First Battle-Map Critique Requested

[sgains0]

Hello Guildmates,

This is my first post on the Cartographers Guild as I have just joined. I am recently getting into DMing using virtual tabletops like Roll20. I have also gotten into making my own custom battle maps for these adventures, which naturally led me here. I am posting this as a WIP/looking for advice reach out.

I have created a battle-map to be used as a random encounter on a road or whatever I need to re-purpose it for. I was inspired by the well known artist, often used by official D&D campaigns, Mike Schley's artwork that utilizes pastel colors and a lot of fine brushwork. I believe this makes a very beautiful map. Although I am inspired by it, I'm not necessarily trying to copy it, just emulate some design features. I included an image of his work.



Here is MY work, it is my first attempt at using any imaging software to create maps. I used GIMP for most of this, however some of the shapes were created in Inkscape. I am looking for any sort of critique on my work, what are its strengths and weaknesses? I'd like to hear and maybe even get some tips from the veteran guild members. I also believe that I will post a step by step of what I did for two reasons. The first is so that everybody else can emulate what I've done, and second to see if there is anything I'm doing that could be done easier/better. Cheers!