*** September 09 Challenge Voting - Passage of Time ***

[Ramah]

Ok, voted. Was a very tough choice but I managed in the end.

If I'd had just one vote it would have gone to Tear. I love all four maps in his entry but that last one is just genius.

Good luck all.

[Gandwarf]

I don't know if this is good or bad, but ...

The site is real. The River Great Ouse is real, and its course is accurate (you'll recognize it on Google Earth near the town of Beachampton). England, of course, is real, as is Northampton 10 miles to the north. Even the woad that grows in the area is real.

Woadsbury, however, is fictional -- a product of the imaginations of our writers group.

Ugh, sorry. I hope you don't regret your vote for me. If you have to take it back, I understand. Thanks either way, though

You are right of course, I followed your WIP. I should have said you used the real world for inspiration and that you took an existing site and made it into something you can use. So yeah, I knew you put in a lot of fantasy, I still thought it very cool you used something from this world. Besides that, it's a cool map, something different from what we are used to see here.

And because of this, I certainly don't regret my vote.

[Steel General]

After much deliberation (and nail biting, etc) I ended up voting for CoyoteMax, Tear & Toff.

Though several others could have easily gotten my vote as well.

Congrats to all the entrants!

[Sapiento]

Coyotemax. He met the theme of the challenge perfectly (unlike me - you have to look twice on my map to grasp the theme, although I think it doesn't lack quality), the quality of the map is very good, too, and a certain humor is produced by the comments on the used map.

[Gandwarf]

Coyotemax. He met the theme of the challenge perfectly (unlike me - you have to look twice on my map to grasp the theme, although I think it doesn't lack quality), the quality of the map is very good, too, and a certain humor is produced by the comments on the used map.

You do know you were allowed to vote for 3, right?

[Sapiento]

You do know you were allowed to vote for 3, right?

Yes, but too late. Next time I take time to read more exactly.
Terrible habit.

[zenram]

Well i voted for Sapiento for his beautiful map, i love the style.

Toff, just unbelievable, its a great map that matches the theme at perfection.

Coyotemax, wow a great map and with great humor, thats a lot to achieve.

[Karro]

Man... tough challenge.

I ended up voting for

Ascension (love the style; you always pull out something unique and beautiful)

Toff (This is a great, flavorful map; the insets really work for it)

and Sapiento (nice style)

I also meant to vote for Tear, but missed his entry on my first pass (can't view the thumbnails here at work, so had to dig through each thread)... not sure who he would've displaced on those I voted for, but that map was fantastic, and the style-changes really achieved the feel of "passage of time". Count yourself phantom-voted-for.

[Ashenvale]

I hope lengthy praise isn’t a faux pas (voice-activated software makes it far too easy to spit out volumes of nonsense), but here how I voted and why:

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tőff’s Woadsbury: This map contains one of the strongest abstract patterns I’ve seen, elevating it from simple cartography to art.

By changing the shapes, sizes, interior colors, and border solidity of the rectangular forms, tőff made the boxes echo each other without ever becoming repetitive. This echo creates a visual cadence that sweeps my eyes around the picture plane, delighting at the variety. Each boxed map feels like a new treasure chest I get to explore. The strong linear element of the river in the main map ties up the composition. I ride along the river and its tributary, which carries me back to the vignettes repeatedly. The timeline the vignettes present flows naturally, right to left, then top to bottom, but simultaneously unexpectedly in their rhythm, punctuated by the title, the heraldic device, and the nifty country map and pull-out. This thoughtful, logical, and yet quirky flow engages me more in the maps' content – the changes to the village over time – than I would have been if you’d just lined the era boxes up in a row or stacked 'em up in a column. Composition serves content.

And I need not comment on the exceptional skill used to execute the image’s myriad details. But I can’t help but compliment the visual wonder the image as a whole inspires through its unexpected placement of elements. If this weren’t a map, if it were just colors and shapes and values stripped of narrative content, I’d still be enthralled.

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Immolate’s Leonardo’s Landscaping: I can’t imagine a more charming idea for a “before and after” map! But Immolate also presents all of its elements with such care and delight. I can’t find a weak moment in the entire presentation. The magazine pages, the landscaping logos (big and small!), the advertiser’s pitch, the anecdotes, the smart little surprises (The Gnome Depot, Google Oerth!), all come together to look professional while simultaneously carrying the humor. That’s what makes it so charming.

When I zoomed in on the “before” side and saw the orcs’ catapult, I roared! The grunge that the “before” image evokes makes me want to take a shower. I swear I can smell the place through my computer screen. And the after side rocks too! Nice lighting, gloriously three-dimensional trees full of color and depth, fabulous gazebo cupola, perfectly manicured details throughout.

Juxtaposing pictures of the hotty elf with the classic garden gnome got me laughing again. You captured both my and my grandmother’s interest in fantasy. Didn’t think that could be done!

Inspired thought, beautifully executed . . . and funny!

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Coyotemax’s Gelderland: Once again, humor carries the day! The map is gorgeous, wonderfully distressed, an example of how to do this kind of thing. But I didn’t really appreciate it until just now, when I zoomed in and began reading all the marginalia. Very, very smart! Characters revealed through different handwriting and voices. I’m ashamed I failed to see the brilliance in this entry earlier, particularly since Coyotemax has been so helpful developing my own piece.

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I need more votes to cast!! I almost voted for Ascension’s Voyage of the God Slayer for the sheer freakin’ beauty of the piece! LOVE the posterized style! Damn, that dude’s got chops!

Sapiento’s Piktoplano Magnifiko also embodies a splendor that comes only from real love of our craft. I’m enthralled by his subtle, earthy palette, presented with such nuanced balance. But the compass rose! Damn! I’m stealin’ that thing for one of MY maps! (Did I say that out loud?)

jerrican’s lusciously colored before-and-after image portraying Chaskar’s death also captivates me. I particularly like the prominence of the vestigial border of the continent on the dead planet, a visual marker of all that’s been lost. It’s hard to effect an image of such overall beauty while conveying such a grim theme, so I wish I hand another vote to laude this success.

[Tom_Cardin]

Oops I didn't realize that I could vote for 3..I just voted for 1. That was Coyotemax for a very well drawn and entertaining experience.

I am really impressed by everyone's maps though! So many different techniques and approaches to the theme. I loved the variety and high quality of execution.