WIP - Continental map

Greetings, gentlemen.

Few months ago I posted here my first map and received some nice feedbacks. Time has passed, and now I need your help in creating a new continental map. My main issue is connected with a lack of experience in working with patterns in general and in GIMP particularly, I decided that this community is just the place I need to solve those problems.

Here is my map that is currently in progress:
Attachment 17831

What I am looking for to know is the way of creating mountains/forests/grass layers with patterns over them and the way how to create soft edges and semi-transparent locations. The only way to do it I came up with is to use the rubber, but it isn't perfect.

Also I would be happy to hear some feedbacks and critiques you consider important.

First off, that's a really cool looking continent. I always seem to round mine off too much instead of staying with these cooler shapes. Second, there are a ton of different ways to achieve that "fuzzy-edged" look. Using the eraser is one that I used to use most often but I now use masks (not sure if Gimp has masks). Making a selection and then giving it a fuzziness also works (again, not sure if Gimp has a fuzziness setting). As for making things semi-transparent you use the opacity function or if you want something a little different change the blend mode.

Looks nice! Are there any more continents on this world? I'd like to see them :)

Gimp has both layer masks and selection feathering, so you can use both of Ascension's tips :)

What I do often is put a layer mask on, then throw a gaussian blur on the layer mask. It seems to work a little better than feathering the selection before making it a mask.

The continent is already very nice, the shapes are beautiful.
I look forward to see more.
What is the scale?

One or two of your rivers seem odd, but I guess the river police will be here shortly to tell you more.
I like the shape of your landmass very much.

Good catch. Just north of center you have a river system that connects two oceans...split that up so that rivers start in the mountains and not at an ocean. South of center you have a river system that splits. If this is meant to be a delta then put those splits very close together and very close to the coast.

Thank you guys for nice replies.

- At the moment I am working on appropriate patterns, but still didn't found the good fit for snowy/green territory.
- Also tried to play with "Enboss" filter for making mountains, but didn't succeed as well. But practice makes perfect.
- Changed north river as you mentioned, and turned an area of two other rivers into major swamps.
- Another thing figured out recently is that it's a good idea to use one pattern of a different colour for the whole landmass. Am I correct?
- Answering your questions, I am not yet sure about the scale of this continent, but I am not looking for it to be quite big. And no, I am not planning to add other landmass in this world, since it has no story behind it, while this continent can perfectly fit for a practice.

Will add the progress picture as there will be any significant difference.

...And the forking river in the south is only typical if it is a delta, but guessing at the scale, I think it could be too large to be a delta...

-Rob A>

To avoid misunderstandings:
Attachment 17861