Honored to be here - a new member joins the guild...

[Errandir]

Hello everyone,

I'm honored to be part of this wonderfully artistic and skilled community (I missed friendly, that too). I was honestly surprised to see there was such a big group of people who were into this art, and I'm very happy and grateful you decided to band together and share your passion over the interwebs. Time to share some details about me I guess, it's only fair and I'm eager to get to know you all a little better.

I've come across the art of map making only recently. I'm an engineer by training, who's been desperate lately to get back into creative things. I'm good with my hands in terms of building and crafting, but I've never been good at drawing or painting. I was watching some Youtube videos a week or two ago and came across a tutorial on drawing maps. Somewhere in my foggy head a light bulb went on and a cartoon-style speech balloon popped up, exclaiming 'I could do that!'. Of course I quickly took a torch to the speech balloon, for I would never believe I can draw up the beautiful maps I've seen here from MistyBeee or J.Edward. But I do believe I can at least improve my non-existent drawing skills to an acceptable level in a field like this, that's not your typical 'let's draw a cartoon/anime/realistic portraits' kind of art. So fingers crossed. I tend to be impatient, perfectionist and insecure when it comes to things I haven't mastered yet, so overcoming that is going to be my personal challenge, investing enough time and being kind enough to myself to stay motivated. Don't hold back on any feedback or critiques yourselves though, should I ever get to posting my own material. As I said I'm honored to learn from you all.

My main interest is fantasy maps that have a medieval/classic feel to it. I'm particularly enamored by the style of map you see in J.R.R. Tolkien's world. I'm a big fan of his works and owe a lot to them. In fact it feels a bit weird being on the other side of the introduction, as I'm a moderator of a Tolkien-related forum myself. I've got a few too many hobby projects going on, so most remain unfinished or underused, but I'm usually dabbling in miniature painting, board gaming, video gaming, model-making (war-gaming scenery, wooden kits, etc.) and other crafty things like that. I'm trying to pick up a bit of guitar play once in a while and I'm trying to get started in storytelling/-creating as well. That last one should combine nicely with map-making.

I decided that going digital is the best way for me to get started with drawing maps (easy to erase the mistakes and try out different things without messing up something that's worth not messing up). So I've gotten myself a Wacom Intuos Medium tablet and am trying out a few styli to use on my iPad. I'm currently planning to use Gimp, which I know a little and which will make the process easier with all the great tutorials here (thank you very much Gidde and RobA, amongst others!). I'll also be trying out Krita and Coral Painter Essentials to get my bearings with pressure sensitivity and digital tablets. I'm considering giving Inkscape a try too, since I never used a vector program before. On my iPad I went for Procreate to be able to draw and doodle on the go. So far I've been busier assembling (and fretting over) the tools and collecting tutorials, than with actual drawing. High time to change that me thinks, but to be honest I'm used to that type of process, it's how it goes with everything I try to tackle in my spare time...

On a related note I'd already like to ask for a favor in the form of advice/personal opinions. I've read up on CC3+ and I'm very conflicted about it. I've got a lot to learn, including software, and I'm worried that trying that one out as well might make my process too messy and complicated which would lead to loss of motivation. I've not been able to discover in detail which styles/images come with the main program and whether or not I like them (remember - Tolkienesque is my preferred style). The base program is up on The Bundle of Holding (as has been mentioned in the forums here already by someone) at a discounted price. But I'm a bit put off by the Annuals which have very rich content I like, but which would add up quickly as an initial investment (on top of what I already invested on hardware). On the other hand it is supposedly a treasure trove of inspiration, just in terms of styles and icons I could learn from and recreate. That in itself is already useful for me without even using the program's CAD possibilities to actually draw maps. Even if I don't get into it immediately, it's always good to get it on a discount now for later.
So a lot of pro's and con's for me personally to buy the program. Any of your personal thoughts and opinions on the matter are welcome (I've read some already in the forums but I'm still not sure what I'll do).

There, that's quite a lengthy post already. I doubt there's more anyone would want to know, but if so don't hesitate to ask.

I'm glad to be here, thank you all once again for creating this cozy corner.

[ChickPea]

Hi, and welcome, and thanks for your lovely introduction.

You might be best heading for the Tutorials area of the forum, and trying out a couple. I appreciate you'd like to try a Tolkien style (one of my favourites too!) but you will probably learn lots from working through one or two of the others too, as many of the techniques can be reused in different styles once you've figured them out. I can't help you with Campaign Cartographer, but I see Mouse is already on the case in another thread!

Finally, to digress ever so slightly, is your avatar from a Carol Berg novel? It looks very similar.

[Errandir]

Hello Chickpea and thanks! Mouse has indeed already provided some great thoughts and inspiration.

Your digression has just made my day, because it taught me something new and very appropriate... The image is a drawing by Luis Royo that has indeed been used for a novel. I’ve been using it as avatar for nearly a decade. But until now I never paid much attention to the novel or the background of the character. Turns out it was indeed for a Carol Berg novel and the character is Valen, which I’m sure you guessed but I had no clue. First thing I read online about him: “Valen, the son of cartographers and diviners”. Without knowing more about him (is he himself a chartographer?), it still felt like quite a revelation, kind of like a story reaching a full circle. I’ll definitely have to give the books a try now...

[ChickPea]

Hehe, I had sorta assumed it was the other way around; that you took your avatar from the book cover because it was about a fantasy cartographer, but there ya go! Definitely full circle.

I own those books, and yeah, they're worth a read. A lot more magic than cartography, but very enjoyable.

[Redrobes]

Hi Errandir, Nice long intro so a big Welcome from me too. I was curious about your tolkien forum. The guy I did the MeDem map with is a big Tolkien fan and may like to know about it. He is currently seeking thoughts and ideas about some very weird and specialist JRRT stuff right now. So if you want to let us know were to find the forum then I would be much obliged and I can let him know about it.

[Errandir]

Hi Redrobes! Our website is The Council of Elrond. It was one of the biggest and most active communities around the theme back in the day. Interest has slowed down a little (I often compare it to Rivendell in it's final days: full of knowledge but with fewer Elves). There's still a small group that remains active, with the occasional passerby. So your friend is very welcome to drop by and try to get some feedback.

[waldronate]

A quick note about ProFantasy's annuals: the symbol files (e.g. mountains and so on) are stored as PNG image files that can be used in other products without the need for CC3+. Similarly, any included fonts are standard TrueType fonts. You only need CC3+ is you want to use the style presets and the CC3+ toolset. If I recall correctly, there are some free annual units that you can look at without needing to purchase anything.