WIP of West Naren (Fantasy Map)

[EverKing]

Oops. I'm new so forgive me for doing this backwards: I already posted in the "Finished Maps" thread, Here.

Media: Micron Pen and Gouche on 22" x 27" matte poster-board.

Here is the WIP progression of the map as it developed. I apologize for the image quality, these were taken under poor and/or warm lighting with my iPhone. The lighting quality, especially, has had an effect on the way the images appear by shifting away from the true white and giving it an almost sepia effect.

I started off with a rough idea of where the major bodies of water and highlands/mountains would be (0.5mm mechanical pencil)
MAP_001.JPG

Blocked out the big forest and started adding some labels (0.5mm pencil)
MAP_002.JPG

Finished the penciling and started inking the waters and labels (05 and 01 Micron pens). Notice I changed the rivers to/from the Maldisc Sea and added some central highlands. Now the River Rimen flows East rather than North and the River Richesse is out-flow from the Maldisc rather than in-flow.
MAP_003.JPG

Started inking the mountains (01 Micron) and added base shading with a Copic C5 Cool Gray marker. I shaded the East side of the mountains mainly because it was easier for me being right handed. Also, shading the west of the Midland Mountains would have put most of what we see in shadow.
MAP_004.JPG

Here the mountains have added detail (Micron 005 pen) and I have inked the forests (Micron 05 pens, two shades of green)
MAP_005.JPG

Now, the entire concept changed. I was going to add some dispersed deciduous trees in the Vanakreji region to represent Oak Savannah landscape, similar to the dispersed pines in Suonnar to represent taiga, but I screwed it up. In the effort to fix it I made a big ugly splotch of semi-transparent white paint and smudged the still wet pen ink. So, I decided to color it after all--which was not my original intent. Here you see the first broad blocking of colors using cheap Hobby Lobby "Master's Touch" Gouache, mostly yellow ochre dulled with a hint of burnt sienna. In the NE mountains I made the shading a little too dark with burnt sienna but I moderated it in the Midlands with a mix of cerulean blue, mauve, & titanium white. I used pure white for the lit side of the glaciated peaks and a mild mix of white and blue for the shaded side. The pure white was put on pretty thick to get a good white tone, which covered much of the previous ink work.
MAP_006.JPG

Here I have added layers to the paint, building up shades of green in the farmland of Bylnira and the cerulean blue of the major water bodies. The matte poster board doesn't take watercolor well so it was curling and "pilling" as I went. I was able to use this effect to easily add texture and variation as I went.
MAP_007.JPG

And the completed map with the mountains re-inked (again with 01 & 005 black Micron and some 05 blue Micron) and the mistake happy little accident in Vanakreji turned into another forest.
MAP_009.JPG

[EverKing]

Just want to add that I would love feedback on my technique (especially what I can change to improve it) and general geographical improvements or problems. As I am new to full area mapping I would really appreciate advice from all the wonderful folks here.

Cheers!

[wminish]

I'm really liking this map, your drawing style is very nice. I don't have any specific feedback on your technique and the geography looks fine to me, I don't see any issues there.

Where you go from here really depends on what you want to get out of your map-making but one logical place to go from here would be to focus on your borders and other embellishments (compass rose, scale, other decorations). Your map itself is quite good but these elements would elevate the piece as a whole. I would advise you to look through the finished map thumbnails page for inspiration and to work out where you want to take your style going forward.

[EverKing]

Thanks for the feedback!

I used to do knotwork art and calligraphy in my younger years when I had more time for art so maybe if I ever do a more artistic map I can re-apply some of that old skill to a map border and proper title block. With this map I deliberately avoided too many artistic elements as this is a "working map" for a ttrpg. I'm not even planning on fixing it so that I can continue to add elements such as towns, cities, and roads, etc. as the players explore more. There are 5 others (this would be west-central, so each to the North, Northeast, East, Southeast, and South) that will join to it at this scale to cover the entire continental & cultural region of Naren, so I wanted the map edge-to-edge to allow us lining them together.

I've always like the classic look and feel of a good compass rose with rhumb lines but I always associate it with nautical charts--or at least maps with significant portion of open ocean--so it honestly never occurred to me to include it on this. It is a great idea though! Maybe when I do the map(s) to the east, along the coast, I will add it so that the entire collection can act as one giant map (it would be 66" tall x 54" wide, all told). I will certainly do it on a smaller scale map (1":90 Statute Miles as opposed to this one's 1":30 SM). For that scale, though, I'm thinking I may try my hand at more detailed shading techniques taken from my days of pencil drawing to get a more classic hill shade look.