WIP The Shire ( Middle Earth) - fantasy map

[- Max -]

Thanks J ! No worry for the marsh, It's easily to change it if needed I tested some little icons but it doesn't work that much : the map will be kind of crowded with labels and so when testing, I decided to go with some simple dots to avoid the map being too busy. Same for fields, I wanted to add some but I don't think that would be a good idea for the same reason.

[J.Edward]

I understand that.

[Sapiento]

Looks great so far!

[Abu Lafia]

This is really the most lovely map of the shire i've seen so far max!
Looking forward to see how you depict the villages and do the labeling. The Frame is wonderful, what else than wheat, wine, apples and pipe weed does one need to live a good life? I have to say, i personally liked the more green version (at least for the plains) a bit better, because it was screaming "this is the most fertile land you can imagine!"

[SteffenBrand]

Lovely work, Max! =) I love the colors, the subtle lines you used and the very tolkinesque look.
One thing you could try: The forest has thinner outlines and your mountains have lines as thick as coastlines. I'd try to tone them either down a bit or slim them down a little. Could be a lot of work, I see that (and maybe just toning them down is enough).

I'd love to see this finished =)
Cheers, Steffen

[ChickPea]

This is fab! Colours look good to me, but I'm looking at it on my work monitor which is a piece of poop. Love the corner icons, haha! Thank you, Max!

It's really interesting for me, as a relative newbie, to see the bits you've done and the bits you haven't finished yet, and how you're adding the colours and line work. It's really helpful to snoop on your process!

Absolutely loving this so far.

[- Max -]

Thanks guys !

It's really interesting for me, as a relative newbie, to see the bits you've done and the bits you haven't finished yet, and how you're adding the colours and line work. It's really helpful to snoop on your process!

Glad it helps a bit If you haven't did it yet, you can also check a thread I've opened here where I shared a bit of basic process (though I realize I haven't updated it for a while.)

Lovely work, Max! =) I love the colors, the subtle lines you used and the very tolkinesque look.
One thing you could try: The forest has thinner outlines and your mountains have lines as thick as coastlines. I'd try to tone them either down a bit or slim them down a little. Could be a lot of work, I see that (and maybe just toning them down is enough).

I'd love to see this finished =)
Cheers, Steffen

Thanks Steffen ! I reduced the thickness of mountains lines. Is it better now?

This is really the most lovely map of the shire i've seen so far max!
Looking forward to see how you depict the villages and do the labeling. The Frame is wonderful, what else than wheat, wine, apples and pipe weed does one need to live a good life? I have to say, i personally liked the more green version (at least for the plains) a bit better, because it was screaming "this is the most fertile land you can imagine!"

Thanks Abu Villages will be simple dots fir the sake of legibility (see updated WIP below) because the map is already detailed with labels).

So here's a WIP with the map labeled. After the title cartouche done and a very few minor tweakngs I guess it's close to be finished.

Shire5.jpg

[Redrobes]

Thats really cool Max. I like the font / typeface so much. Its not quite ragged enough to be hand written and not so neat as to be bookish. It looks like some extremely careful handwritten note done by some elf. I also love the forest shading where it has a shadow on one side. Often seen in hills and often seen per tree but not as a whole forest. It looks like a little model village. You can almost fall into it. Really nice work.

[J.Edward]

Looking good Max.
I see what you mean about the tight text not leaving room for icons.
In the top right, is Forlingon meant to be Forlindon?
Oh, and Harlingon - Harlindon to the south?
And by the Old Forest - Withywindle?

[- Max -]

Thats really cool Max. I like the font / typeface so much. Its not quite ragged enough to be hand written and not so neat as to be bookish. It looks like some extremely careful handwritten note done by some elf. I also love the forest shading where it has a shadow on one side. Often seen in hills and often seen per tree but not as a whole forest. It looks like a little model village. You can almost fall into it. Really nice work.

Thank you Redrobes !Yea I noticed that the main problem with the "carpet" style forests is that they often look too flat. Though it doesn't bother me that much on large maps with a smaller scale, I prefer adding some sort of "fake" shading - bascially using roughly the same light direction that on other elemetns of the map - to give them more depth.

Looking good Max.
I see what you mean about the tight text not leaving room for icons.
In the top right, is Forlingon meant to be Forlindon?
Oh, and Harlingon - Harlindon to the south?
And by the Old Forest - Withywindle?

Thanks for the sharp eye, J. I fixed the three mispellings

I'm done with the title/key so if you guys don't see anything else (or I don't spot something by myself), I think I'll call this one done