I think the highlights and shadows addressed what the others alluded to.
I can't say I dig the canvas texture, as yet.
I think the highlights and shadows addressed what the others alluded to.
I can't say I dig the canvas texture, as yet.
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Cogito, ergo sum nerdem.
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Pimping my worldmap here. Still WIP... long way to go, but I'm pretty proud of what I've done so far...
Soo... was just playing around during lunch and added a very small number of hills and a couple of mountains.... will play with this some more as time permits....
My Finished Maps
Works in Progress(or abandoned tests)
My Tutorials:
Explanation of Layer Masks in GIMP
How to create ISO Mountains in GIMP/PS using the Smudge tool
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Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
That's the trick. I'd think about toning down that texture a little, but that's purely a matter of taste and would be a call you'd probably want to make after the whole map had been done.
I'd suggest possibly making your clouds a little more turbulent at small scales so that the varying light/shade on the canopy is a little more suggestive of small trees. Possibly another layer of clouds over the top of your current one with the turbulence turned right up but with low opacity. Rob mentioned a better filter than the standard gimp one, which might be worth it as the standard one is a bit gridded.
Those mountains are lovely. Nice work.
I think, therefore I am a nerd.
Cogito, ergo sum nerdem.
Check out my blog: "The Undiscovered Author"
It's the story of a writer... follow me in my simple quest to get published, and share your own writing stories, adventures and writerly tips.
Pimping my worldmap here. Still WIP... long way to go, but I'm pretty proud of what I've done so far...
Ok.. a bit more putzing around... added a torn paper background....
My Finished Maps
Works in Progress(or abandoned tests)
My Tutorials:
Explanation of Layer Masks in GIMP
How to create ISO Mountains in GIMP/PS using the Smudge tool
----------------------------------------------------------
Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
That's a very nice looking image. The hilly bits are great but my eye keeps wanting to apply some sort of hand-drawn, quasi-ISO pattern fill for the forest...draw up a rather large forest full of trees and cut up some chunks to make a pattern out of. Then you can reuse over and over and erase the edges of the shape to fit the trees...or just make it into a brush instead of a pattern.
My 2 bits.
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My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps
I agree that a little more detail in the forest wouldn't go amiss, however it really depends on what scale you are going to read the map at.
I'd recommend playing with blending modes to integrate the colours into the map. I generally duplicate every colour layer. The bottom of the two layers is set to overlay. The upper layer is normal at 50% opacity. I do this for outline lines too. It helps with the hand-drawn watercolour feel.
Looking great - and that is a very nice parchment background.