Trying something else

[Straf]

Yesterday I decided I'd try to draw my own mountains. I started off by creating a layer for the outline and the ridge lines - basically a sketch layer - and set about adding shading using shadow and light layers. The sketch I did in ink and chose a very dark blue colour. I can adjust the opacity of this layer so I can use it as a guide while I apply the shading, starting off with a larger brush and gradually moving down to a smaller one. I set the shading layer to Multiply and the brush opacity to 5%. Making the outline layer invisible I then applied light along the ridges just to highlight them a little using a brush of 5% opacity and a very light grey colour. Then I went back and started all over with smaller brushes.

12 hours of mouse clicking and micro movements later I had managed to get this far:



I have compressed the above quite a lot to keep the filesize down. I would appreciate feedback and/or hints and tips on improving my technique etc.

Parchment layer robbed from here - http://olebern.deviantart.com/art/Ol...ture-114859412


Edit: Oh, I forgot to mention, this is more of a skeleton. I intend to add some 'flesh' to the mountains, as it were, using a new colour layer.

[Caenwyr]

Hey Straf, a few remarks! I like these mountains a lot better than the ones you used in the other thread (I believe mountains should gradually rise from the terrain instead of just plopping up almost vertically). I like the shadow play you have going on a lot! It really stands out. Pay attention to the direction of the light though. In most of your ridges it's clear the light comes from the left, but in some it's a bit confusing. I can see no horrible mistakes, but there's one branch that is sticking out almost exactly to the left, and I can see a few inconsistencies there. No major ones, don't worry, but as they say the devil is in the details. You'll also have to work on the transition with the rest of the map a bit, but you already said you were planning that so I guess that's covered.

One last remark: the parchment texture you use seems like you resized it rendering it blurry and featureless. Maybe if you replace it with a texture that is a bit bigger, the effect might be different? Try googling "parchment" and go [Search Tools | Size | Larger than] and select a size that fits your map. Just be sure you only use textures that are actually free to use

[Straf]

Thanks for the feedback Caenwyr. Is it the branch around the top hub or the middle one? I haven't finished in the middle yet. I'm finding that when I zoom out after doing a bit of touching I end up having to go back and redo parts of it because it looks odd. The bottom bit I've hardly touched at all. I'm going to do something different today to prove to myself that I'm not addicted to fiddling with maps

Thanks for the tip about the parchment too. I had to stretch it as this particular texture has burnt bits about the edges. Obviously someone drawing by candlelight

I think I'm going to make this one a longer term project because of the amount of time I'm having to spend on it.

[Straf]

I intend spending some more time on this today. I got myself into a bit of a muddle the other day - I'm in no way an artist so I have difficulty visualising what it is I'm trying to do. I'm more of a H&H (hit & hope) practitioner. Leaving it be for a couple of days may give me fresh perspective to get on and progress.

To stray a bit off topic I have been wandering about my local area, in particular some managed nature reserves, seeing how different habitats support different flora and fauna. An area of heathland became overgrown when Myxomatosis wiped out the rabbit population in the 1950s. The local wildlife trust has introduced wild ponies to chomp away at the grass and that to keep it cropped and return it back to how it was.

Some of the sandy heathland around here is believed to have been caused by deforestation and intensive farming during the Bronze Age gradually turning the soil barren. The scrubby heaths that resulted from this made ideal habitats for warrening and there are a couple of medieval warreners' lodges still standing, albeit in a ruined state.

These are the things I have to consider when doing my maps - what is the land like and why is it like that?

[Straf]

Right, I've done a bit more. Comments/feedback/critique/hints welcome

[Straf]

I've had some trouble choosing a colour scheme for the land. Then I was fiddling about with stuff and wondered what this jitter thing does - WOW !!

I 'borrowed' a colour palette from nature (actually I took a snapshot of an area I was interested in on Google Maps, Satellite View, then used it to create a 16 colour palette using Gpick, then exported to GIMP) and then after some experimentation with brushes, jitter and different colours from the palette managed to give the land some colour. I also took a colour from a real life lake for my basic sea colour. I've decided to redo the highlights on the mountain ridges so I switched the old one off and started a new layer. Anyway this is what I have now:




Oh yes, and I'm calling my land WIPania, because it may be my experimentation perpetual WIP map.

[Llannagh]

Hey Straf!

I mostly like what you're doing there. Especially considering you're doing it with just a mouse. When I started out, I didn't have a lot of experience and wouldn't consider myself an artist aswell, but although I still wouldn't consider myself one, I found that one can progress a lot by just H&H! If you're really into it, consider investing in a graphics tablet. It makes work so much easier and accessible.

If you're using textures, Caenwyr already said everything there is to know. Only use the right resolution and only use free ones or your own. There are some good tutorials on creating your own textures on the forum, maybe check those out.

As for your map, I really like what you did with those mountains, it reminds me of what i did at first. Your coastlines are a bit thick, though I like their raggedness. The colouring also is a good start, but it looks a bit blurry.

Lastly, have some rep for all the work!

[Straf]

Thanks Llannagh, I really appreciate it Have some rep back

I've read some of the guidance threads on choosing a graphics tablet on here and saw that my weapon of choice would be well over £100 which is, alas, out of my budget at this present time. So for the time being my mouse is my friend

I don't know what happened with the colouring. Actually I do, I've just realised I applied a Gaussian Blur to take away the pixels on the coast but I must have forgotten to undo when it didn't give the effect I wanted. I used the smudge tool to whip back some of the paint on the coast and give it a sort of sandy-beachy effect, I have raised the land using emboss and have started to put in some cliffs on the coast. I also want to put some higher/lower bits on the land and add some variation to the sea. Oh around the coast I used something called 'stroke' to put an edge around the sea and then applied a blur to it. So here is the latest instalment:



I think the most important aspect of drawing maps in this way is it's just fun, enjoyable, therapeutic even





*I may have slightly exaggerated