WiP: Elsir Vale Region

[RPMiller]

You may also get some inspiration by looking in this thread:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=992

Your work has a very similar 'feel' to his although his method of creation is different.

[Joshua_101]

Okay so I tried some different techniques for the roads and decided to just draw a layer with brown roads, drop the transparency a little, and add a slight pillow emboss to it.

I put some detail and flow pattern into the rivers using the smudge tool and then I added the labels.

I am kinda concerned about the map looking too cluttered with all the labels right now. Any opinions on how I can keep the labels (so my players can say "I wanna go to Marthton following the Kingsway") but make them look not so messy?

And I'm still not sure how I'm gonna do the farmlands...

[RPMiller]

farmland at this elevation: Patchwork of solid polygons filled with "vegetation colors".

[pyrandon]

Hey, Joshua: definite improvements in the map as it's evolving. Good work. I like the mountains much more--although tehy now appear as rough, rocks hills vs. mts. because 1) they are still not "Craggy" enough, and 2) the trees give a scale indication of much larger than perhaps you intend (on a large-scale map we should not be able to make out bough and leaf distinctions).

I aslo like the river coloring s you did, although I think the sources of the rivers are too chunky; perhaps slim them down and suggest tributaries flowing in? Also on the river note, the two sources that combine above the "r" in "Elsir River" do not make sense: the flows collide, which would not happen in nature: either a lake should be inserted or the vee should be much more pronounced.

Finally, the map is mainly soft, but the coasts at times have a hard edge which stands out. Perhaps blur that just a teeny tiny bit.

Otherwise, nice map! I do not think the labels are distracting at all, either, BTW. I'd keep 'em. Take care,

[Joshua_101]

Thanks for the tips everybody! I agree about the rivers, but the way I constructed the map, it might be a little difficult to adjust them at this point without recreating the entire landmass.

At this point, I think I'm finished with this map. I might re-visit it later and fix it up, but frankly I'm tired of looking at right now. LOL

Its not perfect, but its been a great learning experience and it has helped me to develop a personal style and workflow. I'm gonna keep all of this in mind when I create my next map and hopefully it will be more efficient. Again, thanks for the input folks!

[RobA]

Any opinions on how I can keep the labels (so my players can say "I wanna go to Marthton following the Kingsway") but make them look not so messy?

One suggestion - try setting them to overlay or hard/soft light blend modes. any of those will allow more of the background colour to show through.

-Rob A>