Pherona
This was the first map of this style I made (and the only one so far) and my 2rd attemt at a wholly digitally made map. The idea I had was to first create a relatively random land mass with the clouds & difference functions in photoshop. This created what looked like a set of islands, which inspired the idea of a pirate-ruled sea. The land though rich is hard to acces due to cliffs and rocks.
The entire map was created in a style I'd never worked in before. I had a black line around the land mass at first, but I believe it looks better without. The land and forests were created with rough brushes in different shades. The mountains have the same base layer, but with black mountain bushes on top to create a little more contrast. The rocks and hills were made with the emboss function. I added the towns last. The main towns are at the sea shore, because of the central role the sea plays in the land. The other inland towns are smaller and are providers for things like wood, metals and cereals.
All things considered, I'm pleased with the result. This was mostly an experiment, and I think I got a pretty good idea what to do different next time. (leave space open for the compass rose is one...). Any tips would of course be appreciated.
I think it looks good. Nice colours and layout. The only thing I would change would be to put a bit more time in placing the mountains. As it is now your forests sometimes cover the peaks of the mounains. The othe way around would look better. But that is just a small thing. Except for that a great looking map.
I do like the overall style. However, as a river vigilante, I must draw your attention to one problem: Your rivers seem to split up a lot, which natural rivers generally don't tend to do. You also have two spots where rivers connect two coastlines.
Indeed as it stands I was in doubt for a moment whether they were supposed to be rivers or borders, but I didn't think they looked much like they were intended to be borders.
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