Etria

[UnstableGunEnthusiast]

Awe-inspiring work, as usual. What blows me away with this particular piece, is the intricate border, the detailed city icons, and the coats of arms, and how all of these elements don't seem to overcrowd the map.

[Dimension Door]

There are way too many things to love about this map to name them all. There is so much thought that got into every detail. The little golden knobs for small places, the gorgeous skulls, the subtle use of light and shadow, that gargoyle, that other gargoyle.. the.. the.. everything..?

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Yup, still looking at it..

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still..

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How did you do it? How does thou approach such an endeavour? Was there a lot of back and forth or did you have a fairly free hand in what you did?

[KMAlexander]

I really like the gray undertones all over this one. Little different than some of your other stuff.

[jshoer]

WOWWWWWWWWW - If this doesn't get an Atlas Award nom when the time comes, I don't know what will.

I absolutely love the ice, the kraken, and the gothic arches on the upper-right border. The only thing I'm not totally sold on is the half-windroses - the diagonal one on the left side of the map looks a little funky to me. I see why you did it that way, though.

[Josiah VE]

Holy moly. This is beyond description. A masterpiece of the highest caliber, to be sure!
I'm in love with your portrayal of the wild areas. The bleak and astonishing detail of the wilderness calls to memory the intrepid adventurers of the Lord of the Rings. I can imagine dropping a character in any part of the map.
Incredible!!

[Kier]

Yeah, I have to agree with everyone here, Truly awesome. Just amazing, the colors, the border, title, map, paper, all just work so well with each other.

[Greason Wolfe]

It is both awe inspiring and discouraging. How am I supposed to compete with something like that?! Oh, wait, I don't have to compete with it, I can just spend my time drooling (slobbering ) over it. Brilliant work, as usual, your client better be damn happy with what he (or she) got.

[Solanchi]

I love the border-work, the little octopus sinking the ship and the snowy mountains transition!

May I know what cartography software you used if any?

[MistyBeee]

True masterpiece. The colours are spot on, illustrations beautiful and I think you have done justice Ramah map.

That's amazing to read ! Thanks Voolf

This is a wonderful map (no surprises there)! I am normally not a fan of too dark a map, but this is an interesting variant.

All in all, though, I like the more "classic Beee" map style better...your elements are still very good in this one, but your "normal" style just clicks more with me (don't get me wrong, of course you want to experiment and stretch your legs, so to speak, but i wanted to mention this nontheless...it's not a critic per se, just my opinion and preferences ).

The frame on this map though...wow...a very flavor full one for sure. Amazing!

Hehe, thanks Eilathen ! No offense : we all have our favorites styles ! But working with clients always lead you to unexplored lands and for some reason, this year, people are asking more of those colored maps, and less of my 'normal' novel style, even if I have some in my plate for the next weeks/months

Absolutely breathtaking

Thanks so much, Liz' !! ^^

Awe-inspiring work, as usual. What blows me away with this particular piece, is the intricate border, the detailed city icons, and the coats of arms, and how all of these elements don't seem to overcrowd the map.

Thanks UGE ! The balance is always something to keep in mind while mapping. I'm glad you enjoy how I managed this one

There are way too many things to love about this map to name them all. There is so much thought that got into every detail. The little golden knobs for small places, the gorgeous skulls, the subtle use of light and shadow, that gargoyle, that other gargoyle.. the.. the.. everything..?

..

..

..

Yup, still looking at it..

..

..

still..

..

..

How did you do it? How does thou approach such an endeavour? Was there a lot of back and forth or did you have a fairly free hand in what you did?

Thanks so much, Dim'Door !
Compared to the size, level of details and time spent on this map, it was not a lot of back and forth (I have 16 previews in this project folder, from the very first sketch to the final view), and most of them were about where to place the icons. I had the two reference maps as a guide, so it was easy to set up the biomes without nipicking about how this forest should be a little smaller, or this mountain a little taller.
The client was a joy to work with : he asked for a full colored map, roughly based on my super old Kingdom of Mar style (hopefully enhanced ^^'), and gave me some clues about the general feeling and inspirations he wanted for the map : something dark, dangerous, fancy/crazy gothic borders, with Albrecht Dürer and Gustave Doré as references, which is totally my cup of tea. But out of this general guideline and a few specific requests (the gargoyles, a few ships...) I would say it was the kind of "feel free have fun" commission, so I had the pleasure to add on the map a lot of hidden details and suprises, hoping he'll use them to enrish his RPG campaign
The border was made in a few steps : I firstly drew the top part lineart and asked his validation to make sure it was a style he would enjoy (you can't put that many skulls on a map without the agreement of the client ), then I added the title banner and the bottom right corner for another validation (it's where he asked to add the gargoyles, which was not that difficult on the side pillars anyway), and finally the complete border/shading/color.

I really like the gray undertones all over this one. Little different than some of your other stuff.

Thanks Michael ! The client says, the client has !

WOWWWWWWWWW - If this doesn't get an Atlas Award nom when the time comes, I don't know what will.

I absolutely love the ice, the kraken, and the gothic arches on the upper-right border. The only thing I'm not totally sold on is the half-windroses - the diagonal one on the left side of the map looks a little funky to me. I see why you did it that way, though.

Thanks Jshoer ! Glad you love the icy part : this one gave me nightmares !
It's not the first time I use those half windroses and I see there's always debated : usually, people adore or hate them, and there's no half measures here !
For the context : those 'half windroses', including the tilted ones, were fairly common on marteloires/portulans in 16th century (my favorite 'half compass' reference is always the wonderful work by Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer). During this project, I discovered the client was fond of history and architecture (it was an important part of the inspiration of the map) so I though he would love this antique/historical touch on his map.

Holy moly. This is beyond description. A masterpiece of the highest caliber, to be sure!
I'm in love with your portrayal of the wild areas. The bleak and astonishing detail of the wilderness calls to memory the intrepid adventurers of the Lord of the Rings. I can imagine dropping a character in any part of the map.
Incredible!!

Thanks Josiah ! The more I draw maps, the more I hate empty areas, and I always try to find ways to fill those wide empty grasslands. Horror Vacui !

Yeah, I have to agree with everyone here, Truly awesome. Just amazing, the colors, the border, title, map, paper, all just work so well with each other.

Thanks so much, Kier !! ^^

It is both awe inspiring and discouraging. How am I supposed to compete with something like that?! Oh, wait, I don't have to compete with it, I can just spend my time drooling (slobbering ) over it. Brilliant work, as usual, your client better be damn happy with what he (or she) got.

Aww, thanks for the super kind words, Wolfe ! I'm glad to say I really think he was happy

[Levtrona]

absolutely fantastic, your maps are very skilled and they have, dont know another word, soul. So alive. Very inspiring. Hope i get to see a lot more.