I went to bed last night before I posted the current progress of this map. It's coming along very quickly and I'm expecting to have it finished by today.
### Latest WIP ###
three-orcs-pass-final.jpg
Starting my most recent project, this is a camp ground off the main road just a day out from a main city. People stop here to hock goods as they come and go from the city but something far more sinister is happening just over the gorge. Rumor has it a giant monster of some sort stalks the furthest campsites, but what's actually there could be far worse.
This is my jumping off part. I got this sketch of the area put together yesterday and inked it today so I could see what I was working on when I went into Photoshop to start doing the line work. I'm a bit confused about how I'm going to do geographical pillars of stone. I've got a couple of references, but they don't really allude to the height of the columns. I'm thinking I'll use shadows to insinuate the height but I haven't gotten to it yet to play around.
### Latest WIP ###
three-orcs-pass.jpg
I went to bed last night before I posted the current progress of this map. It's coming along very quickly and I'm expecting to have it finished by today.
### Latest WIP ###
three-orcs-pass-final.jpg
Line work is finished. Had a hard time figuring out how I wanted to do the natural columns that are scattered around the area. I think I have it how I want, but until the color gets added in, it still feels sort of flat. Moving into the color today so I'm hoping that fixes the issue. Maybe I'll actually get it finished. I would have yesterday but I decided a nap was in order.
### Latest WIP ###
three-orcs-pass-final.jpg
"Three Orc's Pass" makes sense only if there are a series of passes with names including "One Orc's Pass" and "Two Orc's Pass". I suspect that this is meant to have a name meaning "Pass of Three Orcs", which would be "Three Orcs' Pass" with the apostrophe after the "s" in "Orcs".
The line art is nice. I think color will clear up what sections are a little difficult to parse at a glance (cliff almost always have a touch of that "which way is up" issue, and there are a few "is it land or water?" spots as well... but as I say, I think color will make these easy for the eye).
Where are the animals for all those wagons?
There is meaning to the name but it's hard to see with the lack of color. There is a history check that can be made and with a success the person that makes the check will know that the three largest natural columns at the entrance were left by an old Orc tribe as Guardians to the area. These columns became known as the Orcs and you have to pass through them to get to the main area which gave the area its name. Though I do realize now the apostrophe needs to be moved.
There are two parts to this answer. The first being that it gave it more of a cluttered look with animals when they were placed. The real reason was I couldn't make it look good with horses from a top down view. They were a mix of too bulky and malformed so I've chosen to leave them out because of it.
Current progress. Finally got some color added into it, only the flats so far and some shading in certain places, but it's coming along. Also, fixed the issue with the name of the place.
### Latest WIP ###
three-orcs-pass-final.jpg
Very appealing! You should be proud of this one, DFB!
That's one hell of a setting and one hell of a style ! Keep them coming please
Wow I was impressed already, and then I scrolled further down and saw the color version! Very nice. Maps with lore checks are the best maps.