Various maps

[Skaald]

Here is the WIP right now. The massive Shiverpeaks in the center are done, so as the Strie Mountains at the East. Kingdom of Ascalon is done, except for the details of the Great Northern Wall (which is strangely at the very middle of the Kingdom but that's how it is in the game). Vegetation is missing for now, I'm trying to figure how to make tree and forests.

IMG_20210607_134509.jpg

Thanks for the tip about hills Tiana, the few I did are convincing I think. I still struggle to make sand dunes tho.

[Skaald]

Time for trees now!

Tribut to Impractical Cartographer must be done, because it's his style I'm trying to convoque here. I wasn't sure big layers of forest will do on this map so let's go for millions of individual trees. I think in those 20 first minutes I had lost 5 points on my sight.

Forest of pines
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Tempered forest
IMG_20210609_104949.jpg

Mixed one
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I still have to find a style for tropical forest because there is a huge one on the west of the map.

[Arimel]

While eye sight loss is bad, be prepared for the handcramp soon to follow! This is looking really good and is an ambitious style you are tackling!

[Impractical Cartographer]

For drawing small trees, I definitely recommend a lamp with a magnifying glass.

lupa1.jpg

[squeen]

I really like the look of the moutains on your map and started looking closely at the shadows. Do you use an ink wash to achieve that?

I tried to copy it and then wondered further...why are the shadows darker at the top? That's sort of an inverse effect vs. how one would shade a figure-drawing.

So I tried it the other way (darker lower) than that didn't work because then the shadow doesn't blend well into the white land. So, in a crazy little experiment, I gave the mountains cast-shadow "tails".

What do you think? (I mean, I know they look weird...)

tinymap01.jpg

[Skaald]

No ink for the shading, is just regular pencil (2B) with almost no pressure a te bottom and a lot of pressure at the top.

I honestly don't know why I shade my mountain this way but I have two or three explanations :

1° I do not draw very well : I can copy thinks and know if it work or not but I don't really perceive my mountains as 3D objetcs. It's just three lines with one blanck and the other with a shadow. Maybe a long time ago I tried to do a mountain this way, and I stick with it know !
2° I had the same problem as you to blend the mountains with white top / shaded base on the map. So I ended up shading it with my finger, it was messy and I thought : Hey, it's better when the dark is UP ! (not thninking about well logic, sun, hightness and so on)
3° I think that's how the mountains are drawed by Tolkien in the middle Earth maps. Or, that's how I percieved it when I first tried to impress that style.

I'll try to reverse the shadowing next projet I do !

As for your mountains, I think they're not bad at all but maybe you could add some texture on the ground, and make the shadow wider (because I think the angle of view of the mountains doesn't match the shadow one). hope I'm clear !

[Skaald]

For drawing small trees, I definitely recommend a lamp with a magnifying glass.

lupa1.jpg

That's a futur gift I subtly try to obtain from my wife. Subtly as "in an awkward and insisting way"

[squeen]

I think your "dark-up" shadowing definately looks great (which I why I tried to copy it!).

You did invoke Tolkien, which for me wins any argument, but here's one additional potential rationalization of the light. The moutain is darker near the top because it's STEEPER, and as it rolls off it "sees" more of the ambient sky-light and is lighter. It's more of surface-angle dome-light issue than a point light-source i.e. the sun.

Eh? Maybe?

Either way, your map is looking great. And you are right, I do struggle with the mountains-on-a-map-as-a-perspective vs. mountains-as-icons. The temptation for the simulationist in me is to draw the satellite-view style ranges, but I just don't like how that looks as much.

[squeen]

FWIW here's another variant with darkness based on steepness + some ink-hatching to add some texture.
Note: I am nowhere near as neat as you.

mountain-test2.jpg

Thanks for the inspiration!

[Skaald]

The south half of the Kingdom of Ascalon is done. I don't know yet if I ink the roads or not, I don't want to overcharge the map but I feel they add life.

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