WIP Valkyr's Peak -- Advice needed

[Anna Robinson]

https://imgur.com/a/AGLy4
So this is a low res version of my WIP.

It is the main city/location of a novel I'm writing, so I made this map for my reference, but have no idea of what to do with the background. The city itself is a strange one, it's located next to huge river, which floods the land every year (think Nile on steroids.)

A precursor civilization created a few 'peaks' above the land, made from a synthetic resin. This civ actually lived in tunnels beneath the main city which are still in existence (think termite mound and you're close), and just used the above surface as a tiered garden environment.

Humans moved in, and due to the annual flood have ended up cramming onto the safety of the peaks, which is why there are buildings everywhere and anywhere there is space. Stone doesn't adhere to the resin, so the buildings are all made from wood, mud, or wattle and daub. They tend to build in squares, or minarets. There is no fire allowed in the city. The denizens get their light from the glowworms which live in the abandoned tunnels. The only fire allowed is in the bakers row, and smiths row, which are moated off from the rest of the city and located close to the river.

As you can see I am not really an artist, and have no idea of how to fill/draw the land around the city. ANy advice welcome. It would be mainly irrigated fields and dykes, fading to arid desert the further away from the rive ryou go. Everything I have attempted looks crap. The green by the river is papyrus.

[gtwucla]

That little summary already has me interested in what the hell is going on in your world. Sounds cool. I had a similar experience with my own project and honestly speaking, unless you want to shell out for an artist you just need to practice. Use youtube videos to learn what you need and come up with multiple drafts and eventually it'll start looking like how you want it to look. I'd start with some light lines in rows following the river and around the city for crops and make sure to group them, changing direction every 5 or 6 rows following the river or city's edge. Some hatch-work ridglines could be cool too to add texture, then you can add some vegetation below the ridgline. Then you just need a gradient of color.