Tesset Gallí

[Caenwyr]

Hi all! Now that my other map's finished, It's time I went back to the hand drawn style and make some progress there. Have no fear! This one won't be yet another version of my Twin Kingdons novel map (although I will eventually need a hand drawn map for the book), but a completely new setting. I will be experimenting with style and form, and it might just be I do several iterations before I get anywhere near the look I'm aiming for. So stay tuned if you like watching people stumble around in the dark, and maybe you might even see me discover the light switch and churn out something actually decent! No promises on that part though...

So this map is all about playing around. It's a continent / large island (I'm not picky this time) with the name *Tesset Gallí*, because even maps without a story (sad little orphans that they are) deserve a name to give them some character. To give them a fighting chance in this hard-knock mapping world. But enough with the nonsense!

Okay, time to show you some of my progress thus far.

I started out with a rough shape that I then gradually detailed:





I'm planning on adding little squiggly lines offvthe coast to get some texture going, but that's for a later stage.

As soon as the coastline was done, I sketched in mountain ranges, again starting with rough blobs and working my way inward towards more detail.





(and a full-scale version of that last one:
)

As you can see, I haven't finished the mountains just yet (I almost fell asleep doing the last ones I did), but I will come to that this weekend. For the time being, I would love it if you guys could give me some feedback on the land mass and especially the mountains that are already there! I've been experimenting quite a bit to get to this style, but I'm always open to critique. Are they of the right size? Not too close to the coast? Detailed enough? Do you like the strokes? Are they placed in believable places at all?

Thank you so much for all the support you've already given, guys. It means the world to me. Your suggestions and critique, even the slightly less flattering ones, have helped me get where I'm now, even if I still have a long way to go!

[Ilanthar]

Nice start and very appealing land shapes.

[Lingon]

Looks great so far, really like the mountain style! The thick lines make them look kinda small and chunky, in a good way

[Caenwyr]

Hi all,

Here's an update! I finished the mountains, added the hills and drew in the rivers and the sea squigglies. Next up: the forests, and then I'm off to shading and colouring!

[eriarnis]

Sea squigglies, I love that terminology :')

I do love that continent's shape ! The mountains look lovely as well. Do you plan to color it completely ?

[Caenwyr]

Yep, that's the idea!

[arsheesh]

Looking great so far Caenwyr. Also, I applaud you and designing the landform to appear as if viewed from a 3/4 perspective as well.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[Caenwyr]

Looking great so far Caenwyr. Also, I applaud you and designing the landform to appear as if viewed from a 3/4 perspective as well.

I love to hear that, Arsheesh, that 3/4 look was exactly what I was going for! I'm glad you like it.

Time for an update! I was home yesterday, so I've been playing around quite a bit with the forests and the deserts. Haven't done anything that I actually like just yet (my forests are still too "floofy" and my deserts too "dune-y"), but I have made some meaningful progress with regards to the terrain. I added coastal squigglies (that word is for you, Eriarnis!) and have started toying with the terrain squigglies as well. Not sure about them yet, but I believe I'm on the right track. Any advice, guys? All suggestions are very welcome.



And as always, thanks for watching (as Michael Stevens would say )

[Wired]

Glad you posted that reply in the Requests forum, wouldn't have found your wonderful WIP otherwise!

[Lingon]

Sea squigglies look great, not sure about terrain squigglies… Do they represent anything in particular? Or just to fill out space? Maybe they'll look better with color, but at this stage it feels like there's too many of them, and too evenly distributed. I also really like the 3/4 look though