Quito Ecuador

[snodsy]

My daughter is headed to Quito Ecuador this spring on a nursing assignment so I thought I'd do a map of the area. This city sits in the Andes Mountains surround by Volcanoes, it has 2.6 million inhabitants and is almost as dense as New York City. Here is the work in progress, I'm not sure I have accentuated the terrain enough, looks too flat from Ocean to Mountain tops, may have to start over, ugh. Comments welcome especially if you have any idea on how to make this look less flat?

[Chick]

I agree it doesn't look high, massive, imposing enough to be Andes. I do love the volcanoes though!!

Maybe you could make the mountains skinnier and taller, more like Tabacundo or even more so. Volcan Cumbai looks more like an Andes peak to me than the mountains do.

Another thought -- the valleys between mountain ranges may be too low/flat, giving the impression that it's a series of mountain ranges in the middle of otherwise-flat land. Maybe you could crowd the mountains tightly together to give more impression of a single massive range, with hardly any valleys of note. http://www.travelscratchers.com/wp-c...01/image21.jpg

That said, I really like the look of this ... coloring is gorgeous and the mountains (despite the average-looking height) are really well-drawn! Rivers look perfect and the colors you've chosen for the labeling are right on!

[snodsy]

Thanks Chick for the comments and possible solutions, I'm still trying to get me head around whether it's worth redoing or just starting over, since there are some elements that go counter with raising the height.

[J.Edward]

It looks good snodsy, but I would agree with Chick in this.
I can understand not wanting to redo the whole thing though.

[snodsy]

Ok here we go again. Hopefully a learning experience here for me. After failing the first time to get the scale and feel I was after, I'm not starting completely over, I've decided to sketch over my 1st attempt and now using the sketch as a template redoing the map. I've retained the Labels, roads, rivers, ocean, gradient background, and border layers (for now hidden) in hopes in using at least some of this work. My first LINEWORK layer is saved for now, but will be thrown away, maybe some pieces cut and pasted back in, but probably not, for consistency sake. Thanks Chick for your suggestions, here's the new template.

I plan to raise and simplify the mountains, and as Chick pointed out, make them more of a singular range. with Quito on a plateau above and emphasis the canyon in the foreground. Also in the blue sketch I have made the cliffs taller, and less of them and now the mountains will have a longer leg on one side in an attempt in making the mountains step down and appear higher from the plains below on both sides.

Oh yeah, I got to go home early from work today and have till Monday to work on it, between College football games, appetizers and a few beers, hopefully I'll get far!

[ChickPea]

I have to take my hat off to you for your determination to get it right. It's a little soul-destroying to have to scrap hours of work and start over. Well done for sticking with it. Your sketch conveys the impression of steep mountains more effectively than your original work, and I'm looking forward to seeing Version 2 come together.

[Chick]

Already it looks much better. I'd say keep filling the valleys with lesser peaks until there are no valleys left

...It's a little soul-destroying to have to scrap hours of work and start over ...

Really? I do it all the time, and each time I feel like I have learned something important and useful! Maybe my soul got destroyed back when I was a kid and didn't realize starting over was a bad thing ...

[Ilanthar]

I think you're on the good track! And as Chick, I'm often re-doing things from the start or at a previous stage...

[snodsy]

Still not too happy with this, although I do think its a little better, I'll will probably use it to test some forest and fields drawing styles to get something out of it. Oh well, two steps forward, one step back.

[Caenwyr]

A very interesting map, this! Will be following it closely, its always interesting to see maps on this scale as opposed to an entire continent, especially with this rugged terrain! You gave yourself quite a challenge, but I'm sure you're equal to the task. You're on the right track!

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk