Which do you prefer?

[jfrazierjr]

I think these mountains would be great if the scale you're drawing them at is very small (by which I mean showing a very large area of land). So they seem to be out of sync with the scale of the rivers and forests to me, but they're glorious none the less.

Well, that was a big part of the original thought process. I could not find any technique for a large scale map (1400 x1100 miles or so) that I liked and started playing with bits and pieces of several techniques combined into one.

I like the mountains a lot. Very good result and a ver interesting progression from the earlier versions.

I have a small problem with your forests though The forest sits over the mountains and doesn't conform to their shape. Could you use the moutain layer as a bump map for the forests? Then it would look like the forest was running over the mountain sides. At the moment it looks like the forests are so large they smother the moutains, which is a bit wierd for the scale.

Also, if these are large mountains (larger than a few thousand feet) there should be a tree-line above which there will be no trees. So you'd have the mountain peaks showing through the forest with the forests left in the valleys.

All in all though, a lovely map. Really like the colour scheme you've put together for this.

Good idea with the bump map. I did this, though it messed up texture some, so I am not happy with the final result, but I see what you mean. Since I was just putzing around last night, I did not do the things I might normally do (filter, copy, filter the new one, copy, etc) so I can't undo and do this first. Will probably play with it more and remove the forests and start from scratch. The original thought was to try to get more wispy like forests on bits of the mountains similar to the ones directly below the bigger of the two mountain lakes. But this shape was what I ended up with, and I was to lazy (sleepy based on the time) to mess with it much more. Also, not sure how I ended up drawing a river over a mountain ridge line... Granted, its fantasy, but hopefully, rivers still only run down hill.

Joe

[RobA]

Those mountains rock!

Nice technique - this is a very nice representation of a large scale aerial view. (Mountains, that is. As already mentioned, the other elements are a bit out of scale.)

-Rob A>

[jfrazierjr]

Those mountains rock!

Nice technique - this is a very nice representation of a large scale aerial view.

-Rob A>

Thanks Rob. I could not have gotten this far without your excellent GIMP tutorials to get me started. heh... I have learned a lot about GIMP in the past 4 weeks.

Joe

[RobA]

I have learned a lot about GIMP in the past 4 weeks.

Joe

Thanks!

It is funny, but someone suggested I post the tutorial in a mainstream GIMP forum, as it provides a good "beginner guide" to GIMP, more comprehensive than many others out there for basic stuff

-Rob A>

[jfrazierjr]

Thanks!

It is funny, but someone suggested I post the tutorial in a mainstream GIMP forum, as it provides a good "beginner guide" to GIMP, more comprehensive than many others out there for basic stuff

-Rob A>

Honestly, I think thats a really good idea. Here's why: Most of the GIMP tutorials I have found out there are very tightly focused on a small subset of tools to accomplish a specific effect that only takes a small bit of time. Yours however uses many different techniques and builds upon things done previously to make a nice artistic result. Now, granted, there are probably a few things that could be clarified in your pdf's, but overall, they are a good guide for someone new to GIMP.

Joe

[jfrazierjr]

Ok, here is another one I have been playing around with. I spent a bit of time doing some nice blending, but to many merged layers and stuff, so there are a few things that are not right, namely, the coast is not fractalized enough, and the mountain lake does not have the nice coastline water effect the other water has.

How does this look as a whole given the known problems which I unfortunately, cannot easily fix right now. This is still a test map, so it will just be thrown away after I have finished my playing with the techniques.

Joe

[Karro]

Hey, I like the beveled effect on the rivers and water bodies, but I can't figure out how to do it myself. I've looked all through the Filters drop down, and the only reference to "bevel" that I can find is the "Add Bevel" under the Decor submenu, and that seems to produce a new image that may or may not have a bevel in it... How do you do it?

I tried out DanChop's forest techniques, as you suggested. They turned out quite well.

In all, I think your maps are looking great! There are a few things I would work on with the appearance of the cities (I don't like the yellow back-glow so much, I think I prefer the earth-tones back-glow that RobA's original tutorial used), but that's a fairly minor quibble.

[Karro]

I know you're still refining it, but when you finish, you ought to post the technique in the tutorials! With screencaps!

I've been developing a mountain style that I like, but when I go to do my worldmap, I think perhaps your style is a bit superior for that particular purpose... or I might be able to find a way to incorporate the styles together!