A world map WIP

[jfrazierjr]

Totally agree about the desert. I'm going to go for a "dirtier" look.

As far as the polar regions go, I guess I don't really know exactly what I have in mind, but here is the only attempt I've made so far (It's just some noise with a light blue/white gradient map and a Gaussian blur):



My own criticisms of it are that the blur just doesn't look realistic at all, especially going immediately to green. The effect looks more like cloud cover. I also think they come too far north and south. They need to be smaller areas, but not by much.

Try using the smudge tool to pull the "snow" down/up in places in a random way. Use a combination of fuzzy brushes and perhaps some types of splatter brushes. Not quite sure what you are looking for, but the smudge brush might be able to draw some white color into some places in whatever way you stroke and then if you wish, you could use the blur/sharpen tool to help blend it in a bit more. However, I would probably work on any terrain features first. For example, crevices/mountains would hold the snow for longer an thus you should put more there. You could also use a splatter type brush with lot's a jitter and "dust" some of the green areas, perhaps using the smudge tool or perhaps the blur/sharpen tools to get a better result.


Joe

[Ascension]

For dirtier deserts I'd make a new layer and render up some tan and reddish-brown clouds then mess around with the blending options and erase parts out. Same for the snow except use gray and white and possibly a very light blue color overlay.

My 2 cents

[dhalsimrocks]

Thanks for the feedback and ideas!

I've done a little more work. Just a bit on the desert, a lot more on the Polar regions.

I think I have improved both effects, but in particular, the Polar Regions. I used two different clipping layers to achieve more of a "Snow/Ice on Bare Ground" appearance. The randomness could be a bit better on the Northern Region, but I'm pretty happy with the south.

I'm liking the color/texture of the desert now, but I need to make a better border with the grasslands.

I've also added some more noise to the water portion and used the Dodge/Burn tool to darken and lighten the water where it is deeper and shallower respectively. And no, I haven't matched it up on the East and West edges yet. ;-)

[jfrazierjr]

Very cool. Any chance of getting a higher res version posted up so we can get to see the nitty gritty details?

Joe

[dhalsimrocks]

Sure!