The Coasts of Acur - The Southeast

[Pixie]

I've been working on this for a little while... It started out as an experiment, it then got some linework and labels, and, as it started to get "good-looking", I worked on it to make it a full-on piece.

Acur_East_Coast_2016_v4.jpg

All Comments and Critiques are welcome and appreciated. Cheers!


Towards the middle of the work on it, as I struggled to find the right cropping, I decided that this would be part of a series called "The Coasts of Acur". The second piece for this series is now a WIP and I wonder how many I'll complete...

[Greg]

A really professional looking piece Pixie. I missed the WIP entirely until just now so enjoyed seeing all the different changes you made as you went along.

Really nice work, and inspiring me to try something similar when I get the right idea and the time!

[Pixie]

Thank you, GLS. I hope you enjoy the next WIPs as well - there's at least 5 more in this series if I ever get them finished!

[Warlin]

Really nice work Pixie. I'm not sure about the effect on the ocean depth, however. A delimitation by a solid line would be more relevant, perhaps. But this is a personal opinion.

[vorropohaiah]

That looks great. Is it done with a height map and if so on what software?

[Pixie]

Thanks Warlin and vorropohaiah.

Yeah, the ocean is a lazy job compared to the rest - I think my attention kept turned to labels and land geography and I never gave a second look to the coastal/deep waters divide. As it is (and I'm leaving it as it is), I think it's sufficiently neutral not to focus attention on itself.

This started as a crop of my world elevation map, vorro. I use an adapted version of Nathan's tutorial.. (this one) over my global elevation map, (which I really should update in that thread).
My adaptation for this map was to use the technique 3 times, with different sizes, different grays for shadows and different strength for the bevel effects and add the results (by applying them as "Pass Through" with 20-60% opacity in Photoshop). The "quality" though, comes from the countless hours I spend working on the elevation map manually because I aim for "more realistic than Wilbur" elevation.

[arsheesh]

You've captured the atlas style well here. Nice layout and very readable.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[vorropohaiah]

Thanks Warlin and vorropohaiah.

Yeah, the ocean is a lazy job compared to the rest - I think my attention kept turned to labels and land geography and I never gave a second look to the coastal/deep waters divide. As it is (and I'm leaving it as it is), I think it's sufficiently neutral not to focus attention on itself.

This started as a crop of my world elevation map, vorro. I use an adapted version of Nathan's tutorial.. (this one) over my global elevation map, (which I really should update in that thread).
My adaptation for this map was to use the technique 3 times, with different sizes, different grays for shadows and different strength for the bevel effects and add the results (by applying them as "Pass Through" with 20-60% opacity in Photoshop). The "quality" though, comes from the countless hours I spend working on the elevation map manually because I aim for "more realistic than Wilbur" elevation.

So the elevations are done by hand if I understood correctly? If so well done. How long do they take to do? I think it's the step that's missing from my own Atlas maps

[Pixie]

So the elevations are done by hand if I understood correctly? If so well done. How long do they take to do? I think it's the step that's missing from my own Atlas maps

Yep, elevations are all done by hand. This takes a huge amount of time and it has been my hobby-that-consumes-a-sickening-amount-of-time for as long as that original thread exists... just about 2 years, and there's still plenty to be done.

In fact, I keep retouching parts of the main map as my experience with this technique increases, as I grow in the learning of earth sciences and as I improve the tectonics of Maward. So a lot of the time I spend o this (which isn't much nowadays as I am the father of a 7-month baby) doesn't result in new areas being made.

I did a video-tutorial some time ago, which you might be interested in. But still, your Atlas Elyden maps are a beauty as they are, vorro, I don't think adding shaded relief would "do wonders".

[vorropohaiah]

Yep, elevations are all done by hand. This takes a huge amount of time and it has been my hobby-that-consumes-a-sickening-amount-of-time for as long as that original thread exists... just about 2 years, and there's still plenty to be done.

In fact, I keep retouching parts of the main map as my experience with this technique increases, as I grow in the learning of earth sciences and as I improve the tectonics of Maward. So a lot of the time I spend o this (which isn't much nowadays as I am the father of a 7-month baby) doesn't result in new areas being made.

I did a video-tutorial some time ago, which you might be interested in. But still, your Atlas Elyden maps are a beauty as they are, vorro, I don't think adding shaded relief would "do wonders".

wow, and i thought my method was time consuming! I've been experimenting with black/white difference clouds overlay with bevel/emboss set to soft light though I'm not that happy with the results. I've been looking at a way to make the images a bit more 3d though the added realism might compromise the in-world authenticity of the maps.

anyhow, really inspiring work on these