Voolf's miscellaneous art

[ThomasR]

You achieve a very good relief shading with only linear, that's pretty impressive !

[Chashio]

Nice style, Voolf

[Ilanthar]

Impressive indeed! You're very few to be able to do that kind of map with just line art.

[Voolf]

Thank you everyone

Here is a crop of colour, i was excited at the beginning with it, but the more i look at it i like it less and less

mountains small scale v1.8.jpg

[Greg]

Haha well everyone does that with their own work!

Looks absolutely stunning to me Voolf. I was really wondering how you were going to approach colouring this, especially with the mountains and what you've done looks beautiful. Looking forwards to seeing more!

[Azélor]

but the more i look at it i like it less and less

but I find it pretty good. It's much clearer with colours added.

[ThomasR]

Impressive setting ! If I had comments to make, I'd change the color of the coastline. Black is a bit strong and it's the only feature that clashes with the rest to my eye. I'd also change the brown (reddish) of the mountains for something more dull.

[Lilian Oake]

I love seeing everyone share their projects on here! I don't know one thing about designing maps, but I wonder how much knowledge of geology and the like has to go in to this kind of thing. I mean, you guys who do this a lot, are there a lot of rules you have to follow to make a proper map? I only ask because I know someone who is being hired to make maps, but I don't know that she's been doing it long enough to learn these kinds of rules.
I'm a writer, and I have been for over 10 years, so I know the rules in my craft. Cartography has a lot of these rules, doesn't it?

And by the way, I highly respect you all and your skills here!

[Voolf]

Haha well everyone does that with their own work!

Looks absolutely stunning to me Voolf. I was really wondering how you were going to approach colouring this, especially with the mountains and what you've done looks beautiful. Looking forwards to seeing more!

Thank you Greg.

but I find it pretty good. It's much clearer with colours added.

Yes it is clearer isn't it. Lines for mountains were more of a indications of deepest shadow With colour they are easier to spot.

Impressive setting ! If I had comments to make, I'd change the color of the coastline. Black is a bit strong and it's the only feature that clashes with the rest to my eye. I'd also change the brown (reddish) of the mountains for something more dull.

Good catch Thomas !. I have lowered the opacity of the coastlines before to check it and in the final image i will lower it or even disable it completaly. The same goes for mountains. As for the mountains colour, i am really struggling here. I have been jumping from one colour to the other (including grey) i just can't find the right tone.

I love seeing everyone share their projects on here! I don't know one thing about designing maps, but I wonder how much knowledge of geology and the like has to go in to this kind of thing. I mean, you guys who do this a lot, are there a lot of rules you have to follow to make a proper map? I only ask because I know someone who is being hired to make maps, but I don't know that she's been doing it long enough to learn these kinds of rules.
I'm a writer, and I have been for over 10 years, so I know the rules in my craft. Cartography has a lot of these rules, doesn't it?

And by the way, I highly respect you all and your skills here!

Hey Lilian, welcome to the Guild.

You are right, there are a lot of rules that comes with the map creation, but you don't need to follow all of them. It all depends on on what kind of world you are creating and how close it is to the real one. People that want something really extra plausible, starts with tectonic plates which will define lands, oceans and mountains, then biomes, to determine what kind of climates will be on defferent parts of land. That gives better orientation where to put deserts, where savanna, where forests (and kind of trees) and so on and on. You also have to understand how rivers work. After an actual map is done, there is also set of rules for labeling

That beeing said, a good mapper doesn't really have to follow all of them in my opinion. You just need a general knowledge from all those subjects to create a possbile looking piece of land for the eye. Especially when we are talking high fantasy setting map. A lot of rules can be bend because is it fantasy world after all. Still we have to keep our imagination on a leash and don't go too crazy. After all we used to judge by comparing with something that we get used to see every day. Creating a vast desert with a rich green forest inside will definately not be recieved well by so called "map critics"

Anyway, there are people here that know much more than me about those rules, i advice to ask in Help section if you need more specific info.

And lastly... thank you !

[Voolf]

I have been super busy past two weeks and still will be for a while. I am missing so much good stuff here. I only check forum briefly while at work and don't have time to write a proper post.

So to make this quick, i am trying my skills in a illustration (i guess it is more of an illustration than a map). It is extremely hard but i have fun with this so far. It is a sketch with dirty linework. Trying to flush out the idea of what this supposed to be before commiting.

illu_sketch.jpg