Pelmora, Islands of Delusion [commission]

[Voolf]

You definately make too many maps in short time, i can not rep you either !. That is just out outrageous

Beautiful piece.

[Warlin]

Incredible the amount of map you can draw in a limited time ! You may be exhausted . This style is really beautifull.
Cheers !
Warlin.

[arsheesh]

Nice work as always J! Hey out of curiosity how are you finding Manga Studio? I know that it's a tremendously popular choice of software for comic book artists but I'm curious how you are finding it for digital cartography?

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[J.Edward]

LOL...not quite that old John...haha...I meant their color work. Still I would much rather have your stuff for those kind of games than what they produced in the past for a lot of things, even some of it as recent as 2016.

I wonder whether it would be fun to work for Wizards or Paizo? or if it would feel more like work?

Have to spread some reps, so will come back, but another inspiring piece, really enjoy this style of yours, puts me at peace

Thanks snodsy. no worries.

Awesome work J. !

Thank you Max

Whhhaaat? You were also doing this in addition to your guild city map ??!! OK, I definitely surrender!
Fantastic map again, John. The more I look at your maps, the more I admire all the little things you add between the main elements and makes the map so alive (not to mention the beautiful title & compass).

Haha, well, you probably don't want to hear about all the other things I was doing at the same time as well
Thank you. I end up thinking the same thing about all the things I see others adding to their maps.
I sometimes feel like i haven't done quite enough.

Beautiful work! That compass alone is rep-worthy, but unfortunately I must join the ranks of those who need to spread the rep.

Thank you ChickPea no worries

I concur with Ilanthar, you are a machine !

Hehe... I like machines so that is a compliment for sure.
I have a robot head as an avatar for one website.

As i love this style so much, it is no wonder that i think it is awesome! As always, well done!

And what i really like is that your client and you decided to show us the map in a resolution that lets us see details.
So thanks for that! Sadly, this has become the exception rather than the norm lately.

Thanks Eilathen I'm sure it is not the last time you'll see a map in this style.
Yeah, there are clients that can be a bit prickly about what you can show, when and at what size.
I try to maintain as much control as I can.

[J.Edward]

Has a very nice, smooth watercolor-y style.

Thank you Wired

Wow.

Thanks Jshoer

You definitely make too many maps in short time, i can not rep you either !. That is just out outrageous

Beautiful piece.

Thanks Voolf No worries.

Incredible the amount of map you can draw in a limited time ! You may be exhausted . This style is really beautifull.
Cheers !
Warlin.

Thank you Warlin
I am usually drawing maps almost everyday

Nice work as always J! Hey out of curiosity how are you finding Manga Studio? I know that it's a tremendously popular choice of software for comic book artists but I'm curious how you are finding it for digital cartography?

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

Thanks Arsheesh
Well, for drawing and layout work, Manga Studio is really awesome.
Hands down a better experience than PS.
I haven't yet done a full color piece in Manga Studio but I am planning to try one soon.

I just watched a vid showing how to bring PS brushes into Manga so that would help a lot I think.
Still, PS may end up better for paint maybe. It will still be better for doing text and labeling, for sure.
But.. if I could do all of the other work in Manga and text was all that was left... I might use Inkscape, who knows.

It's not just about cost either.
I have had countless compatibility issues between MS-Adobe-Wacom and I have none of those issues in non Adobe programs..
so I have to assume it is Adobe. I'm not a fan.

It would be even better if I could also ditch MS while I'm at it.... but that is a lot less likely.

[arsheesh]

Good to know, thanks for the information. I'm still working with Krita at the moment. There's quite a bit to like about the program, and it's far superior to PS when it comes to drawing and painting. But I'm still experiencing a bit of lag time when working in larger documents.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[Straf]

A stunningly outstanding piece of work, I can see why your elves feel justified in asking for a raise

I do feel there's a lack of resolution though - my OCD department feels a bit lopsided because there's no Bettererland to balance the Worserland Actually the whole place looks like travel insurance premiums may be somewhat elevated what with Wyrm Deserts, Pestplains, Dragon's Leap and Orsbang, where your 'orse explodes

Seriously though, the thing that strikes me about this is the simplicity of the palette. It has been applied to great effect and the use of saturation to emphasise and give the impression of depth adds stunning detail. Did you adjust the saturation levels afterward or did you choose the colours beforehand?

[J.Edward]

Good to know, thanks for the information. I'm still working with Krita at the moment. There's quite a bit to like about the program, and it's far superior to PS when it comes to drawing and painting. But I'm still experiencing a bit of lag time when working in larger documents.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

Krita is a very good program. My issues with it were more related to my workflow.

A stunningly outstanding piece of work, I can see why your elves feel justified in asking for a raise

I do feel there's a lack of resolution though - my OCD department feels a bit lopsided because there's no Bettererland to balance the Worserland Actually the whole place looks like travel insurance premiums may be somewhat elevated what with Wyrm Deserts, Pestplains, Dragon's Leap and Orsbang, where your 'orse explodes

Seriously though, the thing that strikes me about this is the simplicity of the palette. It has been applied to great effect and the use of saturation to emphasise and give the impression of depth adds stunning detail. Did you adjust the saturation levels afterward or did you choose the colours beforehand?

I suppose it really depends on what 'orse is... short for horse.. or accented for arse..... because the exploding part could make a HUGE difference.
Though, I suspect one could lead to the other if one is sitting on the other....

The color palette is surprisingly simple. 6 colors on top of the parchment base color.
Mostly multiply layers and then a soft light or overlay layer for highlights.
Color palette.jpg
I ran a few color tests and then used those colors. I initially had just 5 colors, then added a second pale green.
But that's pretty much it. It's subtle but can be powerful, maybe.

[Voolf]

It is amaizing how you achive this with such a simple palette.
To me it appears to be just one layer where you draw low opacity colour, making colour deeper (stronger) where shadows are and pale where highlghts are.

[Mouse]

And I am practically stunned by it. I tend to use colours that are about a thousand times darker and stronger, and many more of them.

I find it staggering that you can get away with producing a work of such excellence with such a teeny tiny palette...

[Mouse makes note to try a map with only 6 extremely pale colours in it]