39 - Engineering & Power District [Snodsy]

[ThomasR]

Your district feels so alive ! It was promising before the shadows but they brought it to life !

[Mouse]

Great - its fantastic

I'm still trying to work out that hill shading so I can copy it!

Just one question - who is that telescope in the Non-Traditional Research lab/observatory pointed at?

[snodsy]

This looks great Snodsy, I think you're one of my favorite city mappers, you're lines always look nice, and clean, and I love the way you do you're shadows especially on the cliffs, it's something I've admired on you're other maps as well. I wonder if you could shed some light on how you do the shadows I really struggle with mine, what blend mode, and colours do you use to get that effect? Whenever I try everything under the shadows gets sort of muddy looking, is there a trick to this?

Something I'm not sure if I'm doing right with shadows - is overlapping types of shadow to create deeper shadows by having two shadow layers.


I have a BUILDING SHADOW LAYER and a GROUND SHADOW LAYER, these live at the TOP most layer. (sometime below the line art layer(s), sometime above)


THE GROUND SHADOW LAYER - cliffs, trees, natural elements.
Applied with large soft brush (28px) at 10% transparency and just slowly build it up, MODE is NORMAL.

THE BUILDING SHADOW LAYER
is applied with the STRAIGHT LINE LASSO TOOL and PAINT FILLED at 100% or brushed in with a hard 13px round brush at 100% - the layer is then adjusted for desired opacity (roughly 20% to match ground shadow)

Your district feels so alive ! It was promising before the shadows but they brought it to life !

Thanks I find shadowing very rewarding

Great - its fantastic
I'm still trying to work out that hill shading so I can copy it!
I just visualize the sun hitting the hill and get really into it, beer helps too.


Just one question - who is that telescope in the Non-Traditional Research lab/observatory pointed at?

Who? or What? One of the field at the Engineering College is Astronomy - so those graduates who now work there probably use it---not sure what?

This will be done soon enough, and it looks great. But oy, it is making me feel way behind with people starting to finish up. Guess I better stop taking a break and get back on it.

I think I'm a little ahead of the curve, not too many done, hope you find it inspirational

[kacey]

Thanks for the tips Snodsy I'll have to try that out, what colour do you use? Is it just black, or something else?

[snodsy]

Yes just black, sometime a dark grey with a little yellow. Hope it helps.

[Pixie]

Something I'm not sure if I'm doing right with shadows - is overlapping types of shadow to create deeper shadows by having two shadow layers.

I'm also struggling with that decision. I thought about multiple shadow layers but didn't get round to it yet. So far, only one layer, no overlap, but I need to have a good look at your end result to see how different it will look.

Overall, you've done a brilliant job and it's a joy to be your neighbour (although I will probably end up with a much worst piece, which will look terrible next to your section...)

[- JO -]

I really like the way the drawing style reflects the style of the district : very technical, very detailed, very precise and mechanical. And it shows also in the "decor" of the map : your clock is wonderful, with so many details, and in the "blueprint" of the factory ! Realy a great job, that comes with an ambiance and a history. Thanks a lot for your part of the city : it's a real plus !

[Southern Crane]

I really like the way the drawing style reflects the style of the district : very technical, very detailed, very precise and mechanical. And it shows also in the "decor" of the map : your clock is wonderful, with so many details, and in the "blueprint" of the factory ! Realy a great job, that comes with an ambiance and a history. Thanks a lot for your part of the city : it's a real plus !

Agreed. I was trying to think of how to explain what I liked here since its more than just details, and I think you got it spot on. The style reflects the theme so it just has a really cool cohesiveness.

[snodsy]

Thanks for the compliments gang, and Jo that was a really nice comment, I appreciate it. This has been a fun one to do and I've learned a lot on this, especially using the ROTATE CANVAS tool in photoshop, which has finally allowed me to draw a little cleaner.

[Mouse]

I hope you are going to put it up in Finished Maps - so we can hyperlink from the zoomy map to the FM thread (as has already been done with Atlas Ward), and people get to really appreciate all the intricate details

EDIT: Are you up for another section? I was allowed to do a second one when I finished, so I don't see why the offer shouldn't be open for all the Guild City mappers