Kingdom of Elkint

[BirdWielder]

This is the first map I've actually finished, and my first post on Cartographers' Guild (although it's not the first map I've worked on).

I first generated a world map in VPplanet generator and then I focused on a particular region, which I then redrew zoomed in, mostly using the mouse, in GIMP.

[Arimel]

This map looks really good, particularly as a first post. It is a very clean style and I like how you delineate the coastline from the inland areas. A few things could possibly be improved though. I would use a slightly larger scale bar, as the one here is really small compared to the compass. The colors of the scale bar also stand out a bit, it is too sharp compared to the rest of the maps faded colors. Some of the names, particularly of rivers, are drawn over as well or are unclear like Fokjola (?) next to the Eastern Zagonu title.
Still, the mapping elements themselves look really good and this is a really nice map!

[Zitanical]

Nice Map! Especially considering it was drawn with a mouse. I like the labels and names, along with the clean and somehwat faded aesthetic. But there could always be some improvements, such as Arimel's mention of the scale. I would've also liked to see some accurate rivers and mountains, but of course you don't need those things. Overall though, its a pretty good map!

[BirdWielder]

Thank you both for your kind words!

I'm aware that some of the text is unreadable, unfortunately I messed up my layers, and accidentally put the text on the same layer as my map elements (despite having a dedicated labeling layer), and I was to lazy to go through the work of fixing it .

As for drawing with a mouse I find that using the lasso tool to draw coastlines makes them turn out better than if they were drawn by brush or pencil. I might invest in a tablet or something similar when I am able to afford it.

This map doesn't have any mountains as I drew what is basically a zoomed in region from a randomly generated heightmap, and this particular area is pretty low.

Also, I'm curious what you mean by accurate rivers? Did you mean aesthetic-wise or did I mess up my rivers?

Thanks again for the replies, I really appreciate it!

[Zitanical]

Oh, sorry for not replying, didn't see it. But by accurate rivers, I mean realistic in a sense. WASD20's youtube channel lists this is good detail on one of his videos but I'll try to summarize it here.

So basically realistic (Or accurate) rivers are just ones that would make sense to find in the real world. For example, a few rules:

1: Rivers always have a source, such as a mountain's snowmelt, which is usually the case.

2: Rivers don't go coast from coast, those are straits, and visibly contradicts rule 3.

3: Rivers (no matter what) have one direction in which they flow, which is why coast to coast ones don't work.

4: Water always goes through (Or down more rather) the easiest route, which is the lowest route. So most rivers are located in the bottom of valleys and the lowest parts of the land, unless of course, you have an excuse such as a physical barrier that would force water down a different route.

5: Lakes always have one outlet and one inlet of water in the very least, with deviations from that formula being exceedingly rare, mostly due to rule 4.

6: Splits in rivers (Such as the ones in Eastern Zagonn) are very rare in nature and are usually only in the form of deltas, so use them sparingly when they arent in deltas. But I actually think you did quite well with splits and such.

But yeah, those rules consist of my definition of accurate rivers. Sorry for the geography lesson but I just wanted to clearly clear up what I meant. But don't always follow these rules man, this is fantasy cartography of course! And good luck with your future mapping adventures!

[mapmage]

Haha, did you purposefully draw some of the clouds to animals? I love it! I'm a novice myself, so this probably bears no gravity, but welcome to the guild!