How do i get away from using straight lines?

[Pestilence]

Hello, i'm new to mapping and am rather, artistically challenged when it comes to most things. I find one of my main issues is the fact that i like straight lines, boxes, things that can be measured easily and precisely. When it comes to mapping however how lands form and whatnot there are no straight lines, or at least minimal amount of straight lines. As a result i am here to ask how do i get away from trying to use straight lines for everything? How do i make those wandering rivers and rough coastlines that make the maps here look true to real world physics and geography. Thank you in advance to anybody who can answer my question.

[Greg]

I guess as with anything, it's something that comes with practice and even after 3/4 of a year of mapping now, I still sometimes think to myself about my own coastlines "that looks too boxy," "that doesn't look natural" or whatever.

A couple of tips could be just to look at what other people do especially in maps you admire to see if that helps. Otherwise, I remember a one tip I read when I first started out which I sometimes found useful. One to try out for coastlines is to close your eyes and draw a line between two relatively close points and chances are you'll get a more natural jagged line, then just repeart (obviously do in pencil first if on paper ). It doesn't always work, but can help at first.

Just by studying the work of others and looking at real images of coastlines is really the best way I've found though.

It's about getting that balance between precise control and letting things flow. Just try out different things on little practice sheets until it looks fine.

A bit generic maybe, but I hope that helps.

[Voolf]

My way of doing it at the beginning was to draw exactly the same as someone did in his/her map. If you follow up redoing someones else work, (coastlines for example) over and over again you will learn eventually which curves are best for beaches, what jagged lines use for cliffs etc. It is not actually that hard and you can not go too wrong with it. Look at our world map, there are a lot of different curves there and also a lot of straight line too (africa for example). There is no order in it, which means chaos is what your are looking for. And there can be straight lines in chaos too.

When drawing a coast line keep going one main direction for example south-east, but let your hand wave in every direction little bit, even opposite. When you decide that the line went far enough south-east, change the main direction to north-east and continue the same pattern untill you connect your line.
With rivers you want to go more smooth curves, not too much jagged. Almost anything you draw can be viable as a top view map. With perspective map there are some more rules you have to stick with, to maintain natural look.

To be honest i am little confused by your question. By far most peoples' problem is how to draw a straight line without a software help. Not the other way around .
Anyway relax, keep your pencil lightly and draw anything but geometric figures

[Pestilence]

Thanks for the help guys, i'll definitely try some of your suggestions,
@Voolf sorry you're confused by my question i realize that most people have issues drawing perfectly straight lines but i work as a carpenter, straight lines to me really aren't much of an issue it's getting away from them for me that my mind says "wait a minute" aha, i guess uniformity and constants are more my thing whereas people with more creative minds have a hard time abiding to that? (phrasing that as a question since i'm not really sure i'm no psych major)
@GLS thanks for the tips, i think the main issue i have is letting things flow, i'm not necessarily in the habit of not having full control over my environment so it's a bit hard of me to let things go and follow along.

[Voolf]

@Voolf sorry you're confused by my question i realize that most people have issues drawing perfectly straight lines but i work as a carpenter, straight lines to me really aren't much of an issue it's getting away from them

That explains a lot. I would say that drawing maps is almost opposite of technical drawing. Hope you can overcome your problem. Guess it is more in mind problem, then actual abillity.

Lest us know if you encounter more issues.

[Pestilence]

@Voolf Will do
thanks again for the help guys!

[Mouse]

Sometimes I use the distort effects in my Photopaint app to really mess up any geometrical patterns that have crept into the mix.

Sometimes I just imagine that I'm tracing around a bunch of rocks at the foot of a cliff that's actually sat right there on my page in miniature, or following the sweep of a long sandy beach subtended between two such headland cliffs - seeing them there in the eye of my imagination, as if there was a model of the real world sat on top of my 'page' (the screen).

Sometimes I just shut my eyes and draw with the wrong hand. That one's a winner every time... unless you just happen to be ambidextrous?

[Pestilence]

ahaha, i guess in this case fortunately, no i'm not ambidextrous. thanks for the advice, i tried closing my eyes alone and that didn't really work but drawing with my left hand rather than my right was incredibly helpful, i now have something resembling a decent looking coastline! i'll make sure to put this into practice more often until i find a way that is less awkward to draw my coasts.

[Mouse]

There is usually a way to do a creative thing if you really want to do it, even though at first it may seem quite impossible. The trick is to learn to enjoy all the experimenting

Oh yes! And always use a large desk. I fell off the edge of mine the first time I tried on a piece of paper with my eyes shut. It kind of destroys the concentration just a bit.

[Sironae]

i am a traditonal painter...i paint straight with fineliner. i figure out if i stop thinking. just now the main idea of the map and start flow. if i look back my first maps to straigth with the coastline too. because i was to much thinking about it.
So stop think just draw and i know it sounds stupit it takes time.