Paradise Project

[Krmp4]

Hey everyone! This is my first post in Cartographer's Guild. Recently I have been working on a map of a planet called Paradise.



This is my first map, so I will need assistance and tips on map making. Thanks!

[Bogie]

Welcome to the Guild Krmp4, Nice start on that map.

[J.Edward]

Well, for just starting this, the land shapes are really nice.
What was your process to get to this? It looks really nice.

[Ilanthar]

Nice start! Why not using also photorealistic views for the icy poles?

By J. Edward
What was your process to get to this? It looks really nice.

I would say rearranged satellite views of Earth (wit probably, parts of North America?). That's a difficult exercise, especially to get good transitions between different kind of lands and toward the coasts. I tend to use "close views" to do it.

[Krmp4]

Well, I started the contour the basic contours in Adobe Illustrator, then I put everything into Photoshop and found satellite images of Tibet, the Alps, the Gobi Desert, North America, and the Sahara Desert. Then I pieced parts of the images together and blended them in. Problem solved.

[Krmp4]

So, what could I improve on?

[SteffenBrand]

Paintover. You can't get around this. I also tried to get something photorealistic before and while this technique is a good starting point it's not the ideal solution to do just that. Try to make transitions to the coasts more realistic, try to avoid cutting a mountain or the icy tops of them, try to get the shapes a bit more towards how the actual tectonic plates would rip them (especially in the east this looks off...), try to get the climate zones more defined, put something on the poles, not just pure white and I would also indicate some oceanic patterns or at least a texture.

Ilanthar mentioned some of the main problems before and yes, it is difficult going forward from this point. But I think you are on a good way. =)

[Krmp4]

Yeah, I'm doing a new that does not include the Northern Unnamed Continent. Also trying to figure out Plate Tectonics.

[Krmp4]

Here it is, the completed version.

[Krmp4]

(especially in the east this looks off...)

Where in the east? You mean the most eastern continent? The North part and Southern part is one whole continent, but melting of the ice has created an inland shallow sea.