Forgotten Realms: The Sword Coast (A Mike Schley tribute)

[Wired]

Welp, this one was a long time in the making!

Mike Schley has been one of the earlier cartographers I have stumbld upon, mainly due to myself still being an active pen & paper player back in the day. As such his maps for D&D were hugely influential in getting me into mapping. Ironically, until the middle of last year, I never tried my hand at the style of map I primarily remember his work for. And boy, I didn't know what I was getting into!

I set myself the goal of trying to recreate his north-western Faerûn map as best as I could. "Couldn't be that hard", I thought. "Looks pretty straightforward," I thought.

Boy, was I wrong.

What started as a simple style test (I've never done those kind of top-down maps before) became hard labour that consumed countless hours of drawing and trial & error. And more than ever before I've come to appreciate Mike's art and skill. The sheer amount of detail, let alone the quantity of lineart in his original piece is quite simply staggering. The contour lines on the ground, the forest (all trees are individually drawn!), the ocean detail.

Quite frankly, at some point I had to capitulate and call it a day. Halfway through the process I simply created a pattern for my forests. My oceans are a bare imitation of his'. And the colours and level of detail never manage to match his. It's through this that I've come to realize just how much work Mike must have put into the original.

As such, this is now less of a D&D fan piece and more of a Mike Schley fan piece. Thanks Mike for the great work you do. You're still an inspiration to this humble cartographer!

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[Arimel]

The map still looks great though. It is amazing how many different ways this region can be presented. The one thing that does not seem to fit with the rest of the map though is the Calim Desert. Compared to the more muted colors of the rest of the map it really stands out.

[Voolf]

No wonder it was a tough one. It is a huge map. Nevertheless amaizing work Wired. You did really great. I love the forests. They look very similar to Schley's, but smaller.
I would like to see a bit of transition between plains and desert or snow, but other than that, it's good addition to your portflio.

[Wired]

The map still looks great though. It is amazing how many different ways this region can be presented. The one thing that does not seem to fit with the rest of the map though is the Calim Desert. Compared to the more muted colors of the rest of the map it really stands out.

Yeah, it sticks out, doesn't it. I had no reference the go with for the Calim Desert, so the only thing I could do was take the age old 3.5E map from, the early 2000s, I guess, and there it was rather bright. Still, I probably could have mellowed it a bit with some light and shadow.

No wonder it was a tough one. It is a huge map. Nevertheless amaizing work Wired. You did really great. I love the forests. They look very similar to Schley's, but smaller.
I would like to see a bit of transition between plains and desert or snow, but other than that, it's good addition to your portflio.

The transition is something I couldn't get to work. Mike uses lineart to delineate between the different terrains far more effectively than I managed to, and he probably employs some sort of soft gradient as well.

[ThomasR]

That's an impressive map with a style pretty different from your usual but the color palette is unmistakable Great job and I guess I'll have to follow your lead at some point, the tribute is too tempting

[Voolf]

The transition is something I couldn't get to work. Mike uses lineart to delineate between the different terrains far more effectively than I managed to, and he probably employs some sort of soft gradient as well.

Yeah, don't worry about it though, overall it's really stunning view for the eye !

[Wired]

That's an impressive map with a style pretty different from your usual but the color palette is unmistakable

And I really tried not to do that!

Great job and I guess I'll have to follow your lead at some point, the tribute is too tempting

Thank you, Thomas!

Yeah, don't worry about it though, overall it's really stunning view for the eye !

Thank you!

[QED42]

It's not letting me rep you but very nice map. Brings back a lot of memories of gaming in that region.

[Ilanthar]

Very fine and original map! I'm not so fond of the lines in the sea (at close view), but the rest is nicely done.

[Warlin]

It's just my favourite of your maps. You have grasped the main lines of schley work that make it special from my point of view (its integrated use of colors and lines, the efficiency and precision of its representation of top-down natural elements) and you have reinterpreted it at your sauce. I really love your work.
Cheers,
Warlin.