Thread: Continent of Irshy

I've completed the roads and the bridges, and have moved on to the forests (attached, 50% zoom, cropped). I had no idea it would be this time consuming, although that's perhaps because I'm placing the brushes one by one and attempting to avoid creating a too-obvious pattern. I've done the pine forests of the valley in the 'middle' of the continent, although I'm not sure which forest I'll do next.

I realise I have also made a rather fatal mistake in making the brushes. In checking the measurements in photoshop (with the rulers), it turns out my symbols are far too small to be recognisable to the eye in the size that I was hoping to print it. So much for printing it. I guess I've learned a hard lesson here, and that is; if you're drawing your map symbols digitally, always draw your map symbols with the rulers on! *sigh* Ah well, I'll persevere with this map and get it finished. I'd hate to waste the effort I've already put into it.

@Rukia_K: Thanks, I'm glad you like what I've got so far!

I think this looks great! The brushes you're using look great and really give it nice "hand-drawn" look. And thanks for sharing the brushes.

Your Brushes and composition are very good blending in together and create an interesting feel to the map. What are your plans on the now black ocean?

@maxsdaddy: Thanks, I'm glad you like how it looks so far!

@Schwarzkreuz: Thank you, I'm glad you find it interesting. I plan on making the entire map look like it's on old parchment, and make the ocean look as if it's been died with a thin blackish-blue ink. The coastline and lakes will have extended outlines that get fainter (think tolkien style map coastline), and I'll probably have a gradient of the same overall colour, except darker, closer to the shoreline to give it better definition. That will be a lot later in the map though, after everything else has been completed. I'm trying to leave all the layer styling and large-scale textures until last, so that the map will still load relatively quickly while I'm working on it currently.

Ok, that sounds pretty good so far. I am impress by your fast pace on mapping. It is even with repeating Brushes a lot of work. But believe me it will be worth every second spend on it when you have it in your hand, printed out. The problem in Scale is also something I have slowly realised. Is there any update on your brushes? I would like to see the elements if possible. I will also soon show a new range of brushes. Mountains have a very strong fascination, so they are always the first thing I draw for a new map. But the Forests are quiet a task. I think I can see some repeating issues with your forestclusters. There is a slight pattern visible in the zoomout.

I'm honestly not spending very long on the map currently, I'm very busy in real life, and don't always have the time to sit down and work on it. There aren't very many new brushes, which is the reason I haven't posted them. After this map, and the two I have planned after it, I will probably create an entirely new set at a larger scale, with the rulers on this time.

Admittedly, I draw the mountains and other landforms first as well.

Yes, the forest will look like it's repeating, as there's only 1 3-clumped group of pines brush, rather than several. This is probably a poor choice on my part.

This is really astounding work. Your brushes are great! Further impetus for me to get off my lazy butt and make my own...

Sorry for being inactive for months, the real world needed a lot of attending to.

I've finally gotten back into working on the setting that this map is for, and thus the map itself. I've added the sand dunes to the desert, as well as adding some more of the forests. In comparison to the first forest I put on this map, I like the others better. I'm most likely going to redo said first forest, to remove the appearance of a pattern that it has now. Although I will probably leave this until after I've completed the other forests. A preview of the map so far is attached (50% zoom, cropped).

After I finish all of these forests, I'm going to make myself some crop-pattern brushes and lay a few of those out on the plains, near the towns and villages. After all of the brushing is done, I'll finally get to the part where I make this image look more like a paper map (looking forward to doing this part).

I'm not sure when I'll get more time to work on this map. A number of other real-world events are coming up in the next few months that require preparation for, and are thus time consuming. Apologies in advance if it's another few months before I update this map, although I hope that wont be the case.

@Diamond: Thank you for your kind words! I hope I get to see any brushes you make.

Nice to have you back, I agree with the forest the new ones look better.