My first attempt in GIMP

[Mouse]

As for me - I just get a bit over-exited when someone is coming along as fast as you are, and tend to forget that things are really difficult to start with

Sorry for any overload - and/or misdirection! (down to my not really understanding raster software that isn't Photopaint - LOL!)

Take regular breaks as and when you need. Mapmaking is fun, and should never be a chore

[Straf]

I really didn't meant to fllood you with too much stuff that is a bit hard to digest at once, and make you hate mountains even more, as i read on the other thread. I know it can be quite counterproductive in such a working stage, sorry! I actually wanted to give you some more practical hints focussed on the shading and linework you've done so far, but i'm unsure if it is even needed.
I admire your dedication working on all that with a mouse. I worked only for some months with a mouse in gimp and felt i was getting more and more comfortable with it. Now, after working for over a year with a tablet, i tried out drawing some mountains with the mouse again and have to say it's really challenging! Once again i feel deep respect for all the people doing such magnificent work with it...

Oh please don't get me wrong, I appreciate the helpful hints I am picking up, and it is useful to go over a bit at a time. Things 'look right' or 'don't look right' to me and sometimes I don't know why. That info sheet is pretty good at pointing out some of the things that don't look right. I'm also very new to GIMP and that type of package, I've 'had a go' in the past but soon gave up because I didn't know what was what. I still don't really but I'm learning some techniques and experimenting a bit.

I have to work at quite a high zoom level with the mouse otherwise my lines end up all over the place - either unnaturally straight or so far off course they threaten to burst out of the side of my monitor!

[Straf]

As for me - I just get a bit over-exited when someone is coming along as fast as you are, and tend to forget that things are really difficult to start with

Sorry for any overload - and/or misdirection! (down to my not really understanding raster software that isn't Photopaint - LOL!)

Take regular breaks as and when you need. Mapmaking is fun, and should never be a chore

It is a lot of fun. On this forum I get to do a bit, you know just dive in and have a go, then someone suggests how I might try something a different way, and I go off and try. Then something else gets suggested so I try that, and so on. Then someone comes along and posts a whole lot of helpful information specific to the feature I am working on and I get to study a bit. If there's one thing I love more than anything is learning something new. Everything is like an onion, you know it's an onion because you can see it's an onion but can you describe the layers beneath the skin without peeling them back? If each mapping feature is an onion and each layer is more detailed than the previous then I have quite a lot to learn - no exams, no time limits, just learning at my own rate in my own time. Perfect

[kacey]

Well I'm around halfway through first pass of shading at the top of the map but I think I'll take a bit of a break. Everytime I close my eyes I see line drawn mountains waiting to be shaded! Is this normal? Do you start seeing different mapping elements in other things?

For example I have a potted basil plant on the windowsill and during a very brief appearance by the sun I saw the pattern of the leaves and the veins in the leaves. The way some of the leaves curved suggested to me it wouldn't be an altogether bad template for streams draining into a main river as it cuts its way towards the sea.

I don't know if this is normal, I assume not, but I've definitely had a similar experience after spending an embarrassing amount of time starring at tiny mountains... It's usually around the same time that I realize I need to step away for a day or two. Drawing mountains can take a very, very long time to complete.

[johnvanvliet]

this is a small project ( relative to a lot of mine)

but breaks are good i take a few on 24 gig image data set or even 5 gig maps
maps that can be 128 to 365 pixels per degree

[Straf]

I've done the first pass of shading the mountains. It took a long time. A long long time. I'm hoping when it comes to adding finer detail and tidying up that it's not going to take as long.

I still have to site watery bits and leafy bits yet!

new kassandria.jpg

[Mouse]

That's coming along nicely, Straf

I think I prefer the mountains with highlight on them as well, but I expect you want a break from all that intensive mouse-work by now. Plus I find that highlighting can easily be overdone if you are not careful. Just a few lines of it here and there to accentuate the very sharpest and highest of peaks perhaps, one day?

Are you going to give the rivers and forests a go next?

[Straf]

Thanks

I'm going to have a think about where the elevations are going to be, and how the land is going to drain. Then think about what sort of trees are going to inhabit what sort of land. I'm thinking of having a large aquifer in the eastern part, so it's likely to be a bit marshy. There may even be a few fluctuating lakes as the water table rises and drops. I may have to put some more ranges in, some higher ground in the middle but not mountainous as such, so I'll be studying ways to get that effect. I want to make a sort of separation with wetter and dryer areas, possibly a line going NW-SW somewhere and with the weather mostly coming in from one side.

[Straf]

Right I've added some wet bits to the map. They're a bit preliminary and there may be some shifting around. Also there's some tidying up to be done, but I did use John's excellent terrain thingy he did a couple of pages back to try to get an idea where to put everything. Thanks John

new kassandria.jpg

[Mouse]

Wow! What a difference a drainage system can make

You've nearly filled this map right up already.

I have a hunch that you may be heading in the direction of making 2-3 regional maps just to get all the rest of the detail in.