Decisive Steps in your mapping journey

[MapMappingMapped]

We've all had them. Steps that widened our skills and understanding of maps. What turned us from map-lovers to map-makers. I thought it would be great to hear what people's important steps were, and why From newbies to pros, I'm sure we all have something to share.
So I'll start. In chronological order, but after I started drawing maps, it all sort started with Fantastic Maps. These tutorials helped me get a better grasp of drawing techniques, and I'm sure it helped a lot of newcomers everywhere else. Before that my maps weren't half of what I now can do, imagine that - they could just as well be text maps!
Then there was my choice of buying Sakura Microns, which put my maps to the next stage. They certainly look much better with ink than graphite...
And now.... joining the Guild! This is probably the most prominent, and I only came here five months ago (or four, depending on which way you look at it). With tons of help and encouragement from other members, my maps saw quite an improvement - now I actually try, rather than attack my paper brutally and hope to finish in a few hours . My confidence also grew, which is quite something!
And finally, being introduced to the digital world with GIMP. I'd seen people here talk of it quite often, so I figured I should try it! Well, it sure was a good choice, and many thanks to those who helped me work around it (especially Mouse, who should be the fourth step ;D).
And who knows what will be my next step?
Your turn!

[Jaxilon]

I'd made maps since my early rpg days, back when I was a kid. In high School I took some art classes to sort of balance out my science side and before graduation I had to decide if I wanted to pursue becoming an Artist or go into a more technical field. My parents and I went to a professional artist to get his opinion and he said I had the talent to go for it but it just depending really on what I wanted to do. I thought about it and decided against being a "starving artist" since it seemed to take so much time before you could make enough money to support a family. I went into Computer Science to become a software developer. From time to time I would get into making art but always using traditional means. Some years ago (you could check my user profile for exactly how many) I wanted to upgrade my map for my GURPS world and campaigns. That brought me here. It has to this day been one of the best places I've ever found on the internet.

I saw the works of Jonothan Robers (aka Torstan), Ascension, Ramah and eventually Djekspek, all who really inspired me. Torstan was quite active here back in those days and had a few tutorials he'd put together (aka Fantastic Maps). Which if I'm honest, for some reason I could never seem to follow a tutorial all the way through, I'd get impatient and start experimenting all the time so I never really got all of the tricks they offered. I guess in the end I found my own. Still, this place got me rolling. I started with Gimp since I had never used a computer to create anything artistic. I always preferred stuff that didn't look like it was made by a machine when it came to my artistic tastes. For a LONG time I struggled with the tools. Just wrecking piece after piece. I almost ditched it but decided no matter what I would not give up, I was going to bludgeon my way into the digital arena and beat the tools into submission. I think my works here pretty much show me doing exactly that, LOL.

The other thing that really helped me incredibly was folks here used to give some pretty in depth critiques. Especially on the monthly challenges. I sometimes hated it but in the end it always sent me "back to the drawing board" and the end result was better. Gradually, I developed an eye like theirs which helped me to see things more clearly in my own work. When I had time I did my best to return the favor here in the forums. (Unfortunately, I've been out of the loop for a couple years and only now after moving am I getting back to here). I still appreciate it when others are willing to share what they see or don't see in my WIPs because I know it helps me improve my own eye and at improves my work.

I know I'll forget some names just because I'm still drinking my coffee but over my years here so many have been helpful and encouraging to me (sorry for any spelling errors): Arsheesh, ravells, RobA, RedRobes, Bogie, -Max=, Diamond. Guaranteed I'm forgetting someone significant....just a lot of the old guard really, but you get my drift. When I hear people speaking of Mouse who is currently rolling around the threads making comments and being helpful and encouraging you know what I'm talking about. It's the spirit of cooperation and helpfulness you find here that makes this a fabulous place to grow and build up skill. There are a lot of artistic sites around that are more than happy to give you a brutal critique and at some point you may need that but personally, I don't think it's usually that helpful. I think it's part of why so many people think they can't draw. At 6 years old everyone is an artist at 18 only a couple out of a hundred? What's that about? It's about someone saying they aren't good enough. Well, I'd just say it's only because they haven't practiced enough or developed the eye of a master. Sure, there is talent you may or may not have but in the end there are plenty of artists who got there through sheer hard work and determination. But I digress...

I said I'd been gone for a while and that is true due to my daily life and work and when i was making art I was concentrating on traditional pieces and trying to master watercolors. I did some pieces that I am quite proud of but those have nothing to do with mapping other than the skills I had developed here allowing me to bring my traditional work into the digital arena and use it to have them printed in large format. Education is always good, yes?

I did have a couple map commissions during my semi hiatus I have yet to share here. Eventually, I'll get them posted up (I hope). So I didn't quite quit as much as it seemed.

Another decisive step for me would probably come if I can establish a habit of drawing something every day but I'm still working on that.

[MapMappingMapped]

I'd made maps since my early rpg days, back when I was a kid. In high School I took some art classes to sort of balance out my science side and before graduation I had to decide if I wanted to pursue becoming an Artist or go into a more technical field. My parents and I went to a professional artist to get his opinion and he said I had the talent to go for it but it just depending really on what I wanted to do. I thought about it and decided against being a "starving artist" since it seemed to take so much time before you could make enough money to support a family. I went into Computer Science to become a software developer. From time to time I would get into making art but always using traditional means. Some years ago (you could check my user profile for exactly how many) I wanted to upgrade my map for my GURPS world and campaigns. That brought me here. It has to this day been one of the best places I've ever found on the internet.

I saw the works of Jonothan Robers (aka Torstan), Ascension, Ramah and eventually Djekspek, all who really inspired me. Torstan was quite active here back in those days and had a few tutorials he'd put together (aka Fantastic Maps). Which if I'm honest, for some reason I could never seem to follow a tutorial all the way through, I'd get impatient and start experimenting all the time so I never really got all of the tricks they offered. I guess in the end I found my own. Still, this place got me rolling. I started with Gimp since I had never used a computer to create anything artistic. I always preferred stuff that didn't look like it was made by a machine when it came to my artistic tastes. For a LONG time I struggled with the tools. Just wrecking piece after piece. I almost ditched it but decided no matter what I would not give up, I was going to bludgeon my way into the digital arena and beat the tools into submission. I think my works here pretty much show me doing exactly that, LOL.

The other thing that really helped me incredibly was folks here used to give some pretty in depth critiques. Especially on the monthly challenges. I sometimes hated it but in the end it always sent me "back to the drawing board" and the end result was better. Gradually, I developed an eye like theirs which helped me to see things more clearly in my own work. When I had time I did my best to return the favor here in the forums. (Unfortunately, I've been out of the loop for a couple years and only now after moving am I getting back to here). I still appreciate it when others are willing to share what they see or don't see in my WIPs because I know it helps me improve my own eye and at improves my work.

I know I'll forget some names just because I'm still drinking my coffee but over my years here so many have been helpful and encouraging to me (sorry for any spelling errors): Arsheesh, ravells, RobA, RedRobes, Bogie, -Max=, Diamond. Guaranteed I'm forgetting someone significant....just a lot of the old guard really, but you get my drift. When I hear people speaking of Mouse who is currently rolling around the threads making comments and being helpful and encouraging you know what I'm talking about. It's the spirit of cooperation and helpfulness you find here that makes this a fabulous place to grow and build up skill. There are a lot of artistic sites around that are more than happy to give you a brutal critique and at some point you may need that but personally, I don't think it's usually that helpful. I think it's part of why so many people think they can't draw. At 6 years old everyone is an artist at 18 only a couple out of a hundred? What's that about? It's about someone saying they aren't good enough. Well, I'd just say it's only because they haven't practiced enough or developed the eye of a master. Sure, there is talent you may or may not have but in the end there are plenty of artists who got there through sheer hard work and determination. But I digress...

I said I'd been gone for a while and that is true due to my daily life and work and when i was making art I was concentrating on traditional pieces and trying to master watercolors. I did some pieces that I am quite proud of but those have nothing to do with mapping other than the skills I had developed here allowing me to bring my traditional work into the digital arena and use it to have them printed in large format. Education is always good, yes?

I did have a couple map commissions during my semi hiatus I have yet to share here. Eventually, I'll get them posted up (I hope). So I didn't quite quit as much as it seemed.

Another decisive step for me would probably come if I can establish a habit of drawing something every day but I'm still working on that.

Well, a quick look at your threads tell me this incredible journey was quite well worth it and has given a bunch of juicy fruits! I'll be eager to see these recent maps of yours
Thank you for sharing your story

[ladiestorm]

For me, the journey started about 20-25 years ago... and then stalled to a scant 2 years ago.

It started from a home brewed D&D Campaign known only as Kargesh... and my long time friend, I'll call Elder, who created and ran the campaign. You see, Elder spent years on his Kargesh campaign, a very grueling campaign that NO ONE (including my group) has ever successfully completed. But what first piqued my interest in mapping, was the beautiful, hand drawn map that he had created for his campaign. Up to that point, no GM I've played under ever had maps of the campaigns we were running through. And as a GM, I'd never thought of mapping my campaigns, but it struck me, at that moment, that maps bring a strong element to any campaign... because it not only helps the players, and the GM, keep straight about where they are in the world, but it also helps make the world more real to the players. I decided that I wanted to start mapping my own campaigns.

Which is where I came to my step 1. With the very next campaign that I created, I set out to map my world. My attempt was laughable at best. It literally looked like a second .grade drawing. I was in my late 20's to early 30's at this point. There's a reason why I've always said I can't draw worth a flip, and therefore paint pictures with words! So I put away my dream of creating maps for campaigns, and for the longest time, relied on pages and pages of descriptions of my worlds.

But as the years progressed, I was increasingly aware of the fact that writing out my descriptions had it's problems. Descriptions get confusing. Players want to go to this country, and it takes 10-15 minutes rifling though pages to find the write up of said country, then find the correct place where players are entering to get the descriptions right. So I started cutting back on my details, and just jotting down places of interest, areas of importance to the campaign I was running. But that had problems too, because sometimes random encounters would happen between villages, towns or what not, and I was having to come up with terrain descriptions, or village descriptions off the top of my head, which I can do, but then I would forget to write them down, and when players passed back through those areas, I'd forgotten what was there. But I muddled through... most of my players were also GM's, they were experienced players, and none of us mapped our games, so it worked.

So that's where I was up until about 2 years ago... more like 2 1/2 years ago... when one of my best friends came to me with a special request. His long standing girlfriend, recent wife, and mother of his 4 children, wanted to get into gaming. She'd gone through years of listening to our stories of epic games, epic battles, and the funny stories of how we could completely mess up GM's plans... and she was intrigued. This was about the time 5th edition came out for D&D. Now our gaming group is comprised of all players who are also GM's. Each of us has our specialty, those games that we tend to know backwards and forwards. One friend is a Mech Warrior guru. For my husband, it's anything Star Trek. We have three others that are gurus when it comes to White Wolf Games... which encompass a lot, when you think of Vampire: the Masquarade, or the Werewolf games, then there are the Mage games, and the newest edition Scion. But for me, well, I grew up on D&D... so that's my specialty. Well, my friend's wife wanted to try D&D, because that's the game she's always heard about. So, of course, my friend came to me.

So I set out to create a campaign for 5th edition D&D. I started thinking about the way I normally run campaigns, and realized that what I had been doing wouldn't work for a brand new player, the player would get so confused that she wouldn't know whether she was coming or going. Which meant that I needed to create maps so that she could truly visualize where she was in my world. This, of course, resparked my dream to create campaign maps. But I knew I couldn't draw them myself. This was my step 2. I started looking for maps online that I could use to create my campaign world. Nothing I found would work for the campaign I was creating... but while looking for maps, I found some free mapping programs. I tried several, like Random Map Generator, AutoRealm, and about 3 or 4 others, but they either were confusing to use, didn't look right, or couldn't give me the results I wanted.

Then someone pointed me to this site, the Guild. Step 3. I started looking at all the wonderful maps here, and started noticing some of the software used to make them. I saw quite a few made in photoshop, but I knew right off the bat Photoshop wouldn't work for me, because you still have to have a good foundation in sketching and drawing to use it. And I can't draw. Then I saw some maps I really liked that were created with this program called CC3+. I had found some of Tonnichiwa's maps. I did search for CC3+ and found the Profantasy website. I poked around that site for a bit, and saw some of the amazing maps that the members there were creating. And I realized that this was a program that would help me create maps, because I didn't have to be able to draw to use it. So after coming back 2 or 3 times, and saving up enough money to get the 3 core programs, I bought the software.

Step 4. I fiddled around with it for a few days, skimming through the tutorials, but what really helped me was the YouTube tutorials put out by Joe Sweeny. Walking through the videos really helped the written tutorials make sense. I also joined the profantasy forums, and started getting to know the mappers there. And I posted my first map, which took me all of 3 - 4 hours to make. Boy was I a newbie!!!! I got a lot of help from the profantasy members, especially when it came to using the programs I had purchased. But then someone from there suggested I join the guild here... because there were a lot of knowledgeable people here, that could help me with mapping in general.

Which is my step 5. I did join the Guild here, about 2 years ago. I kind of mapped on my own for about 3 months... and I would post my maps both here and there, got critiques to help me improve. I joined a couple of the light challenges, which helped me improve even more. I added the CSUAC and the Vintyri collection to my arsenal of goodies, and then saw some maps that others were making with CC3+, techniques that created some really cool results, and I begged for tutorials on how to create the effects they were using. And as I learned those techniques, I realized how they could be adapted to create other things. For example, Shessar at the profantasy site showed how to use DD3 to create battle maps that had cliffs and realistic looking streams or rivers. I ran with that one! I realized I could use the same technique to create lakes, steppes, and steps, or in dungeons, murky pools. Then Mouse joined us at the profantasy site, and showed us a technique she had created to make waterfalls. That was another technique I ran with! Combining Shessar's and Mouse's techniques together opened up other possibilities, such as rolling surf, cloud cover, fog. And my mapping improved.

Which leads me to step 6. The release of Bogie's Mapping Objects for CC3+, and my first ever commission. The Vintyri Project wanted maps utilizing Bogie's Mapping Objects for it's release. I was shocked, pleasantly so, when I was asked to create the maps that would highlight and advertise the release. Up until that point, I was joining challenges, and mapping continents and regions and battle maps for my own campaign... but I wasn't really taking mapping seriously. This is the point where my mapping really started to improve, because I was now creating maps for someone else. These maps had to be better than what I was usually doing, because these maps would be the 'face' of Bogie's symbol sets, and I had gotten to know Bogie here at the guild... and I wanted to do right by him, and my not so silent mentor, that heads up the Vintyri Project. These maps were the turning point for me, I guess... because this is when I started taking mapping more seriously, and started really trying some new things, paying more attention to dimensions and spacing, and creating certain looks. My maps have always told stories, but they were still kind of haphazard. Now I was working to put polish on my maps.

And the rest, they say, is history.