Unnamed colored regional map [WIP]
A piece I'm working on for a private RPG group commission. Started out as a black/white map but spiraled out of control, you could say. Yes, that means this one will be finished before my original Pseudo Germania colored piece...
Right now the shading for the forests still needs to be done and the ground layer needs more texture and color variation. And snow needs to be added in the north and on the highest peaks. And the dunes need some work. And...It's all still unrefined (the compass, too).
is now
Last edited by Wired; 09-01-2015 at 05:04 AM.
The ocean is a lot heavier (darker) than all of the land elements... just something I noticed at first glance, though I do like the way it pops the landmass. I don't think I've ever seen red around the coasts like that - it's pretty against the blue. The mountains and forests are lovely. I'm glad you didn't stop at black and white.I look forward to seeing it all when you think it is refined.
Thank you. I've played around with a lighter, less saturated ocean layer but it made the whole piece look very bland. The way it is at the moment I believe I've got a nice contrast without being too jarring.Originally Posted by Chashio
The ocean is a lot heavier (darker) than all of the land elements... just something I noticed at first glance, though I do like the way it pops the landmass. I don't think I've ever seen red around the coasts like that - it's pretty against the blue. The mountains and forests are lovely. I'm glad you didn't stop at black and white.
Added a few features (wadis, cliffs, waterfalls, a crater) and a ton of textures. Still far from done.
Last edited by Wired; 08-23-2015 at 05:00 PM.
I love the colors of your land. But I hate the red coastline and both the blues of the ocean. The land colors work well together, have a natural feel, and don't (as you say) jar the senses. The red and the blues do jar mine badly.
I actually like the red coastlines and vivid water. I almost don't notice it when zoomed out; it just looks like the landmass is popping out more. The continent shape is nice too, reminds me of Pern.
Hey Cornelia, I chose the red because I saw the same approach in one of Tim Paul's maps and liked it there. Though I do understand why you might not like the composition. It would probably be less jarring to you if I took a darker, less saturated version. Regarding the ocean, I've played around with less saturated versions and found them lacking. If the whole map has that slightly colorless look I, personally, think it looks, well, "bland", for the lack of a better word.
It's all in your personal taste, so definitely you should do what looks best to YOU.
I'm looking at your signature image "Do you need a map?" as I write this, and the blues in that look so much better to my eye. Especially the lighter blue fading into the darker and the coastline with a natural-looking dark shading outline just seems so much more attractive. As I said ... personal taste
As others have mentioned, the toned-down colors of your land and forest regions are really nice. Some of your mountains look at bit thin (or two-dimensional) to me, and while that may sound like a negative comment, I think it could be a stylistic thing that you did on purpose (or should have done on purpose).
With regards to the coastline, I think the red outline is pretty unique and you should keep it. However, you also have two blue outlines going on and I think that should be simplified. The thick outline (that touches the think red line) looks rather yucky around the small island groups, and the thin blue line seems pointless to me. IMO, it would look much better if you removed both of those things and simply lightened the color of the ocean around the shore, to show depth changes. I'm not familiar with using the computer programs, so I don't know if that's something you can change now that you've reached this stage.
The first inlet between the fingers on the northern shoreline should probably connect to that lake via a river or something wider.
Because your forests are (again) quite nearly flat, the oasis symbols clash with the style of the map. The trees around the oasis are much taller and darker (which actually gives quite a bit of pop to them). I suppose if they were to be treated as icons, it wouldn't clash, but because each oasis looks different (and is integrated into the map in all other aspects) I can't imagine they are supposed to be icons.
I really like the hills and ridges, and the compass design is pretty neat! If you decide to go with my shorelines idea above, the lines extending from the compass (name??) could be that same red highlight.
The best maps are the ones we like the most after looking at the longest.
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