My First Map : )

[waldronate]

Many of us are old and have early bedtimes (and/or live in Europe). I would say that the biggest readon that it looks odd is that your mountains are single, straight strokes. Real mountains have a more dendritic pattern that has little segments that don't align, but are end-to-end.

You don't have a scale on the map, so it's hard to say exactly how the mountains should appear, but that style is generally fairly local. I really recommend paying a visit to Google Maps and entering terms like "Alps", "Rocky Mountains", "Andes", "Himalaya", or even "Panamint Range". Those are all good examples of mountain ranges that have a nice, visible structure.

[SchemingDuck]

I would say that the biggest readon that it looks odd is that your mountains are single, straight strokes. Real mountains have a more dendritic pattern that has little segments that don't align, but are end-to-end.

Ahhh, I would say this is the reason! Next map i'll try maybe a more scattered brush for my mountains and not so strait. Thanks for the enlightening! Much appreciated. For the record the map is meant to be a country rather than a small island :I (New Zealand size I guess haha). Well for a first time attempt I'm fairly happy and i'll only learn from my mistakes :I
PS- I never even thought of looking at real maps to get some perspective on what my stuff should look like! Will definetly remember to do this!