How I made the Noss World Map (a convoluted mess!)

[joabaldwin]

Not as much a tutorial as it is a record, but I thought some of you might enjoy seeing the process for this map.

map tutorial.jpg

I posted the full step-by-step here:
joaquinbaldwin.com/blog/creating-the-noss-saga-fantasy-map

[Turambar]

Not as much a tutorial as it is a record, but I thought some of you might enjoy seeing the process for this map.

map tutorial.jpg

I posted the full step-by-step here:
joaquinbaldwin.com/blog/creating-the-noss-saga-fantasy-map

Nice, I enjoyed reading the blog post. It reminds me of the evolution of my own world's map which I have now put aside for over a year while I focus on improving my skills. I think I am at the point I feel like I can go back to it, but this is a good reminder that I shouldn't wait until I skill up to make it perfect but rather that it will likely continue to change many times over as I continue to improve my artistic skills and add to the world.

[joabaldwin]

I would do things so differently if I could start the map over today. But it is what it is now, at least I can keep the style consistent with the other maps as I go along. And I've learned so much by (mostly) lurking around here and seeing all the wonderful art, there's so much I need to learn. Perhaps I'll redo this one with a completely different style someday (I do have plans for sequels in this world, millennia in the future, so that'd give an excuse to redo it all in a new style).

[- JO -]

It's very interesting to see all the stages, and especially the "changes of direction", the style choices and the different outcomes of your map, the restarts and the additions of elements. It's both inspiring and "reassuring" about the processes I'm concerned about for my own worlds. Thanks for sharing!

[KMAlexander]

This is a great little trip through the process.

You realizing the mountain size was off, and deciding to scale down to make the final product look more like a continental-scaled map vs. a region-scaled map is a lesson many people don't always recognize. The end result is lovely.

Thanks for sharing.