February 2019 Challenge: The Fortified Kingdom of...

[MapMappingMapped]

Traditional or not, it's very promising, and I know you'll pull it off with that lovely Kacey style of yours!
And I'm glad you brought the dip pens - you shouldn't be disappointed. ;D

[kacey]

Thanks MMM, I’ll definitely need to do some practice with them, but I’ll have you know my son is so enamoured with them that he made his first map yesterday.

[Naima]

This is just a very rough sketch for mountain placement so I'm hoping to get the go ahead from JO before I go over them with nicer lines. I also wonder...and this is a question for JO, would it be ok to change the coast line slightly? I'm finding a few areas to be sort of awkward and I just wanted to make sure it was ok with you, since it is you're commission after all.

### Latest WIP ###
Attachment 113700

Also...I'm thinking about switching back to digital for this because I've been spending a lot of my time doing colour tests which just aren't turning out. One of the main issues I'm having is with masking fluid, I absolutely need it for getting water around tiny islands, and on this sh*t paper that I have right now it's just tearing it up something awfull and I just don't have time to order better stuff right now.

This is just one of the many colour tests I've done recently, you can see that the paper and ink have been badly damaged by masking fluid in a few areas, and that I'm just really terrible at getting the colors right... To mee it just looks dirty.

I just did this really quickly for testing colour so please don't judge too harshly on my drawing skills on this one, it was completed in 2 hours, which I think is a record for me.

Attachment 113701

I instead think looks great, at first I thought it was a digital print rather than a handmade one, as for the little islands why not paint first the surrounding sea and add ink silouettes later accordingly ?
I really like the parchment look and feel of the watercolors.

[MapMappingMapped]

That's nice to know Let's hope he'll end up as talented as you!

[Domino44]

Thanks MMM, I’ll definitely need to do some practice with them, but I’ll have you know my son is so enamoured with them that he made his first map yesterday.

Please post that! I would love to see it!

This is looking very promising that dragon looks beautiful! I'm excited to see more!

[Ilanthar]

This color test is great !!
And clearly, the frame & surrounding elements are going to be great as well.

[Diamond]

I actually don't have a problem with the dragon's anatomy. 1) It's an imaginary creature, and 2) there may be logical reasons to have that extended breastbone - counterbalance of some kind? Extra protection for the fire bladder or whatever?

But regardless, this is looking great, kacey. Keep it up!

[kacey]

I instead think looks great, at first I thought it was a digital print rather than a handmade one, as for the little islands why not paint first the surrounding sea and add ink silouettes later accordingly ?
I really like the parchment look and feel of the watercolors.

Thanks Naima, the islands are tricky because with watercolour I have to keep the edges wet. If it dries as I paint I get a hard line so the whole sea has to be painted at once, and I'm just not fast enough to get around the islands without the other parts drying and causing ugly lines throughout the sea. If I mask the land I can paint all the water in one go eliminating the risk of hard lines. It's probably more a matter of inexperience, I'm still new to this medium so I'm just not fast enough yet to keep the edge wet while I get around the little islands.

Please post that! I would love to see it!

This is looking very promising that dragon looks beautiful! I'm excited to see more!

Thanks Domino, Maybe in a few years when he's old enough to decide weather he wants to share his work on line you may see him here.

This color test is great !!
And clearly, the frame & surrounding elements are going to be great as well.

Thanks Ilanthar!

I actually don't have a problem with the dragon's anatomy. 1) It's an imaginary creature, and 2) there may be logical reasons to have that extended breastbone - counterbalance of some kind? Extra protection for the fire bladder or whatever?

But regardless, this is looking great, kacey. Keep it up!

Thanks Diamond, but there is no logical reason involved, I really just sketched over the gryphon that was there before which had a shield on it's chest so the dragons breast bone ended up being extended because I didn't account for it when I traced over the basic shape. It's basically the same creature as before, I just changed the face a bit, added some spikes and scales and put some claws on the feet... I'm glad you like it though and you've given me some reasons to not have to go back and redo it, so thanks for that.

[kacey]

And just to let you guys know, I absolutely will not be able to finish this before the dead line. Since my last update I have accomplished absolutely nothing on this piece because I just haven't had a good chunk of time to sit down and do it, and this week is looking even more busy then the last. I feel really bad though and apologize to Jo because I made a promise that I just can't keep. I will do my best though to get it done, it just won't be before the end of the challenge.

[kacey]

I'd forgotten how much I love just sitting down and drawing hundreds of tiny mountains on my computer so it was really nice to get these ones done today. Everything is still in a very rough state but I feel like I've made some headway today and it might actually be starting to look like a map now.

### Latest WIP ###
Base.jpg

I still plan on transferring this over, but at least now I have a digital copy to fall back on in case I run out of time or screw up my paper.