to me the brush seems to big for the map size... i'd try even half that size, and i'd make an entire range not just some random bits.. with the mts they look best together, not apart. not sure if these brushes are hollow in the non-black parts, but it's best to overlap the mts, back to front, close together, breaks up the repeating brushes and allow you to build new shapes. as far as how it looks, it'd be hard to tell without more use.
Photoshop, CC3, ArcGIS, Bryce, Illustrator, Maptool
wrist pain? welcome to cartography digital and pen/paper, we all suffer from that
Photoshop, CC3, ArcGIS, Bryce, Illustrator, Maptool
There is another variant. I thought: the mountains will be TINY on the final map. It means they should be simple. Yes, I know, that the 1st version of the mountains wasn't good. But, after all, this is my first map and it definetly won't be a Cartographers' choice. And I don't want to die before i make my 1st map.
Remember, that this is only a part of the map. Whole map is going to be about 8x8 inches - this part will be 4x3 inches.
Either i leave the mountains like that - without shadows at all, or i try to make the shadows better than in the 1st version.
I actually really like the mountain brushes you made above, although they could definitely use some refinement. I have a feeling that you're pretty good with a pencil; if that's true, then consider drawing some nice mountains on paper, then take them to Kinko's and have them scanned. Unless you have a scanner at home, of course.
Some more smudgy shading rather than detail would probably be a good course to take, given the scale issue.
I feel I should point out that your coastline looks an awful lot like Middle Earth.
edit: I just noticed you're in Moscow, so you may or may not know what Kinko's is. If not, it's a shop that offers printing, binding and mail service. I assume there are businesses with similar services in Russia.
Last edited by Midgardsormr; 05-23-2013 at 08:41 PM.
Bryan Ray, visual effects artist
http://www.bryanray.name
I've tried to reduce the amount of detail a bit. Used some rubber. Still they should look like pieces of one puzzle - definitely not like Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves all put in one big barrel.
And it seems I'm not so good with a pencil after all I made this with a pencil, photoghraphed it, and then used it as a sketch in Photoshop (trying not to implement too much detail). I think now there too little detail... And they're too dark... I'm no artist:
If you're not going to use more textures/color work on lands, more simple outlines will match better in my opinion. More detailed mountains are harder to blend with a light and pale color texture/background. You can try a simple outline (like the one you did in post #16) with a very few diagonal hatch lines to simulate shaded side.
Do you mean something like this? Did I overdo the shadows again?
If the mountain won't come to Muhammad then Muhammad must go to the mountain. If the mountains don't fit the map, I'll make a map that fits the mountains. But I'd like to finish this one at first... And you are right - Fenlon's hills are the type that best fits this map.Originally Posted by - Midgardsormr