Completed Isle of the Unknown Explorer

[Tonnichiwa]

Hello everyone,

Well, today I have been making a map with a sketching program called Artrage Studio.

Now I'm sure that by now everyone knows that:

1) I use Campaign Cartographer software to draw my maps, and..

2) I am a terrible artist if I am not using Campaign Cartographer..and...

3) I have been wanting to improve my drawing skills.

So, I've been practicing my drawing quite a bit. I started trying to draw straight lines. Then went to circles, triangles, squares, rectangles, ovals, and basically geometric shapes in their simplest form. So after spending a few weeks doing this, today I wanted to try to draw a map and see how my skills have improved.

I have to say, while my new map is nowhere near a professional level of a map at all, I am still pleased with how far I have come. I did not look at any pictures or references of any kind while drawing this map. I just drew from memory. No brushes were used of any kind and I did not have the pencil set to smooth out the lines. It is all drawn by hand using the Artrage Studio on my Wacom tablet.

I'm still having a bit of trouble with trying to do text because I have never really had great handwriting to begin with so the only thing I labelled were the towns.

So the first image is to show how bad of a drawer I used to be, and the second one is my completed map. I have named it the Isle of the Unknown Explorer. Anyway, yay progress

[Josiah VE]

Certainly a lot of improvement! I first maps started like this.. Improvement happens quickly, Keep it up!

I think drawing them from scratch is a lot more satisfying than using someone else's content.

[ChickPea]

This is really charming, and a HUGE improvement on the first sketch!

I agree with Josiah that it simply feels better to create your own stuff from scratch, even if the results aren't quite what you'd like at the beginning. Stick with it and you'll be turning out masterpieces before you know it.

[Tonnichiwa]

Thank you Josiah VE and ChickPea for the encouragement. I will definitely keep at it. I've been interested in drawing for years but it wasn't until recently that I've actually started doing something about it. Now I'm watching video's online to learn how to draw and I practice every single day. Even when I come home from work I make it a practice to sit down and draw, wether that is simply geometric forms or human eyes, or objects like swords and shields or whatever. I'm not always pleased with the results but as long as I keep at it I know I will improve.

[Josiah VE]

Now I'm watching video's online to learn how to draw and I practice every single day. Even when I come home from work I make it a practice to sit down and draw, wether that is simply geometric forms or human eyes, or objects like swords and shields or whatever.

Maybe I should do that! I would love to be able to draw fantasy things but never really done anything but maps..

[Tonnichiwa]

LOL...uh huh...your compass rose in the lite challenge forum says otherwise

[Josiah VE]

Okay, I'm really bad at drawing from scratch. I can never get dimensions right if I start with no guides, I traced the outline of the elements of the compass from pictures. I'm not bad if I have something to draw off of or trace.

[Tonnichiwa]

Ah, I see. Well if I were you I would do it then. practicing every day is really the only way to get better. It is how I got good with Campaign Cartographer and also how I improved my own drawing skills. The example above is only after two weeks of practice. Even after doing that newer map I see where I could improve and do a better one.

I have an interesting theory that I have thought about for years. And it's funny because there are a few artists on youtube that have had the same question. It goes like this:

Personally, I think everyone can draw and draw well. The reason I believe this is because when we sleep, we dream. And as we dream our brain draws pictures of everything we dream about. And it does so in perfect order. From the park bench the man in the park is sitting on, to the cab driving by, to the kids playing with a frizbee. Our brain draws it all.

So....how come we can't draw?

We can. It is simply a matter of training our hand to imitate what our mind sees. But you can't do that without practice. Just like when we learned to walk, talk, eat with utensils, sing, dance, jump, whatever. We always have to train.

So what is the best way to do that? practice every day. Just like you had to for all of those other things.

Anyway, that is the way I see it.

[Josiah VE]

That is interesting..

I do wish I had more time. There are so many hobbies I would love to do, but not enough hours in a day unfortunately.. but I would like to try drawing more.

[Tonnichiwa]

Me too. I've been doing Martial Arts for 36 years now, and I've been painting miniature soldiers for the games of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 for 21 years. And I've been building and painting miniature buildings for my wargames for about that long too. I've also built trees, hills, ponds, rivers, streets, etc, and at one point I actually had a job as a miniatures caster for a game company. But I only started doing Campaign Cartographer since January 25th of 2014. And now, my interests have gone to actual line drawing and making my own art. I see tons of cool art in the world, but I always feel like none of the art I see is quite like what I want art to look like, so...the only way to get it like I want is to learn how to do it myself.

And I've learned that the only way to get good at any of it is to train, train, train. The amount of time you train matters somewhat, because the more you train the better you become, but guess what happens if you don't train at all?

So I would set aside some time for yourself, even if it is only ten minutes a day, and start training. For art, the books I've been reading say to start by just trying to draw a straight line. Then try drawing that same straight line going a different direction. Eventually, try drawing a straight line going any direction on the compass. They say the trick when drawing is to not use the wrist, but to learn to swing your arm from the shoulder instead. When we all learn to write, we learn to do it with the wrist. And for great art, they say we need to unlearn that.