The semi-canonical maps of Middle Earth

[ChickPea]

Well, if we're pitching in ideas .... I think you want a hint of a fiery glow somewhere, just to give a nod to what else lurks in Moria.

[Eilathen]

Wow! I'm impressed with this thread (and the maps ^^) for various reasons. A very atmospheric work so far. Keep it up, J.Edward! I want to see more And some Rep. is in order...

[J.Edward]

Thanks tainotim. I was originally thinking of doing mithril but thought it might not stand out as well as gold.
I'm working on another Moria that hopefully will be more in keeping with Moria, and not cartoon Moria. think Mario...Moria
Diamond - I like the idea of axes/hammers, if I can find a good way to work that in.
ChickPea - was thinking of trying to get the feel of flames coming up from below. Maybe I should add some watcher in the water tentacles.
Thank you Eilathen. More is on the way.
I am also trying out some green on the forests in Rhovanion. It will change the look of the map somewhat from the cleaner simpler look of the Mordor map but it just seems like it might be needed since Wilderland has so many trees. I'll post some examples when I have some ready.

[J.Edward]

Okay. A bit of progress on the new Moria and an update on some green forests.
Interested in thoughts on whether I should continue with the green woods or go back to monochrome.
The water color, pale gold, might seem odd but I like it. Blues looked wrong. Blue greens were no better.
ME Rhovanion 01c [working].jpg
Now that I've started this new Moria title I just might have to do a Moria map to go with it.
No time really but it seems like it's calling for a map to accompany it.
ME Moria 01a[working].jpg

[Abu Lafia]

First of all, the Rhovanion map looks brilliant! The coloring is really nice, though for me it feels a bit like in the proverb: who says "a", also have to say "b" . Since the green seems pretty dominant, it screams for coloring the rest of it too... In the version before the tiny bit of mustard-yellow didnt felt too demanding in this way.

The new moria title is great (although i loved diamonds idea of "the flintstones in moria" a lot )! And a map of moria in this series would be fantastic.

[Diamond]

I agree with Abu about the dominance of the forests - maybe back it off a bit, wash it out?

and the new Moria title - yessssss.

[DanielHasenbos]

Great map this is turning into! Though I understand what Abu and Diamond are saying I personally like the dominance of the forests because green seems to be the only colour you're using.

[- Max -]

Okay. A bit of progress on the new Moria and an update on some green forests.
Interested in thoughts on whether I should continue with the green woods or go back to monochrome.ME Moria 01a[working].jpg

Both works good. I have a preference for the monochrome ones though, it's more unique than the green ones

[ChickPea]

Moria title is amazing!! I love it and I hope you do create a map because I'd love to see that.

I can't quite decide on the Rhovanion forests. The green looks really good but the paler tones of the series overall gives them quite a unique feel and I don't know if this forest quite matches now. I think I'd like to see a less vivid green version to see what it looks like. The colour of the Sea of Rhun works well, and I think I'd like to see a green around the same saturation level as that. But, whatever you decide, these maps are utterly amazing!

[J.Edward]

Thanks everyone. I was on the fence about the green but I think going back to the monochrome is what I'll do.
Maybe I'll save the color for the whole ME map, or for an additional map.
I do like the green but it does sort of break the mono theme I was originally going for.
I did try some paler greens and some desaturated greens and they just kind of looked washed out.