Castle Chasion 2015

[tainotim]

Another castle I drew earlier this summer. Following my previous castle map I wanted to try some of the suggestions I were given then but never got a chance to incorporate. Many of the elements here – for example the grass slopes – are new to me so would love some feedback. Might be a case of 'staring to long at the same piece', but personally, there is just something about this map that feels unfinished.

Based on that, any thoughts, ideas or critique how to improve this are greatly appreciated. Both for future mapping and further work on this

Cheers,
Tainotim

[Abu Lafia]

Hi tainotim, it's always such a pleasure to look at your lovely castles and cities, and Castle Chasion is no exception! The colouring is beautiful and i like the ruined parts of the castle. The grass slopes look very good to me.
If i'd have to search for something to nitpick, maybe there are some perspectival issues (more an intuition), but it might just be the impression coming from the terrace like structure of the castle (which looks great btw!) as if the castle tilts(?) a bit forward. Well this mght also be just a case of "anything starts to look a bit strange if you stare at it too long"
Cheers,
AL

[Chashio]

It looks good! I don't know what exactly is bugging you... Maybe it's just the large blank space, but it's not really a bad element. You could always try swapping your text elements around and drawing a couple of gulls where the title is sitting.

[Sarithus]

You've got your own castle, Chashio!

[Larb]

I like this more than the other one you did - I like the design of the castle and settlement more. You could try using a darker tone on the grass on the right side of the hill the castle sits on as it still looks a little flat I think.

And yes as Chashio mentioned it might be the large open space that is making it look unfinished to you. I was also thinking of suggesting a flock of birds too - I love adding birds to maps. And you can use the arrangement of the flock to sorta help balance the image.

[J.Edward]

I'd add a third for Chashio's suggestion.
Maybe throw in some faint clouds just to add a bit a line work in the sky.
Or rather, at that perspective, far in the back you could have just the faintest hints of the land [if it's a lake].

Still, that's more just searching for things. This is really well done.

[arsheesh]

Beautiful work! The colors, shading and sketch work are all very nice. I also really like the hand drawn border.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[tainotim]

Big thanks friends! The appreciation is warming

I will definitely sit down and consider all the ideas you gave me, and try to incorporate what I can. The gulls are a great idea, that will probably do a lot for the perspective – same with the suggestion concerning some detail in the distance. Might remove the piece of text beneath the title, it does not feel necessary. Also, I see what you mean Abu. Not sure why it feels tilting, however, I kind of like it.

Keep your eyes open for a update somewhere on the web!

Cheers,
Tainotim

[ChickPea]

I think this is beautiful and I rather like the 'whitespace' on the right hand side. It puts all the focus onto the castle and gives everything room to breathe. I really like minimalism and the whole 'less is more' design ethos though, so this is really appealing to me as it is. Having said that, a couple of flying birds wouldn't ruin it, but I hope you won't go overboard with 'decorations' in that part of the map. It's absolutely lovely as it is.

[Kiba]

I think it's lovely! And I'm also looking for things to pick out, so the only thing I'd personally change is the little blurb of the castle's history--maybe move it down a couple of centimeters so that the title isn't crammed atop a block of text? Or you could move the blurb to the giant open space on the right, so that it's more balanced.