My first region map - WIP

[Endyr]

Hey all,

SO I finally have something I am willing to share - it is a black and white map, hand drawn in pencil. Certainly far from finished, and depending on how the hand work comes out, I may or may not upload into GIMP and colorize it. For now I am looking for some general feedback, if anybody has the time. Just wondering what you think, what looks good and what could/should be improved/changed. I think at this point I am worried about how realistic (or not) the mountains look, and if the forests work. I am struggling with the forests. Hell, I think I am struggling with a lot of it! I think it looks good so far but any advice or tips anyone may have is much appreciated. I have been lurking around the forums for a while, check almost every day, and have gone through the tutorials dozens of times. Thanks in advance guys! OK back to work now. Also, sorry for the crappy scan - used the phone

[madbird-valiant]

Oh god that is beautiful, I love hand-drawn maps.

My only issue with the mountains is that they look a bit uniform, all in one zigzaggy line. Mountains tend to taper off on the sides a bit more. The forest looks fantastic, though, great job.

[Endyr]

hey thanks for the kind words! I have added more and will put an updated photo up in about an hour or two. Thanks for the tips as well. Could you give me an idea of what you mean when you say "taper off" please? I figured the mountains were a little odd but wasnt sure why or how. Do you think the mountains are something I could fix? because I would rather not start from scratch on this one!

[Endyr]

Ok. Here's an update - added more forest and lengthened/tapered (hopefully) the mountain ranges to bring them into the ground more and hopefully add a more realistic tone to them. I also cut off the top of the land and added water/islands at the top. Some lines still need to be darkened and I'm trying to figure out what to do with the top of the map still - that open land part. Anyway here we go so far

[madbird-valiant]

Looking good, got what I meant about the mountains tapering off at the ends Another thing which is sort of unnecessary since most of the mountains have forests around them would be tapering off on the sides as well, with some smaller peaks and foothills and so on, but the thing that was mainly irking me was that the mountain ranges started with the tall peaks.

Great work

[Endyr]

Well thank you. I know what you mean now. The hills are there to link the ranges. There's no flat ground between mountain ranges. Has to be some slight elevation I think. But if it's too much that easy to fix.

[Endyr]

Ok sorry for the silence but my wife gave birth to our second child last Thursday so as you may imagine I've been a bit tied up! Anyway Here's a progress report- this is the map now, with some more fleshed out features and texture added - it helps if you zoom close on the picture to see it well. I'm going to upload it into the computer as best I can and flesh out some more and add a compass and stuff. Hope you guys like it.