Bourmout [pencil to color] WIP

[J.Edward]

I've never really been a WIP sort of person. Many reasons. One major one is that I am usually working on 10 to 20 different pieces and I don't know when one will get finished or if it will sit and languish for months. This one did for awhile. I started back on it the other day and decided I would try to do a WIP of it. Even then I didn't stop to do progress shots and post them. I am often working on a piece for quite awhile and pausing to post WIP progress shots just doesn't occur to me.
However, people seem more interested in seeing the progress than the final product so I thought I'd try.
So... here we go. There's already several progress pics so we'll go from there.
This started with a pencil drawing I posted last month or so. http://www.cartographersguild.com/ge...-set-maps.html
Bourmout [uncolored] lo.jpg
Then I decided to do a color version. That can be tricky with a pencil drawing depending on how I drew it. Usually the more shading and texture I do on the pencil drawing the worse it looks as a color piece. We'll see how it works with this one.
The color flat - Colors are almost always on the dull side at this stage.
Bourmout [colored] 01.jpg
Next I was tweaking the roof colors a bit and doing all those pavers. That took a while.
Bourmout [colored] 02.jpg
I saw that I would need to fill out the field grass more so I had to make a PS brush that could simulate the pencil look reasonably well.
Then drew in more grass lines and threw down some color variation. I also tweaked the shadows a bit at this point.
Bourmout [colored] 03.jpg
From there I did a bit more tweaking with lines and grass flow and more shadow.
At this point there's still a good bit left to do and some room for options.
Bourmout [colored] 04.jpg

Obviously any flat colors will being changing ie-the water and the dirt of the stream and the roads. Oh, and the trees.
Still not sure if this will look good with a border or not. I also am not sure if I want to do a separate version that has the buildings numbered and listed on the side/bottom as to what each one is. If I do that then a border seems like it would fit.

[Wingshaw]

This is an excellent map. Really well made, and a fantastically easy town to visualise. I also appreciate seeing your workflow (I hope I can speak for others, in that regard). For what it's worth, I would advise adding a bit of information about the town, such as the place list you mention.

THW

[Chashio]

I agree with THW... like seeing the progression of your workflow, at least once. And it is a most excellent map. If this were being used in a sort of online game type of setting, I could easily picture an interactive labels version being quite effective, with labels appearing individually on hover and elevation street views here and there. Extra points if clicking certain buildings brought you to their respective floor plans. No clue how to make any of that work, of course - but thinking of it is fun.

[J.Edward]

THW - I will try to get to that when I can. Not every building is a known quantity at this exact time.
Chashio - That would be awesome. It could be done with HTML... too bad I'm not skilled in HTML. My ex-wife and I used to do work for a company where we did some interactive maps that way. But she was the HTML/web guru not me. I obviously did the maps.
I would love to do that. It would be very cool to see. Of course, that would be a HEAVY investment in time for sure. [for me at least]

[J.Edward]

A bit more done. Some more texture and color laid down.
Not completely satisfied with the trees at the moment but we'll see.
Bourmout [colored] 06.jpg

[Chashio]

Maybe the trees need a little more blue in their green? Or perhaps the highlights are a little too hot? It's amazing sometimes, how dark trees are in reality. ... It's amazing how many little paving stones are in that picture. Looking good!

[Yenski]

Gorgeous! Never been able to do the town maps myself, but this looks amazing!

[J.Edward]

Yeah, they need something.
Here's sort of what I was going for.
Bing Maps_20140730-203544 crop.png
I may put some stuff in that was not in the original pencil drawing. Some items sitting around town and what-not. Wagon, barrels, baskets, etc.
If I come up with something better for the trees maybe I might add some more trees out to the edges. I hate to cover over all that grass detail but it seems a little empty on the edges.

[Robulous]

Very nice, although I actually rather like the original pen and ink drawing!

[J.Edward]

Thanks Yenski. Several people have said similar regarding towns. I've always enjoyed drawing little towns and villages.
Thanks Rob. I like the original pencil drawing as well. Sometimes I just like to see what they'd be like in color.
So here's some more progress. More color/texture on the stones and water. Tried an alteration to the trees. A bit more satisfied with it.
Bourmout [colored] 07.jpg