The Glorious City of Magna Costra (hand inked with shading in photoshop)

[JogBrogzin]

Magna Costra



Hi folks, I keep forgetting to share my maps here but someone reminded me so I'll try make more of an effort.

This is Magna Costra, elevated city (that's what I've been calling this angled map, if anyone has a better word I'd be grateful)

Every map I make is in the world of one of my patrons, in this case it's Kyle P. The name is originally Magna Castra (from the latin for great fort) but he changed it because: fantasy! &#128516
I'm sure this is the same for many of you: when I map, I feel like I want to crawl into the page and wander around. All time and space disappears. It's truly immersive. I like to come up with stories as I post WIPs and when I post the final version, here's some of my musings (includes Kyle in the story, who is my guide in his world):

"Capital punishment in Magna Costra is dependent on the diving and swimming ability of the condemned. Most criminals do not survive the fall, or are crushed against the rocks by the oncoming waves. When we docked at the harbour, I noticed that some of the locals looked at Kyle like they had seen a ghost, but soon the silence gave way to greetings and then cheering. He had arrived home to a heroes welcome. Only the guards remained silent... local laws protected him from being punished twice for the same crime..."

Hope you enjoy the map (it's free for personal use). Here are my methods:

Hand drawn and inked on watercolour paper
Pens: Copic Multiliners 0.03 to 0.35
Scanned at 1200dpi
Shading added in photoshop

Here are some close ups of the high res version (20000x14000px)

[Jason Stevenson]

Love the cliffs and buildings, lovely detail on the rocks! Nice work

[MistyBeee]

Nothing better than a good perspective view for a city, and this one looks really great. Nice job, Jog, and welcome aboard ! ^^

[Eowyn Cwper]

The perspective is great! I really like it. I had trouble making out the smoke in the bottom right corner of the city, I thought it was a tree! But that was just because I scrutinised it. Did you add the shadows digitally?

[JogBrogzin]

Did you add the shadows digitally?

Yes, shadows were added in Photoshop, angled the page and drew them "by hand" using a tablet.

Yeah, you're right about the smoke. I still need to improve layering smoke over other details

[Bindusara]

Very nice!

[jshoer]

Great detailed linework!

[JogBrogzin]

Thanks so much everyone ❤

[Ilanthar]

Great map! Really well thought and beautifully drawn.

On a side note, I wouldn't live in the house near the giant tree (seems shadowy and possibly dangerous ).

[mazdoc]

The details are quite amazing. Great work.
How much time does it take you to complete a project like that?