Santhieen (WIP)

[eriarnis]

After lots of reading through the tutorials section, I've decided to actually give mapmaking a new try and redo a very, VERY old (and seriously awfully inaccurate) map of the country of Santhieen, which is the main location of my book project.

The first map, done very quickly in a notebook, looked like this :
tumblr_o2v6xhU2Xs1tp67jio1_540.jpg

Yeah... Let's just forget about that one and just move on. I decided to whip out Krita (this program is absolutely wonderful, I'd never tried it before) and do a quick sketch of where and how I wanted things. This is what I got :
santhieen map sketch.png

Thank God. Much better, but as I'm a noob when it comes to mapmaking, don't hesitate to tell me if I have to change things !

I've only finished the coastline for now (whitout the little wiggly waves around it) so I'm waiting for any feedback and criticism you guys can give me. I might just size it down a bit so I can leave some space for the key and a frame. Also, the Northern Steppes seem empty on my sketch, but it's simply because it's a desert. I suppose I should have added a few dunes here and there...
santhieen map coastlines.png
### LATEST WIP ###

[eriarnis]

Okay guys, a few hours later I'm in need of serious advice concerning... the mountains. I've tried the tutorials on fantasticmaps and I must say, I'm not entirely convinced.
mnts.png

They're not as detailed as the tutorial suggests, but this is what I have so far. Those are the Maraië Mountains, and if that style is good for that range, I'm not sure about those in the south, as they're bigger and much thicker... especially the Ansuz Mountains. I suppose I could go for drawing each mountain individually but I'm just not sure, because I'm also rather fond of the style I've used. So, yep. I suppose I'll try to do all the mountain ranges and see how it goes.

### LATEST WIP ###

santhieen map mountains.png

[snodsy]

Im not sure if this will help, but sometime I add a layers under the mountain line work - for shadow, then I use a 13pt soft brush and put the shadows in, on the dark side. This helps me see what I'm dong and if it's working. I can always throw it away later, so it can be rough at this point, just to help.

[eriarnis]

That was a pretty awesome advice snodsy, it helped me quite a bit and contrary to what I was thinking, that mountain style actually works once it's shaded, even roughly like I did. Thanks a lot !

So I've worked on the map a bit the last few hours, finishing the mountains' outline (they'll need a bit more work and details) as well as inking the rivers and the lakes. Please do give me your opinions, guys, don't hesitate.

### LATEST WIP ###

santhieen map rivers.png

[Diamond]

As far as the rivers go, they work technically; you have no egregious violations. But rivers generally tend to take the shortest route to the sea and many of the river systems do anything but. I attached a little sketch to show you what I mean, and to suggest possible changes:

1. Red circles are areas where you might think about changing things up.
2. Black strike-throughs show unnecessary river routes
3. And blue dashed lines show possible changes.

Feel free to take this with a grain of salt, of course. It's your world and we're just livin' in it! If there are unmarked hills along the coast in a couple of those places, it could easily account for the river shape.

[eriarnis]

Thank you for that ! I've been thinking about that, actually, and going back to it, I realize some rivers just don't work as well as I'd planned. Plus, most of them are pretty straight, definitely not "wiggly" enough, and that also bothered me. I'll have to think about it a bit more, especially when it comes to the Marshes, as it's a place with LOTS of water... I guess I'll just experiment, and I'll have to place down those hills

Thanks again for giving it a look. Time to open Krita again !