Looks good so far, but dont fall into the trap of the cliché and make something surprisingly out of it. I mean the sterotype castle architecture. There is more possible with your skill level!
Centuries ago the townsfolk of the then named Harkon-on-Sea lead by their Lord, Lord Harkon (of whom the town was named after) rallied against a giant dragon that had harassed their little coastal town for decades, in a fierce and bloody battle the creature was downed and the townsfolk triumphant; albeit a pyrrhic victory, which cost the people their entire town as the creature crashed down upon it when the final blow was struck. However, after generations of suffering under the dragon they were not willing to be defeated in its death and so rebuilt their town from the ground upwards. With the help of powerful wizards who cast a ritual upon the dragon stopping its flesh from rotting away the town was rebuilt inside the dragon itself, entry to the town made from entering the the dead creature gaping maw. Over the decades that followed the town swelled its populous and with more help from the wizards the dragons body was buried and the upper castle of Harkon Keep was erected.
Now known by most as Dragon-on-Sea the landmark is a fearsome sight for those who have never seen the now populous city, the dragons head gatehouse with its razor sharp teeth still intact a reminder of all who visit the town just what was achieved here by its people and an intimidating deterrent for those who may consider trying to invade its walls.
### LATEST WIP ###
Dragon on Sea 01.jpg
For my last Challenge entry a few people commented that it was a "ready to use" map (albeit that wasn't the actual intention), so taking that into consideration I decided to create something that would be useful in a Campaign, with scale, map key and all the trimmings.
Check out: My Mar 2014 Challenge Submission: The Ballad of the Bonny Bards' Booty
Check out: My Finished Maps
Formerly "Yospeck"
Looks good so far, but dont fall into the trap of the cliché and make something surprisingly out of it. I mean the sterotype castle architecture. There is more possible with your skill level!
Yeh I'm not set on any details yet, the above was just a quick 1hr sketch while I drafted the idea, but I definitely see where you are coming from. Thinking a little more on it I'm going to try and design the castle out of dragon parts (smaller dragons) like the walls are made from scales/dragon hide and the classical conical tower rooftops made of dragon wings. I think given the size I wont be able to add all that as detail, but maybe imply the textures and details and then do a magnified section of one of the towers to show the scales.
dragon towers.jpg
Thinking maybe these guys dropped the initial big dragon, but now they're dragon hunters, each time they kill a dragon they build a new tower from its body (and there's going to be dozens of towers on the castle).
Check out: My Mar 2014 Challenge Submission: The Ballad of the Bonny Bards' Booty
Check out: My Finished Maps
Formerly "Yospeck"
Cool Idea!
My Battlemaps Gallery http://www.cartographersguild.com/al...p?albumid=3407
### LATEST WIP ###
Dragon on Sea 02.jpg
Still in my sketchy phase, but a little more rough detail being added for when I finally start inking. Decided I'm going to make this larger (it's quite a bit bigger than the uploaded size) and try and put in a few quirky little dioramas with different citizens, showing different aspects of their lives and the city (trying to make them humorous as well). Still not 100% sure which direction I want to go with the castle. As I started adding in some rough dragon-esq towers it all felt a little dark, like it was some evil wizards domain, and I really want to lean more towards the fairy tale so may go back to simpler towers and buildings.. not sure yet. Also not sure how big and detailed to make the castle. On the one hand I like the simple look of the first sketch in comparison to the sketch below, but I like the idea of how many dioramas I can put in if the castle is a lot bigger.
Check out: My Mar 2014 Challenge Submission: The Ballad of the Bonny Bards' Booty
Check out: My Finished Maps
Formerly "Yospeck"
Looking awesome Yospeck. The family inside the dragon´s head is hilarious! Cant wait to see it with colors
Art Critic = Someone with the Eye of an Artist, Words of a Bard, and the Talent of a Rock.
Please take my critiques as someone who Wishes he had the Talent
Yeh, it was more that I didn't see these guys as being the bad guys, but making the castle out of dragons and sharp points didn't give them the "good guy" vibe. I'll keep playing about with it, but ultimately I'll settle on what feels right for the image even if it is a little more classical.
Check out: My Mar 2014 Challenge Submission: The Ballad of the Bonny Bards' Booty
Check out: My Finished Maps
Formerly "Yospeck"