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Thread: Umbraland Map

  1. #1

    Post Umbraland Map

    Warning: Major, MAJOR, MAJOR Work in Progress

    Umbraland is a fantasy setting I'm always working on. Some time ago, I posted to WIP maps of the entire continent, but as of late have settled on a particular region to focus on.

    Now, I'm working on a map done in the old-paper, hand-drawn style. It's full size is 40" x 30" at 300dpi, so the one you see here is at about a 25%.

    And just in case any one wants a scale reference before the scale gets put up, the border-boxes are equal to 10 leagues, or 30 miles.

    There's a ton of work to be done here, so I'll try and give a rough outline of what I'm looking to do:

    I. Map Design
    1. Mountains & Hills (Trying to find a style I like)
    2. Rivers
    3. City & Town Icons
    4. Land, Sea, & Desert textures (maybe, maybe not)

    II. Map Elements
    5. Typography for Settlements, Minor & Major Geographic features
    6. Legend
    7. Nation Icons (Planning on psuedo-arms & other crests)
    8. Border (since the "Lunar Web" is a big part of the world, I want to use a spider-web themed design on the border)

    III. Finishing Details
    9. Distorting (Need to run some displacement filters to keep the straight edges from looking too straight)
    10. Fading & Aging (giving the text some wear & tear)
    11. Paper Texture (what I've got right now is just a merged together layer on 80% overlay. I plan on going back and tweaking it)
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

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    Current Project: The Low Countries & Their Periphery, c. 1584

    Do you like Renaissance and early modern history? Check out my Facebook page, Renaissance Netherlands with Will Phillips.

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  3. #3
    Community Leader Facebook Connected Ascension's Avatar
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    I always appreciate the big undertakings...especially if they actually get finished (cuz I never seem to finish mine). Everything looks good so far in terms of set up, scale, etc. Here's to seeing more.

    Cheers.
    If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
    -J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)


    My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps

  4. #4
    Community Leader Facebook Connected Steel General's Avatar
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    Liking what I'm seeing so far.
    My Finished Maps | My Challenge Maps | Still poking around occasionally...

    Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.



  5. #5
    Administrator Redrobes's Avatar
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    Lookin good. Just a point that I am sure you will cover anyway... if you have two rivers that go to different edges or sea areas and the sources almost meet then there would have to be a pretty steep bit of ground separating the two. I only say this because sometimes I see great maps where they have these mountain ranges on there and in another part of the map you see this with no mountains and it looks odd.

  6. #6
    Guild Journeyer Bohunk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheImperial View Post
    ...done in the old-paper, hand-drawn style.
    Nice! Can't wait to see it finished.

  7. #7

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    Looks great so far I'd love to see it progress

  8. #8
    Community Leader Facebook Connected torstan's Avatar
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    Looks good so far. I love the paper background. Where did you get it from - or did you make it yourself?

    The one thing that sticks a little is the mountain shadows on that northern range. Every other shadow in the map is done with horizontal lines - specifically in the title text. It seems a little odd to do shadows this way in one part and a different way in another.
    Last edited by torstan; 10-28-2008 at 10:41 AM.

  9. #9

    Post

    Update time!

    Changes:
    • Border: I spent a few hours last night working on the spider web border, and I've got to say, I think it looks flippin' sweet. The boxes and logo area need some work, though.
    • Iconography: I'm starting to play around with finding icons and an overall design style that I like. Part of that includes the terrain lines in the upper right corner and the croplands towards the left middle. The cropland will probably look good scaled down and the town icon scaled up. The desert lines just need a lot of work. It may be a long road...


    Quote Originally Posted by Redrobes View Post
    Lookin good. Just a point that I am sure you will cover anyway... if you have two rivers that go to different edges or sea areas and the sources almost meet then there would have to be a pretty steep bit of ground separating the two. I only say this because sometimes I see great maps where they have these mountain ranges on there and in another part of the map you see this with no mountains and it looks odd.
    You're right on the money. The rivers you see got put down roughly tracing over the layout of rivers I had placed on a larger continent map. I'll be adjusting accordingly once I make the "real" rivers and mountains.

    Quote Originally Posted by torstan View Post
    Looks good so far. I love the paper background. Where did you get it from - or did you make it yourself?

    The one thing that sticks a little is the mountain shadows on that northern range. Every other shadow in the map is done with horizontal lines - specifically in the title text. It seems a little odd to do shadows this way in one part and a different way in another.
    To be succinct, the paper background is one I've made from way too many layers and parts of stock photography and other tricks.

    I'm not happy with the mountains at all, and am trying to find a style I like. As I mentioned earlier in this post, I am in unrepentent experimentation mode right now across the board, looking for a unifying design style.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

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ID:	7405  
    Current Project: The Low Countries & Their Periphery, c. 1584

    Do you like Renaissance and early modern history? Check out my Facebook page, Renaissance Netherlands with Will Phillips.

  10. #10
    Community Leader Facebook Connected torstan's Avatar
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    Go on, be less succinct - it looks sweet.

    The phases of the moon on the borders are great. Glad to see this coming along.

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