WIP - My first "proper" map.

[iPhynx]

I've just started creating a fantasy map in Photoshop CS6.
I'll post progress whenever I can and I'd love some suggestions.
I haven't included any locations or a story/plot yet but will do so in the future.

I'll be adding rivers momentarily.
Here's what I have right now:

Thanks!

[Caenwyr]

Not looking bad at all! Make sure to draw in the mountain ranges first, and only then the rivers. This will make it far easier to draw rivers that actually make sense 😉.

Remember that rivers always follow the path of least resistance, i.e. the shortest, steepest route to sea. This doesn't mean you have to draw straight lines, but curly ones that wind around themselves are a definite no-no. That and bifurcating rivers can really get this usually calm and peaceful community pretty heated 😨

[iPhynx]

Thanks. What tool is good for the rivers? And how could I make the coast more rough? I'm thinking about using Paths with a stroke to create the shape and then cut it out of the island. I'm aiming for something that looks like this:

Should I make a brush with pointy edges and apply it around the island (cutting out the coast) to make it a bit more pointy?
Thanks for the tips!

[iPhynx]

Any suggestions? I can't really get the coast rough. It ends up a bit weird. Any suggestions? Is there an effect for this in PS CS6?

[Alturax]

Hey there! Good start so far.
If you want pointier coasts, you can experiment with small brush sizes, to make more detailed shapes and fine-tune it to your liking.

Alternatively you can try other methods, such as using the Polygonal Lasso Tool (shape tool) to create a general outline of the land you want, then filling it with a solid color.
As of today I take screen-caps off of Google Maps or other maps I like, and use them as a reference to make my own coastlines by hand using the Polygonal Lasso Tool, until I'm happy with what I have.
Other than that, I suggest you simply browse the tutorials section of the Forums. I recommend the Saderan Tutorial, It's one of the best!

I can't really give you any more advice than this, since it's how I started out
Good luck!

[iPhynx]

Here's an update! I made the coast a bit rougher and started on the rivers and mountains.
Here are some screencaps, any advice on the rivers?
Red=Mt Range
RedDot = Higher Mountain
Blue = Rivers
[these are just guidelines, they'll be removed in the final version]


Thanks!

[iPhynx]

I'd love it if someone could draw some correctly placed rivers on the islands, maybe even correct my mountains (just the lines, I can do the actual mountains myself)

[Josiah VE]

I quickly did this, I don't know what the size of these islands are, but I'm imagining some not too large mountainous islands, knowing the size would be useful for knowing how many mountains and rivers there should be.

Will this do?

[Lingon]

Roughing up coastlines is one of those things that's really hard to explain but comes with practice, just study the real world and draw stuff and you'll get a feel for the different coast types pretty soon. The Mediterranean is a great area to look at because there's a lot of different terrain types that meet the sea there, so you can sea what the waves and the wind does to different types of coastal landscapes in the same area. I like your island shapes and the colors, nice job on that, it's very harmonious

[iPhynx]

I did the coastlines and mountains.
Here's the map's current state:

Thanks.