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Thread: [WIP Commission] The Lands of Bastion

  1. #1
    Professional Artist cereth's Avatar
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    Default [WIP Commission] The Lands of Bastion

    Here is a commission that I am currently working on with a deadline quickly approaching. I am really experimenting a lot and working outside of my comfort zone and could really use some feedback.

    Thanks much. :-)
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    Guild Expert rdanhenry's Avatar
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    Looking good so far.

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    I like the individual elements, but I'm not entirely sure if the mountains and forests play nicely together, but by the time you are finished they might.. The mountains are more artsy (for lack of a better term) while the forests are more straight forward traditional fantasy map styling. In fact the right side of the mountains appear more impressionistic/pastel/watercolor while the left side has more characteristics of line art... which could well just be a part of being a WIP, LOL. Perhaps some gaps in the forest would also be nice, just little glimpses of forest floor to break the monotony of the carpet. But that is just a nit.

    Hopefully any of that will inspire something! LOL. Love the figure in the corner by the way. Look forward to seeing more of this map.
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  4. #4
    Professional Artist cereth's Avatar
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    Got quite a bit more done on this...once I added the other figure in the lower corner it helped to pull it together a bit.
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    I actually like the forests and mountains together, the colors are quite attractive. The dark angels (angels of death) are an interesting addition. I'd have to know more about the context to know how appropriate they are to the map. One thing that does bug me is the tile border. First, it doesn't really seem to fit with either the parchment, or the painterly aspects of the map. Beyond feeling a bit incongruous, it also appears (when zoomed in) a bit fuzzy and unclear in comparison with the rest of the map. Overall I find it a bit distracting. Otherwise, nice job.

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    -Arsheesh

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    Guild Expert rdanhenry's Avatar
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    Hey, a fairly common complaint with similar styles is that the mountains and trees are too close in size. Nobody can say that about this map. I'd say the border "doesn't fit" in the sense that real world cultural history has the border suggest the ancient world, while the map - especially with the figures there - suggests a more medieval setting. There's really nothing that would prevent this from all being an accepted style in a single culture in a fantasy setting, however.

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    Having the mountains more complete helped with the neighboring forest. Looking good to me.
    Upon the Creation of the World the First Dragons cast their seed in the light of a Sun and a Thousand Suns, beneath the Moon and a Thousand Moons, on a World and a Thousand Worlds.

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  8. #8

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    What a beautiful way of depicting mountains! I very much like the "sunset" colour palette you chose for this map. The figures in the corners are also great and add a lot of character to the map. The border actually doesn't bother me that much. It becomes a bit distracting only when zoomed in, when I can see the individual tiles... Then it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of your work. I'm not sure I like the forests too much. They look too flat to me. But that aside, there is nothing wrong with them, and they fit nicely with the rest of the map. I think that I just do not like this particular style for depicting large areas of forest.
    Overall this looks like a great start and a beginning of an awesome map. I'm looking forward to seeing the final piece.

  9. #9
    Administrator Facebook Connected Diamond's Avatar
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    If I have one complaint, it's that the river(s) look too stark with just the simple black outline that you've currently got. Have you thought about adding some kind of definition to the banks, maybe something like this:
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  10. #10
    Professional Artist cereth's Avatar
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    That would have been a nice touch Diamond. I was kind of already up against a deadline when I posted originally, so here is the finished map. :-)

    Overall I'm pretty happy with the results. I was going for an ancient roman mosaic feel for the border and wanted the map itself to sort of have an old fresco look. It's for an ebook entitled "Twixt Heaven and Hell".

    Thanks much for the feedback everyone!
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