Thiodonn map

[Freodin]

Care to specify? That's not much to go on.

Don't shoot me... I really don't know how to specify it. It just does not look right. The object itself is a little too simple, as compared to the other icons. I would try to add some shadows, perhaps a few windows, or try to hint at the different castle parts (draw a line to show the outline of the towers or such). Sorry, I am not an artist - all I myself would do is try and change and change again until I found it good. So I cannot give a step by step advice on how to do it... I don't know myself.

But one thing you could change: fit the castles better into the available space. Dun Glorach touches the northern coast, Desportach the river next to it, Ailcarraig the bushes above it. I know that it is difficult to prevent overlaps while using brushes, but I'd say that is something an original cartographer would have done: "There is empty space here on the map, let's fit in a castle."

What you could do: when you have settled for a style for the castle icons... don't make it into a brush, draw each castle seperately. There are only four of them. (And for the style: it needs to be something you think is right... you are the artist, we are only the critics.)

I am at this point not sure what there is to be done about the placement of the text. Maybe I'm just getting to a defensive point with my work, but it FEELS nitpicky, and there literally isn't ANYWHERE I could put the Dochaoiran marker WITHOUT it going over the bog and/or the coastline. The others I might be able to fiddle with.

Bog and coastline should be no problem. The problem are other icons, where overlaps make the text difficult to read. If you cannot find a space to fit the text between the icons, consider moving the icons. Or removing some of them.
Or, another thing you might try: get rid of the text completely (at least for the towns). If you cannot at all find a way to make them fit, make them vanish!

Sorry if that feels nitpicky... it is just a viewers opinion on the difference between a great map and a perfect map. But I think that this is indeed a great map, and it deserves to be perfect.