Hello everyone,

I'm honored to be part of this wonderfully artistic and skilled community (I missed friendly, that too). I was honestly surprised to see there was such a big group of people who were into this art, and I'm very happy and grateful you decided to band together and share your passion over the interwebs. Time to share some details about me I guess, it's only fair and I'm eager to get to know you all a little better.

I've come across the art of map making only recently. I'm an engineer by training, who's been desperate lately to get back into creative things. I'm good with my hands in terms of building and crafting, but I've never been good at drawing or painting. I was watching some Youtube videos a week or two ago and came across a tutorial on drawing maps. Somewhere in my foggy head a light bulb went on and a cartoon-style speech balloon popped up, exclaiming 'I could do that!'. Of course I quickly took a torch to the speech balloon, for I would never believe I can draw up the beautiful maps I've seen here from MistyBeee or J.Edward. But I do believe I can at least improve my non-existent drawing skills to an acceptable level in a field like this, that's not your typical 'let's draw a cartoon/anime/realistic portraits' kind of art. So fingers crossed. I tend to be impatient, perfectionist and insecure when it comes to things I haven't mastered yet, so overcoming that is going to be my personal challenge, investing enough time and being kind enough to myself to stay motivated. Don't hold back on any feedback or critiques yourselves though, should I ever get to posting my own material. As I said I'm honored to learn from you all.

My main interest is fantasy maps that have a medieval/classic feel to it. I'm particularly enamored by the style of map you see in J.R.R. Tolkien's world. I'm a big fan of his works and owe a lot to them. In fact it feels a bit weird being on the other side of the introduction, as I'm a moderator of a Tolkien-related forum myself. I've got a few too many hobby projects going on, so most remain unfinished or underused, but I'm usually dabbling in miniature painting, board gaming, video gaming, model-making (war-gaming scenery, wooden kits, etc.) and other crafty things like that. I'm trying to pick up a bit of guitar play once in a while and I'm trying to get started in storytelling/-creating as well. That last one should combine nicely with map-making.

I decided that going digital is the best way for me to get started with drawing maps (easy to erase the mistakes and try out different things without messing up something that's worth not messing up). So I've gotten myself a Wacom Intuos Medium tablet and am trying out a few styli to use on my iPad. I'm currently planning to use Gimp, which I know a little and which will make the process easier with all the great tutorials here (thank you very much Gidde and RobA, amongst others!). I'll also be trying out Krita and Coral Painter Essentials to get my bearings with pressure sensitivity and digital tablets. I'm considering giving Inkscape a try too, since I never used a vector program before. On my iPad I went for Procreate to be able to draw and doodle on the go. So far I've been busier assembling (and fretting over) the tools and collecting tutorials, than with actual drawing. High time to change that me thinks, but to be honest I'm used to that type of process, it's how it goes with everything I try to tackle in my spare time...

On a related note I'd already like to ask for a favor in the form of advice/personal opinions. I've read up on CC3+ and I'm very conflicted about it. I've got a lot to learn, including software, and I'm worried that trying that one out as well might make my process too messy and complicated which would lead to loss of motivation. I've not been able to discover in detail which styles/images come with the main program and whether or not I like them (remember - Tolkienesque is my preferred style). The base program is up on The Bundle of Holding (as has been mentioned in the forums here already by someone) at a discounted price. But I'm a bit put off by the Annuals which have very rich content I like, but which would add up quickly as an initial investment (on top of what I already invested on hardware). On the other hand it is supposedly a treasure trove of inspiration, just in terms of styles and icons I could learn from and recreate. That in itself is already useful for me without even using the program's CAD possibilities to actually draw maps. Even if I don't get into it immediately, it's always good to get it on a discount now for later.
So a lot of pro's and con's for me personally to buy the program. Any of your personal thoughts and opinions on the matter are welcome (I've read some already in the forums but I'm still not sure what I'll do).

There, that's quite a lengthy post already. I doubt there's more anyone would want to know, but if so don't hesitate to ask.

I'm glad to be here, thank you all once again for creating this cozy corner.