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Thread: I thought this would be a quick one-day project, but…

  1. #1
    Guild Expert Guild Supporter Lingon's Avatar
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    Default I thought this would be a quick one-day project, but…

    I'm starting to be one of those with lots of unfinished WIP threads, haha… This one shouldn't be too hard to complete though, it's small and simple Here is a style test I did a couple of days ago, and this will be a follow-up, more thought through and incorporating the feedback from that thread.

    So what I'm trying to do is something more realistic than my usual fantasy maps. Something that could have been drawn by the inhabitants of a roughly medieval world, and give a feeling of a realistic, dark, gritty, no-elves fantasy world that everyone's digging now. I also want it to look decent in black-and-white as well as color, ideally with no difference between them except for the addition of color. I'm stuck on the mountains. Can't decide how to shade them, or if I should shade them at all. I've looked at old maps online, and I haven't found a single pre-renaissance mountain style that I liked… Maybe I'm just obsessing over details, it's not like I'm doing a faithful reproduction of a historical map and it doesn't really matter if the mountains are a hundred years newer than I planned… Or does it? I can't decide! Should I use the same look for the mountains as in the test? Maybe it looks ok without shading at all? Help me, Obi-Guild Cartobi, you're my only hope!
    Click image for larger version. 

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  2. #2
    Guild Artisan madcowchef's Avatar
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    I'd say if its not historical based then why use a style that doesn't convey the feel you are looking for? Anachronisms abound in almost every fantasy novel as getting it all right requires a ridiculous amount of research and ultimately it is fantasy. Showing off your ability to make historically accurate ugly maps probable won't help you attract many commissions from authors either.

  3. #3

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    I'm with madcowchef on this.
    Also, I really liked the shading style in your other map! I vote for using the same style

    btw, love the general shape of the landmass!
    And that's with great detail like "A COMPASS tells you which direction is north!"

  4. #4
    Guild Artisan Pixie's Avatar
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    Was looking for a map I saw the other day that could serve as inspiration to your mountains, and found this one instead... seems roughly to be under the style umbrella you're aiming, and it has mountains/forests the way folks at the Guild like them.
    Brazil in 1600's

  5. #5
    Guild Expert Guild Supporter Lingon's Avatar
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    @Madcowchef: Thanks, but you misunderstood! It is historically based, and I'm not planning to use ugly mountains My problem is that I don't know what to use instead; go with something more renaissance-looking, or just leave them as they are, or another way I haven't thought of.
    @Lyrillies: Thanks for your opinion and compliments!
    @Pixie: Those mountains are awesome! Thanks for posting. It's not exactly what I'm looking for though, they are too recognizably 17th century to me and don't feel like something medieval people would draw. I think I need something simpler.

    By the way, I've added settlements and roads now, but I think I'll try to come up with something for the mountains before updating.

  6. #6
    Community Leader Guild Sponsor - Max -'s Avatar
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    Hmm...kind of hard to help since we don't know what kind of historical style of mountains you find ugly.

  7. #7
    Guild Expert Guild Supporter Lingon's Avatar
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    Fair enough Here are some examples of what I don't want to do:
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...1321_World.jpg
    File:Abraham and Jehuda Cresques Catalan Atlas. Eastern Europe view from the south.G.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
    File:Claudius Ptolemy- The World.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
    File:Martellus World-Map.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

    These are obviously enormously impressive efforts, but I don't find them very nice to look at… So what I'd like to do is find something that fits with both a modern and a medieval view of how mountains on maps should look. I've drawn the shapes, but I'm struggling with making them stand out more. Shadows? Completely filled with gray? Gray peaks, fading into white at the bottom, a little Asian-inspired? I think I'm leaning towards the last of those, but I don't really want an asian look here, so that doesn't feel perfect either… I'll do some more searching and reading and sketching, and post some options tomorrow… And suggestions are welcome and appreciated, of course

  8. #8
    Guild Expert Guild Supporter Lingon's Avatar
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    I think I have my mountain style. It's probably not to everyone's taste, but I'm happy enough with it and I think it accomplishes what I aimed for. I've also decided to drop the colors on this one, it'll be a pure black and white. So now, onto labeling
    Click image for larger version. 

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  9. #9

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    very nice, fits the map so far I would say.
    I did like the overall look a bit better before you made the coastline/water-waves thicker, though.
    And that's with great detail like "A COMPASS tells you which direction is north!"

  10. #10
    Community Leader Guild Sponsor - Max -'s Avatar
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    The overall style looks nice though I can't help thinking something is wrong and doesn't make the overall style consistent. The icons? The font? Or something missing? Not really sure

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