City of Larkin [Commission]

[XCali]

Hey everyone!

Hope you have all been well.
I wanted to post this one today, I've been done with it for a while, but I haven't gotten to adding it up here.

This is a city map commission I did for an author. It started out on paper and eventually I got it scanned and proceeded from there. The concept had a large part of the map as a huge mountain, which posed an interesting challenge. In the end I went with this style and it came out pretty decent. The buildings took quite a while as the planning of districts consumed the majority of it.
After that, I spent some time to shade in several more prominent buildings, making them pop out of the map more. All in all a cool project.

Let me know what you think, I would be happy to discuss the map with you.

This version is about Half the size of the full version. (Also, I decided to go without posting the labelled version.)



EDIT: I wanted to ask a question. Which one do you prefer? Top version or this version below?





Copyright All rights Reserved @ Lars Townsend
Novel - Twice Lived




Enjoy the day,
Omri

P.S. The map kinda looks like a turtle like thing holding a flower if you turn it on its side, don't ya think?

P.S.S. Below was the roads outline, still on the paper phase.

[rdanhenry]

Hey everyone!
EDIT: I wanted to ask a question. Which one do you prefer? Top version or this version below?

I prefer the warmer color of the top image. The gray image loses contrast and seems less vibrant and clear.

P.S. The map kinda looks like a turtle like thing holding a flower if you turn it on its side, don't ya think?

Sideway, I see a lion's face in profile. Not seeing the turtle.

[XCali]

I prefer the warmer color of the top image. The gray image loses contrast and seems less vibrant and clear.



Sideway, I see a lion's face in profile. Not seeing the turtle.

Thanks for the feedback. I kinda see a lion too when I turn it anti-clockwise. But try turning the image clockwise.

[Neyasha]

Like rdanhenry I prefer the top map. The sepia tones look very nice and the map looks somehow cleaner and more vibrant.

P.S. The map kinda looks like a turtle like thing holding a flower if you turn it on its side, don't ya think?

It took me a while, but yes, I can see it now.

[XCali]

Like rdanhenry I prefer the top map. The sepia tones look very nice and the map looks somehow cleaner and more vibrant.


It took me a while, but yes, I can see it now.

Hehehe. Was just a funny little coincidence.

(Yeah, I agree, the warmer colour is definitely the better. I just wanted to get some feedback.)

[MistyBeee]

Looks great, XCali ! I especially love how you managed the relief. On the sepia version, it reminds me those 3D-maps made with thin pieces of wood ^^
If I may, I would just slightly edit the title to increast the contrast and make it easier to read

[XCali]

Looks great, XCali ! I especially love how you managed the relief. On the sepia version, it reminds me those 3D-maps made with thin pieces of wood ^^
If I may, I would just slightly edit the title to increast the contrast and make it easier to read

Thank you

Top down mountains and cliffs are not the easiest to do. That said, I did realise if you manage your shading well that it can make it much more clear. Anyway, it was a fun challenge. I really appreciate your kind words.

Also, reaaaally thank you for the feedback. It is often hard to think of everything when doing a big map with so many components. So, doubly appreciate the pointer.


(And yeah the link does show the effect, even with the contrast being more intense. It is an interesting study. )

[Lars]

What a lovely city map! I like how the town is built on different elevations levels and how skillfully you conveyed that in the map, it makes it more interesting. There sure is a lot going on here with all the details, big and small, and easy to get lost in them. For instance, I can't help but wonder how you get up on the smaller mountain at the bottom of the map (in the center)? I'm guessing that the two structures built into the mountain lead to an internal stairway. Or, do the poor people living in the shadow of the great mountain have to worry about rock-fall?

[XCali]

What a lovely city map! I like how the town is built on different elevations levels and how skillfully you conveyed that in the map, it makes it more interesting. There sure is a lot going on here with all the details, big and small, and easy to get lost in them. For instance, I can't help but wonder how you get up on the smaller mountain at the bottom of the map (in the center)? I'm guessing that the two structures built into the mountain lead to an internal stairway. Or, do the poor people living in the shadow of the great mountain have to worry about rock-fall?

Thank you I appreciate it.

Yeah, I have been trying to figure out how to do top down mountains and the like better since my City of Thunder Rock map, so I was happy with how it progressed over time.
And you are indeed right, that building leads into the smaller mountain towards the top. Also, people soooo often don't care building next to something dangerous. Que Mount Vesuvius or where they build next to a rock slide prone area, or near a coastal cliff where the ground eats away over time and that is just a few real world examples from the top of my head. People are definitely strange like that. Hehe.

[arsheesh]

The city looks nice and is admirably detailed. As for constructive criticism, the linework of the mountain base looks a bit off to me. While highly detailed, the "terraced" ridges seem a bit unnatural. Also some of the peaks appear almost completely flat. Now if this is supposed to be representing a mesa as opposed to a mountain base then this would make sense (as would the terraced ridges), but for a mountain base at the scale and top-down perspective you are representing it the base ought to have gentler slopes with ridge lines that descend downward from the peak at varying angles. If you haven't done so I'd recommend using photo reference for this. Anyway that's my two cents. Nice work overall though.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh