIP] Lovecraftian inspired map for short stories

[Del2me]

Hi All,

I've put together a map (With the help of many of the tutorials found on here) which I plan to use as a setting for a series of short stories. The theme of the stories are heavily inspired by H.P Lovecraft, and if any of you happen to live in Providence, I hope that some of the region names hold some sort of familiarity. The time frame for these stories is in the region of 1910 although the time line will progress slightly differently to reality in some ways such as technological advancements coming early etc.

Anyway, onto the map. I'm mainly looking for critique and suggestions to see if there is anything I could do differently, so I would appreciate all of your input

The fool that I am failed to plan a scale prior to starting the map, so currently 1 pixel relates to roughly 15m which at 2000x2000 makes this map roughly 30km square. The problem this poses me is that I'm not able to produce precise settlements as the scale renders that impossible. At the moment they are like a big blob of ink which isn't too easy on the eye, does anyone have any suggestions on how else to map these?

The other thing that I'm aware of is that the text over land is hard to read, and I do plan to redo this over the coming week or so.

A quick key for those who're interested:
Circle = Cities
Diamond = Towns/Mines
Dash = Village
Star = Lighthouses

I felt it necessary to map lighthouses, if any of you are aware of Lovecraft's work and his sea dwelling creatures, you'll understand the significance!

Look forward to hearing what peoples thoughts are,

Del2me

[Del2me]

Trialling a detailed version for settlements, comparison below;

New style
Shackleton detailed.JPG

Old style
shackleton old style.JPG

[Del2me]

Various amendments made:

Sea colour, coastal gradient, Eastern river currently being re-made, 2 cities re-developed, various villages plotted, sea sunlight reflection.

FlattenedMap230118.png

[Del2me]

### Latest WIP ###

Bit of a rehaul on this map. I think I'm just going to continue practicing with this particular map and once I'm comfortable with style, colours, gradients etc then I will produce a new map.

Anyway, please see the latest below, would love to hear feedback about the lines. It's very early days, but I'm hoping to portay heights (hills & mountains eventually) through trial and error.
BW Shackleton Map4.png