working on a map from an online rpg: The miracle, map 1 - Kingdom of the Westlands

[EruSilme]

a little bit more of work.

First of all, i want to use my own map elements; so i started to sketch some mountains (these are only a wip, but i would be glad for an opinion). I wanna achieve an overall "hand-made" look, since the setting of The Miracle is comparable to the late Middle Ages, and maps that you see around in game are all created by hand: there is no print press.




Considering instead the whole map, as you can see i have outlined as stated before the land (the original image is in background for reference only): i plan to put the scroll with the title, araldics etc on the upper left corner, the "red" area, and maybe a legend on the left side, referring to letters placed near the points of interest (to avoid visual cluttering)

The yellow areas are not part of the kingdom: so i think that could be useful to let them "blank" with only a superimposed writing ("impero di Amon" ecc), to focus the attention of the viewer only on the Westlands. Maybe i should keep rivers and mountains to give the idea of the geografical continuity.



About the town style, i have found that Torstan, in the Games of Thrones map serie, have used an approach like the one i was wondering about, using little isometric buildings (i am looking just now at an example, the free cities map).

Considering that i am NOT an artist, i was thinking about a trick:
1) import the original city map from the game in Sketchup
2) draw with sketchup the volumes
3) put them in isometric perspective
4) import the sketch in photoshop to use it as a guide for handmade drawing.

About the colors, i have not thought about them: i think i'll need a couple of palettes, for sea and land, and one for the buildings ... i do not want to stick exactly with the original colors, neither to use an extremely different look.