Schley inspired Dungeon style

[damonjynx]

Hi Folks,

There are many excellent cartographers out there and one of my many favourites is Mike Schley. I really like his dungeon maps (his other maps aren't too shabby either!) so, I'm attempting to produce something in a similar-ish style. So far just been trying a couple of different techniques to get the basic look for the rooms and background. I'm not unhappy with this so far...the grids a little off as I reduced the resolution a wee bit for posting.

### Latest WIP ###

Schley inspired dungeon.jpg

[XCali]

Hey man. How's it going?

It is actually a cool idea to try and improve your style by studying big artists in the world.
(Just a note, I'm pondering alongside you on this one, so hopefully it doesn't feel like I am taking hits at your work. Because that is not my intention at all. ) So, I have been looking at his dungeon maps. and I feel the texture used is not as busy as yours, which is important I would say, since you want the eyes to focus on what is in the actual hallways and rooms.
Secondly, on my journey with lighting and shading, I realised a significant thing, mostly that darker signifies a depression and lighter a protrusion. (Still, there are exceptions to this, but then you have to be bold with your shadows and highlights usage) So, I feel that looking at a dungeon pic from a distance it would have to be from first glance what is the depression in the ground and what is sticking up. Which means that your texture looks like it is below the actual dungeon, whereas it actually needs to signify being above and the hallways are sunk into.
My suggestion for this would be to add deeper Core(small dark) shadows and a bit longer Cast(more gentle) shadows, then touch up the ridges with highlights to make them pop out of the page.
All of this is quite fast changes one can make, but it has the effect.
Below I have two examples, one is a Protrusion and the other goes down into the ground. One thing was for certain, the highlights was very important but also the Core and cast shadows.
Highlights and Shadows_.jpeg

Hope this was useful feedback. I am looking forward to seeing you continue.


edit: (P.S. The partial image comes from a town map I drew with pen and paper and scanned it, multiplied on the top layer and proceeded to colour and shade it digitally.)

[damonjynx]

Hey man. How's it going?

Hi right back at you. Things are going OK, could be better but every day you wake up is a good one, right?

So, I have been looking at his dungeon maps. and I feel the texture used is not as busy as yours, which is important I would say, since you want the eyes to focus on what is in the actual hallways and rooms.

100% agree. Need to make mine so it truly is a background and not so in your face. I think he has a stock of backgrounds that he uses, varying the colours here and there and flipping etc, this one of mine is a concrete texture straight off textures.com. I'll try reducing the opacity/fill, change the blending mode to overlay and put over a mottled grey or brown layer and see how that looks.

Secondly, on my journey with lighting and shading, I realised a significant thing, mostly that darker signifies a depression and lighter a protrusion. (Still, there are exceptions to this, but then you have to be bold with your shadows and highlights usage)

True again.

So, I feel that looking at a dungeon pic from a distance it would have to be from first glance what is the depression in the ground and what is sticking up. Which means that your texture looks like it is below the actual dungeon, whereas it actually needs to signify being above and the hallways are sunk into. My suggestion for this would be to add deeper Core(small dark) shadows and a bit longer Cast(more gentle) shadows, then touch up the ridges with highlights to make them pop out of the page.
All of this is quite fast changes one can make, but it has the effect.

To my eyes, I think what I've done looks about right when looking at the full size picture. I tried darker, slightly larger shadows on the dungeon "floor" and to me they looked too dark. Bearing in mind, these are done with layer effects and not hand painted. Perhaps, making the outer glow along the edges a fraction smaller would help? I'll try some things with this existing portion of floor-plan and see what I can come up with.

Below I have two examples, one is a Protrusion and the other goes down into the ground. One thing was for certain, the highlights was very important but also the Core and cast shadows.

Very nice and obvious which bits are above and below ground.

Hope this was useful feedback. I am looking forward to seeing you continue.

Absolutely it was helpful. It's always good to have other people comment on your work. Constructive criticism/feedback is always welcome.

Thanks for taking the time to look and comment! Appreciate it.

[damonjynx]

Spent 10 minutes having a play around - still a very long way to go!

Schley inspired dungeon.jpg

[damonjynx]

Hi Folks,

A bit more of a update.

Here are 2 versions, 1 with sketch and 1 without. I know I've set myself a task with this, as apart from the relatively easy part of laying out the rooms of the dungeon, a lot of the appeal of Mike's maps is in the detail. I mean, just one look and you know it's his piece. I will be very pleased with a close approximation!

Schley inspired dungeonMk2.jpg Schley inspired dungeonMk2NoSketch.jpg

[damonjynx]

It occurred to me after having another look at some of Mike's dungeon maps that rather than using outer glow and inner shadow layer effects (which is what the above are all examples of) his dungeons look more like the walls are embossed. Also, his floor textures are often very similar to, if not exactly the same as his wall texture just much lightened versions.

So here is where I'm at at the moment and I'm far more pleased with this look. I've added a touch of dressing - these are all smart objects, once I'm happy with the final arrangement and so on, I'll rasterize and colour them.

Schley inspired dungeon.jpg

[XCali]

Nice! I like your latest one far better. Both the texture and the actual rooms looking like they are sunk into the rock. Good job

[damonjynx]

Thanks Xcali. I think I’m getting closer to his ‘style’ if not his skill�� That is many years of practice away!

[damonjynx]

Another update. I'm liking this except for the colour of the rug under the bed - my colouring needs some work

Schley inspired dungeonMk3.jpg

[XCali]

Hey man. Nice seeing you making progress

I was on my way to adding this set of free to use assets to my thread and thought maybe you'd find some use for them. Your choice absolutely, but it is an option if you so wished.
Crypt_RPG_Tokens_byOmri.png

(This is probably my personal opinion, but I feel that symbol you drew on the floor of that main room is a bit distasteful. Not that I am offended or anything, I just feel I have never liked it when people resort to using it. Make of that what you will. That said, I'm still looking forward to seeing you make progress. )