WIP: Political maps on Zarmina

[jshoer]

Things are happening! Lots of labels finished and lots more linework in the retrograde-normal and prograde-antinormal regions.

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And here's a close-up of some of the more detailed areas.

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I don't plan on adding more labels. Not sure if I want to embellish the compass more. Right now I'm working on putting in forests and deciding how to indicate some sloped areas. I may also be putting in some little markers for grasslands. Then I will paint the whole thing.

I also haven't quite decided what's going on with the area to the PN direction. Is it unexplored? Does it have a whole other culture with its own language? That will affect how I label it (if I do).

[Ilanthar]

It's looking good, the linewors is very clean. The layout is very original.

[jshoer]

If I thought people were holding their breath waiting for an update, I would say something nonchalant here...

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It's been forever since I posted an update - amazing how normal life can get in the way of hobbies, isn't it?!

Some of the callout box borders were done with a terrible pen, and I'm going over them with another black that is much more consistent. I satisfied myself with linework and a few last little labels. Underlying terrain is done. Forests are done. I've indicated low growth with little scrubby plants. I made one mistake, I think - the P-most canyon in the N-R region really should have more perspective than a top-down view. Whoops! There's not really a good way to fix it now.

Now I am starting in on coloring the map - I'll be filling it in with watercolor pencils, and then painting over that. In the end, the pencil texture will be much less apparent, the colors will deepen or brighten depending on the pencil, and the coloring will appear more even in general. There will also be a bit of sloppiness to it if I accidentally blob over a line. (I like a little of that!) That discoloration around some of the water labels should also go away.

Because I bet the image above seems like a real tease, here's a detail on the N-R region:

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I'm thinking about the following things right now:

1. What to do with the N-P callout region. It's empty right now because I'm not sure whether I should leave it unlabeled (like unexplored wilderness), label it sparsely with one of my existing languages (as if somebody from níngtòhùs sailed over fíkùm pòst and put a few monikers on things), or invent a fourth language.
2. Whether the A-P callout region needs anything else in terms of linework. That area is mostly windswept plains and grassland. I've put my little scrub-symbols where the densest growth would be, but the rest seems empty right now. It may not seem so empty when I start coloring it in with light greens and golds.
3. Whether to indicate political boundaries. I am thinking of taking a red pen and placing dotted lines for that purpose, but probably not writing country names over it all. it's too crowded right now. What I might do instead is make sure the capital of each region gets its symbol upgraded from a circle to a square, and then that city gives its name to each city-state. Or, I might leave off those boundaries altogether.

Let me know what you think about anything!

[jshoer]

Hey all,

Following a long absence for my wedding (drew a map of the venue for the invitations!) I'm finally getting back to personal projects, including this map. I'm going to try and do a better job of keeping up with the forum, too.

I finally just bit the bullet and constructed a fourth language for the normal-prograde callout region. That's labeled now, and I'm well into coloring the map with watercolor pencils. While I'm being a bit more careful than usual with my shading, things will look different after I paint it (most relevantly, the colors should desaturate a bit). Here's a crummy photo:

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To do:

• Color (carefully) the NP callout region
• Color (roughly) the background
• Paint it
• Re-ink the callout boundaries
• Indicate political boundaries with a different color ink?

[Diamond]

I've been following this thread for a looooong time, and it has paid off. This is a really cool and unique work. I love the colors and the slow but steady progress you've made. Your attention to detail shows.

edit: I've been meaning to ask: what is that big arcing chasm thingy in the NR map?

[jshoer]

Thanks a lot! It makes me happy to see that others are interested in this project. Sometimes I think it's mostly me.

The big arcing chasm thingy is...a big arcing chasm thingy! (I presume you mean poka upnit.) This world is tidally locked to its star, in a close - dozens of hours long - orbit, but has a tiny orbital eccentricity. That has the effect of waving the sun back and forth in the sky. Tides result, not just ocean tides but tides in the solid rock. Over eons, the repeated stress can crack open the crust into something like a rift. "Tidal tectonic graben" are probably the best name for these features. Sev skem, togui a awaish, gaiju a shai, and part of vimna shti are other examples of this feature. Fausk afau don is a scarp with a similar origin. Ngad skem and poka ofham are also examples, but from a previous geologic epoch when the planet's rotation axis pointed in another direction. That's why their radii of curvature don't point in toward the compass (the substellar point).

My inspiration for this kind of tidal tectonic feature is Europa. Europa is locked into an orbital resonance, but has some eccentricity so that Jupiter waves around in its sky. Tidal stresses in the moon's ice crust eventually form cracks that follow the stress pattern - in an even weirder way than I put on this world. They make cycloid shapes; here's a picture from the University of Arizona:

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[jshoer]

Moving right along - I've finished with the callout regions and I'm getting color down on the background. You can see my vision for the whole piece taking shape now:

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My plan is to go light and blocky for the background colors, to really create a contrast between that and the zoom-in regions. I'm probably going to rely on the watercolor step to do a lot of the blending and fading in the background. It shouldn't look nearly as amateurish a few steps down the line!

[Chick]

This is turning out really nice!!

[jshoer]

Here's the pre-painting state of things - I think all the coloring is done, and next will be the brushwork. That should smooth out the textures quite a bit. I'm hoping to get a good blurry appearance on the background, and make the callout show more distinct and vibrant regions of color.

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Here it is directly next to its previous incarnation (which otherwise hangs on my living room wall):

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I was trying to color-match at least in the background; the foreground regions are supposed to be a bit different to show more details. I think I did an okay job. Once it's painted it may look closer in color to the former piece, but not quite. We'll see!

I am thinking I will paint the background first, then do the foreground callouts one by one. I will re-ink the callout borders to make sure they stand out, and then I will pencil in the compass. So, in the end, this map is going to have parts with pen, pencil, and painting; parts with pencil and painting, but no lines; and a part with pen and pencil but no painting.

(Edit: P.S. I promise pictures with better focus when I finish!)

[soggymuse]

This is seriously impressive. I can't wait to see the finished piece!