WIP town map--need suggestions

[terrainmonkey]

okay, thanks for the suggestions. i kept the colors for the farms, but did a sketchpad look to them. figured that was what was missing. then, i took out the woods because i didn't like the look. went back through my map symbols library and found a relly cool looking forest i did a long time ago and modified it here and there. crops and masking and erasing later, i had enough different styles of wood that i could cut and paste. then, added a little black underneath them here and there and blurred it to give them a shadowed look. if it looks out of place, let me know.

[RPMiller]

Now we're talkin'! Soften the lines on the buildings and I think you'll be there.

[pyrandon]

Nice, nice, and very nice. Much better!

I agree with RP about soft lines for the buildings. I would also do something with the river: the patter is too prominent, I think. I would try this: copy the river color/pattern layer, take the smudge tool & run down the length (to simulate the flowing water), then play with the opacity on the original & the smudged layer until they combine well. That's at least one way to fix it.

I'm not sure when all is said & done if I love the style, but I certainly like that it's new & interesting! Very artistic.

[ravells]

Wow! That looks beautiful! I love the soft focus touch and the paper texture.

Ravs

[RobA]

Wow! I am speechless! This looks just like crayon on parchment. Great use of texture!

-Rob A>

[Eru]

I like this style a lot - very unique and, to my mind, in a good way.

One thing I'd personally like to see is something to denote the scale. To be honest, the map doesn't need it to look good. But, for my purposes (gaming), I find having the scale always puts things into perspective (so to speak) and answers a question from my fellow gamers before it's been asked.

Cheers and thanks for sharing!