Haenthen and the Age of Discovery

[Chashio]

I think the ease of viewing could be increased if you reduce the contrast (especially the lighter areas). The number of medium/large islands (not the big continents) could also use reducing, as, right now, it's a bit too 'dalmatian'. Another dalmatian factor is the background grunge; splotches of roughly the same size as the med/large islands scattered evenly across the page, that also don't line up with the landmasses so it's sort of like a double-vision thing going on. I can also see a line pattern in your background grunge that could be contributing to the general dis-ease; very broad vertical/horizontal shifts in value (easier to see when zoomed out)... and some smaller, sharp lines that you could brush out with the clone tool (are you using photshop or ?)... I'll attach what I mean by the broad lines in a pic. Those sorts of lines, crisped up and in the right places, can be very useful for creating a folded/creased paper look--but you have to put them in a logical place.

That's probably enough to take in. Sorry. =]

Basically, you have a lot going on. Structured chaos is usually what I call it in my own stuff, and it usually sneaks in subconsciously when I'm not looking. One time I spelled out the word PEACE in the negative space between a row of conifers in a painting (I decided to keep that one).



On a happier note, your coastlines and color scheme are very nice.

... Take or leave any of my observations as you see fit; they're just observations.

[Carbus]

Chashio thanks for the observations. I tried to mix the textures, but like you said it really gives that line patterns you said. Also thanks for the image displaying them, its gonna help a lot!