On the back of Dragons ...

[ThomasR]

An aerial view of a planet, inspired by J.Edward "Thurians". It clearly needs work and maybe the brush was not the good tool for it but I'm learning. Done on a charming new elongated sketchpad with a kuretake soft brush n°13 in a couple of hours. I added the text and background texturing digitally. It was fun, I hope you like it.

[Mouse]

Oh Thomas! You simply must do a larger more complicated version of this!

Its wonderful - one of those images that inspires the imagination and leads to all kinds of adventures

[Voolf]

Really nice work. As Mouse said, you have to do something bigger like that. Next time adding some waves may be even better ?

[Ilanthar]

Very cool map and a nice perspective! A bigger map would be a delight.
I'm not an expert in brushes either (I always use the same 2-3...), but I think this one is a bit thick to my taste, though.

[Abu Lafia]

Hey Thomas, that's a fantastic map indeed! The "dragon's eye perspective" is really cool. Love the format you've chosen for this piece. Great to see you experimenting that much with different media and style, the results are awesome!

[J.Edward]

I like how this came out, Thomas
Whats is the size on paper?
Curious, based on size of line thickness.
Just for fun, my guess.... maybe 9 x 18 cm? maybe, or a bit larger.

I have been enjoying working with brush pens since inktober.
My favorites have been the Kuretake Fudegokochi, which is actually a rubber brush I think, but very nice lines.
And the Sakura Pigma brush, believe it or not. It's not one of the better ones, but can do some nice work.
I tried some of the other Kuretake brush pens, but found them too brush-like I know, i know.

I'm still such a control junky that I have to use my technical pens though.
But I am liking the better ability to vary the line thickness.
How do you find the balance there, between control and line expression?

[ThomasR]

Oh Thomas! You simply must do a larger more complicated version of this!

Its wonderful - one of those images that inspires the imagination and leads to all kinds of adventures

Thanks Sue I'm determined to do more like this one. I've made some tries in the past but I gotta dive in more. Glad it sparks that adventure feel as it's what I aim for with all my maps.

Really nice work. As Mouse said, you have to do something bigger like that. Next time adding some waves may be even better ?

Thanks Rafal I hesitated to add coastal waves but quite liked the emptiness of the ocean. My Lite Challenge map will have the sea squiggles though.

Very cool map and a nice perspective! A bigger map would be a delight.
I'm not an expert in brushes either (I always use the same 2-3...), but I think this one is a bit thick to my taste, though.

Merci Julien A bigger map is in the making as you know. Actually, a 90x90 cm map of South America is in the making with this style but it goes super slowly. About the width, I'm really awkward with the pen and I have to learn, that's why I'll do my challenge map with the same tool, hoping not to screw it up.

Hey Thomas, that's a fantastic map indeed! The "dragon's eye perspective" is really cool. Love the format you've chosen for this piece. Great to see you experimenting that much with different media and style, the results are awesome!

Danke Martin When I saw the sketchbook I knew I had to try it. I hope to better myself through practice, how original

I like how this came out, Thomas
Whats is the size on paper?
Curious, based on size of line thickness.
Just for fun, my guess.... maybe 9 x 18 cm? maybe, or a bit larger.

I have been enjoying working with brush pens since inktober.
My favorites have been the Kuretake Fudegokochi, which is actually a rubber brush I think, but very nice lines.
And the Sakura Pigma brush, believe it or not. It's not one of the better ones, but can do some nice work.
I tried some of the other Kuretake brush pens, but found them too brush-like I know, i know.

I'm still such a control junky that I have to use my technical pens though.
But I am liking the better ability to vary the line thickness.
How do you find the balance there, between control and line expression?

Thanks John, you know you are the inspiration behind all this, don't you ?
The paper is 14,5x28 cm.

Here again, your inktober pieces and a comment on your DA page lead me to do some research on tools and a post by Jake Parker gave me much intel. I'll look into the tools you are talking about, the problem being that kuretake are hard to find in Europe (I made mine come from the US).

About the control thing, I try things with the brush because it's awfully funny but I have to take on a map like this one with my fineliners (and the level of details I could achieve with the 0.03 makes me dizzy). As you can see, I do not find balance between control and line. I'm working on it but the way will be long. I hope I'll do a better job on my Lite Challenge map, unfortunately there will most likely not be a WIP per se. The map I'll post will be the finished one. I plan on doing a very detailed pencil map and then ink it. As the ink doesn't support the eraser well, I'll have to be extra cautious and precise.

[nopkin]

This looks really great! You've inspired me to take out my brushpens - which I haven't touched in a long while - and do something like this, so I'm going to try my hand at a brush map this weekend

Great to see you on Instagram too!

[Azélor]

Cool, it looks just as good as the real thing
It is not an easy perspective to work with.

[MistyBeee]

This map just look super nice : looks like something an adventurer would have sketched in situ in his travel book