Uncharted Territory on a Map

[metricmodulation]

So, I am brand new to using photoshop to make a map. I am dabbling in a fantasy novel, and this is the world setting. My intent is for the Eastern areas to have not yet been mapped or charted by anyone in the culture of the story narrative, yet, much like settlements moving Westward during the American expansion westward. Lots of frontier area that isn't discovered yet, and sometimes no clue as to how far the land goes, or to what lands they are.

I am looking for constructive criticism, always, but I have a specific request:

How would YOU recommend I create the fog of undiscovered land/represent land being completely unexplored by anyone (in the culture who is expanding Eastward, at least)? I have a terrible cloud over the unknown lands, but there must be something far more stylish than what I've done.

First time map, so plenty of sloppiness, for sure. All comments and recipes welcome!

[johnvanvliet]

the old stand by ?? maybe

for land
"here be dragons"

for sea
"here be sea monsters "

for a "fog" a 50% transparent "plasma" or "FBM" noise cloud

[waldronate]

If your unknown land being unknown is important to the plot, then I recommend that you hang a lantern on it. Draw a very obvious and explicit line down the demarcation and label everything past it as unknown (Terra Incognita might work). If it's not important as an element that needs attention, just ignore it!

One popular workaround is to draw the map from the perspective of a particular culture (ideally with a horridly florid name for the cartographer and an oddly-specific date) and then draw some completely BS terrain that has nothing whatsoever to do with what's actually there. If your novel/game supports it, several maps in different styles by different "cartographers" in different cultures with different scales and completely different Terra Incognita areas is always fun. You can also introduce some nice bias in sizes and shapes in the different cultures.

If you want to ignore it, you can just not draw anything there. It's a lot easier if you map is the classic black ink on white paper. The colored type that you have here makes it harder to leave an area blank. A simple way to deal with it on a colored map is to simply put some decorations on it to cover the area. It's a good spot for a picture of a lovely building or compass rose or scale or something else that's broadly related to the map but that covers the unknown areas.