Unnamed Continent: a WIP and my first try.

[Southern Discomfort]

So, after 4-5 hours i've got my "first" map.
I'm still having issues with water texture, fonts / text placement and specially ice. I can't get ice right.

This is the map: http://i.imgur.com/0gqEXqU.jpg

It's a map of an old world we had in a D&D campaign that i'm trying to recreate. Mostly using tutorials from here and free brushes.
Some of those names are in Portuguese and english isn't my first language.

I'd love to get some feedback and maybe some tips on how to get the ice right.
Thanks a lot!

[Chick]

Definitely a nice start! Don't expect to get everything perfect right away Have some rep for your first map post, and welcome to the Guild!

[Neyjour]

You're off to a good start!

I like your landmass shape very much. And I think the water looks good, as well as the transition between light (around the coastline) and dark. If you want more texture for the water, try overlaying a paper/parchment texture, and experiment with different blend modes, opacity, etc.

A few suggestions:

* The first thing that jumped out at me was the land colour. It's very... bright. I'd suggest trying something darker and/or more desaturated, in a tone that's more green (or perhaps brown), rather than bright yellow-green.

* Your swamp/grass looks really huge in scale compared to the mountains and trees.

* Try experimenting with fonts that are bit more fanciful. (do a Google search for "fantasy fonts"). The one you're using looks more suited to typing a letter, rather than for map labels.

* The mountains look a bit out of place because they're more muted (and a different colour) than the rest of your symbols and such.

* All of your forests look good except for the one in the upper right (just below the river). I think you may have too much overlap going on there. It makes it very, very dark, and you loose the definition of the individual trees.

I hope that helps some. And welcome to the Guild!

[Southern Discomfort]

Another version here using Sederan tutorial:
http://i.imgur.com/ky4hmGH.jpg

I'm not sure i like the rivers / mountains and i'll keep working on them i guess.

@Neyjour

Thanks for the suggestions. Will work on those too.