I like the change in the trees as you decend. If you matched the line style on the trees with the castles it would feel much more unified. A simple border would give it some nice polish. The story is a great choice for the challenge.
The version of The 12 Dancing Princesses from Andrew Lang's Red Fairy Book is a sweet, romantic story. Each night, the 12 princesses descend through a series of forests to their hidden dance hall:
So here is my map: the path of the dancing princesses.Originally Posted by The Red Fairy Book
### LATEST WIP ###
12-Princesses-rev1.jpg
The basic elements I want are in place, but I'm happy to get any feedback or suggestions.
This was done mostly in Photoshop and Inkscape. I am heavily indebted to OpenClipart.org for the flowering tree and the castle, both of which I modified in Inkscape and exported as a bitmap to Photoshop. The rest of it -- caves, spiral stairs, and bridge -- I made myself. This also uses a texture from cgtextures.com to provide some visual variation on the dirt areas.
Last edited by wdmartin; 03-10-2014 at 05:03 PM. Reason: Correcting a BBCode error
I like the change in the trees as you decend. If you matched the line style on the trees with the castles it would feel much more unified. A simple border would give it some nice polish. The story is a great choice for the challenge.
I like it, but I think that if those "levels" with the stairs and the red castle are situated underground, you should change their background, because it's too similar to the cloudy sky on the surface level.
Very interesting. Great job with the spiral stairs.
My Battlemaps Gallery http://www.cartographersguild.com/al...p?albumid=3407
Okay, here's a revision.
### LATEST WIP ###
12-Princesses-rev4.jpg
- Added a frame, handmade in Inkscape
- Added some engraving lines on the castles, excluding roofs because the lines there made it feel too dark. These were done using this action plus some masking.
- Tinted the sky blue to differentiate it from the caves.
Adding a frame is almost always a good thing; I would also add a box with a title or something similar.
Is there a reason why the castles are now checkered?
Yes, it was supposed to make them look engraved like the trees, because of madcowchef's comment that "If you matched the line style on the trees with the castles it would feel much more unified."
I'm not entirely sold on the effect. It doesn't match the shading on the trees terribly well.