The kingdom of Valorin - my first paid commission

[ThomasR]

Hi everybody,

I've already posted some parts of the map asking for advices in this thread. But now, it's completed and sent to the client. I present to you a smaller resolution picture.

The map is intended for a private pen and paper RPG table. Valorin is a human kingdom with dwarf neighbors in the crater up north and elves east of the mountain range. The southern region is ravaged by a war against orc and such nomadic tribes. There are three monoliths visible on the map and one further east.

On the compass rose, you can see a scale hidden. The distance between two blue chevrons is 10 miles and 50 for the entire span of the rose.

Here's the map.



And a crop of the constructs at full size.



Feel free to "comment, rep or run away" as some say.

Thomas

[Greg]

It was great to see this develop without really knowing how the overall piece was going to come out Thomrey. Just want to say that firstly, I think the mountains look fantastic along with the ridges and cracks in the bottom right.

I like the pine forests too and the other forests look pretty nice, though a bit crowded perhaps close-up.

The compass is simple but looks really nice. The monolith, as I've said before, has great use of colours and makes a great impression on the map (even though it's perhaps a little close to the nice border).

Only thing I wish it had really is a title somewhere. It's good to see a piece not as reliant on text and labels, but I think a title would add a nice balance to the piece, though I'm not sure where it would go.

Great work and congrats again on the commission Thomrey!

[Mouse]

Oh WOW!!!

Whatever slight imperfections there may be I can't see them. I'm so in love with the colour of that ocean I just can't stop looking at it... :sigh:

[kacey]

Really nice thomrey! I love all the little details around the coast, and how the land seems to be slightly raised, especially around the lakes, and of course these mountains look great too. The colour choices, and the jagged cliffs at the bottom right, it all comes together so well. I'd love to see some text on this map, but I'm thinking this is something you're client wanted to do themselves.

And congratulations on you're first paid commission, I'm sure it was worth every penny.

Edit... I'm not able to give you any rep on this one, but just so you know I did try.

[Warlin]

Great map Thomrey. A nice variety of terrain feature with a pretty neat coloration. Congrats for this first paid commission.

[Josiah VE]

I've been waiting for this! Wow, it's fantastic!
The linework is fantastic, the shading is fantastic, the crater is fantastic, the cities are fantastic!
I hope your client is satisfied! I believe this is my favorite map of yours so far.

[arsheesh]

This is excellent work thomrey! The colors are well chosen and I love the smooth light and shadow contours on the mountains and cliffs. The icon illustrations are wonderful as well, they blend right in. A title and labels would have been nice, but I understand that each client has their own specific needs. Only thing I'd point out is that the waves look a little on the bright side. I think lowering the opacity of this layer (assuming they are on a separate layer) would help. But marvelous job indeed, I really dig it.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[J.Edward]

This looks great Thomas.
And congrats on the commission.

[ThomasR]

It was great to see this develop without really knowing how the overall piece was going to come out Thomrey. Just want to say that firstly, I think the mountains look fantastic along with the ridges and cracks in the bottom right.

I like the pine forests too and the other forests look pretty nice, though a bit crowded perhaps close-up.

The compass is simple but looks really nice. The monolith, as I've said before, has great use of colours and makes a great impression on the map (even though it's perhaps a little close to the nice border).

Only thing I wish it had really is a title somewhere. It's good to see a piece not as reliant on text and labels, but I think a title would add a nice balance to the piece, though I'm not sure where it would go.

Great work and congrats again on the commission Thomrey!

Thanks GLS ! The scorched region in the south was a bit of a challenge, I'm glad it came out ok. Concerning the forests, I think I need to make progress in this department, go to the next level, perhaps by playing with density and shadows to really give depth to the forests.
The monoliths and constructs in general were also a challenge as I had never drawn any before, I relied heavily on inspiration sources and it was really fun to play with different techniques to get these results. I'm particularly proud of the texture of the gold compass.
Th position of the obelisk as well as the absence of text was mandatory so, I couldn't help it but it was frustrating not to be able to put a title on the map (I've tried). Maybe with a different compass but I was quite fond of this one.

Oh WOW!!!

Whatever slight imperfections there may be I can't see them. I'm so in love with the colour of that ocean I just can't stop looking at it... :sigh:

Thanks a lot Mouse, the sea needed a few ttys before I got this color but it's not that difficult but you gotta try the GIMP again

Really nice thomrey! I love all the little details around the coast, and how the land seems to be slightly raised, especially around the lakes, and of course these mountains look great too. The colour choices, and the jagged cliffs at the bottom right, it all comes together so well. I'd love to see some text on this map, but I'm thinking this is something you're client wanted to do themselves.

And congratulations on you're first paid commission, I'm sure it was worth every penny.

Edit... I'm not able to give you any rep on this one, but just so you know I did try.

Thanks kacey ! For the terrain heights, I played with shadows taking inspiration in Caenwyr's works. It's been hard and took a few month but I'm glad it finally looks good enough. I'll need to practice this more. About the text, it's what you say, the client chooses.

Great map Thomrey. A nice variety of terrain feature with a pretty neat coloration. Congrats for this first paid commission.

Thanks ! It was a good occasion to try new things and diverse ones/

I've been waiting for this! Wow, it's fantastic!
The linework is fantastic, the shading is fantastic, the crater is fantastic, the cities are fantastic!
I hope your client is satisfied! I believe this is my favorite map of yours so far.

Haha, thanks for this wave of enthusiasm buddy ! And the client said he's pleased so I am too.

This is excellent work thomrey! The colors are well chosen and I love the smooth light and shadow contours on the mountains and cliffs. The icon illustrations are wonderful as well, they blend right in. A title and labels would have been nice, but I understand that each client has their own specific needs. Only thing I'd point out is that the waves look a little on the bright side. I think lowering the opacity of this layer (assuming they are on a separate layer) would help. But marvelous job indeed, I really dig it.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

Thanks a lot Arsheesh ! As you say, the client's requests lead the way and thanks for the waves, I'll see what I can do (they're on a separate layer).

This looks great Thomas.
And congrats on the commission.

Thanks a lot John !

Once again, I'd like to thank all of you who gave me precious advices when I hit a bump in the road. The CG's community is the best !

[Voolf]

Such a nice map! I especially like the constructions, they are splendid. And i love the bottom cliffs with the chasm.

One thing though, i would add a subtle shadow to bottom left side of forests. Ones on trees to sell the effect of 3D, and one below forest that would represent shadow cast by forest on the ground. Without at least one of them, forests looks to me a liltle too flat.