Valley Map (First Regional) WIP

[saria]

Ahhh. I am so bad at this. Can you guys critique this for me so I can get better? I've been following all the tutorials and this just doesn't look right to me but I can't pick out what exactly is wrong. It's like my lines look too "catoonish" or something! Maybe I'm squiggling them a bit too much.

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can give me

Arden Regional.png

[Chick]

Hi Saria, that's a fair start. I'd say you have some pressure sensitivity going wrong, and maybe you could simply use more practice with your pen to make the lines connect better. The mountains have a bit too much regularity and parallel lines for my taste, but that is a matter of preference.

[Robert Boucher]

Chick is right, you don't have that thingy that makes your lines go thinner with less pressure. (I'm so noob... Its mind blowing.)

When you have the pressure sensitivity you can harden the outlines and trail off to softer lines. Makes a huge difference, look at my post you will see the difference I had going from the same style mountains (Yours are much better then mine when I started. /sigh) to the style I have now.

Do you use a tablet or mouse? If so what kind? Just curious.

[Warlin]

I think you can do better by using a wider line for the main ridge and a Thiner for the secondary. Like Chick i find that there is to much parallel lines : erase some of them or make them less uniform. On the top some main ridge are too long, in the left of your map, it' s much better. Keep at it and practice.

[saria]

I'm using a huion 610 Pro. I'll see if I can work out what's going wrong with the sensitivity - I really have been having difficulty getting settings in Gimp, or Photoshop to work in a way that makes nice lines, but I'll keep trying.

[Robert Boucher]

Also all your lines connect, to give some depth you need to have some lines that trail off. Some of the pros here even use little dotting that I am still trying to master.

And a trick I learned to make the ranges better is not to work with a solid straight line. I start with a bunch of upside down v's then slowly connect them with the slopes, fading them as they get closer to the original collection of v's.

As you can see here, the darker 'peaks' are only the original upside down 'V's that I put down to guide my direction. By not connecting them with a solid line and allowing only the faintest of brush strokes create the 'back ground lumps' it gives the effect its faded in the distance behind your harder original V's..

I'm sorry if I'm not explaining it right, I only started a few days ago so if someone else gives a better method, I would listen to them. lol But here is an example bellow. You can see the hard 'V's are the mountain tops that stand out, then I simply continued with little soft v's behind them.

mapadvice17.jpg

[saria]

I think you can do better by using a wider line for the main ridge and a Thiner for the secondary. Like Chick i find that there is to much parallel lines : erase some of them or make them less uniform. On the top some main ridge are too long, in the left of your map, it' s much better. Keep at it and practice.

Thank you Warlin, I definitely will keep trying!

Also one quick note, I figured the long ride lines up top could be a nice way to move into the "valley", but that's probably wrong then. I'll see if I can work something else out to make it a smoother transition.

[Robert Boucher]

I'm using a huion 610 Pro. I'll see if I can work out what's going wrong with the sensitivity - I really have been having difficulty getting settings in Gimp, or Photoshop to work in a way that makes nice lines, but I'll keep trying.

I set my brush size to go from 3 pixels at hardest pressure, 1 pixel at softest... if that helps...

[saria]

Also all your lines connect, to give some depth you need to have some lines that trail off. Some of the pros here even use little dotting that I am still trying to master.

And a trick I learned to make the ranges better is not to work with a solid straight line. I start with a bunch of upside down v's then slowly connect them with the slopes, fading them as they get closer to the original collection of v's.

As you can see here, the darker 'peaks' are only the original upside down 'V's that I put down to guide my direction. By not connecting them with a solid line and allowing only the faintest of brush strokes create the 'back ground lumps' it gives the effect its faded in the distance behind your harder original V's..

I'm sorry if I'm not explaining it right, I only started a few days ago so if someone else gives a better method, I would listen to them. lol But here is an example bellow. You can see the hard 'V's are the mountain tops that stand out, then I simply continued with little soft v's behind them.

This is a great example, thanks so much. I will give something like this a shot. So much to learn, it's a bit overwhelming!

[Warlin]

Also one quick note, I figured the long ride lines up top could be a nice way to move into the "valley", but that's probably wrong then. I'll see if I can work something else out to make it a smoother transition.

I understand what you want to do. And i think that what Robert said can help you progress in the good direction. Multiply the V for the main ridge when the line went too long.