The Phemosos Isles

[Jeremy]

Hi Everyone, just wanted to show you my most recent map. Could still do with some adjustments, such as the labels standing out more, but don’t know when I will be able to find time again. Please leave any constructive comments, and perhaps I will find the time to apply them. Again thanks for all your support.

[Ghostman]

That's an impressive map. The red dotted borders kind of stand out in being flat color when everything else looks natural/rough. Maybe apply a subtle bevel and/or drop shadow on them, reduce the saturation of the color?

[Gidde]

The labels might stand out a bit more if you desaturate the terrain a little; the colors really run the gamut and are very bold, so it's hard to get good contrast that works everywhere.

[Jeremy]

The labels might stand out a bit more if you desaturate the terrain a little; the colors really run the gamut and are very bold, so it's hard to get good contrast that works everywhere.

Many thanks for your comments Gidde and Ghostman. Yeah it’s difficult trying to get the text and the border lines to stand out, but really enjoy working into those mountains and get them painted in, making them look as convincing as I can. Will try what you have both suggested, in the hope that this works. Still learing here I’m afraid, so any comments that put a new technique into my arsenal is always gratefully received (priceless infact). Many thanks both for your kind and constructive comments, I will post the improvements when I get chance to apply them.

Jeremy

[Kellerica]

Pretty nice map! I personally really like the vibrant colors used here. The only place where I feel like they could still be improved is the area around The Bone Cold Sea, the white of the land is so extreme that is clashes a bit with the ocean blue surrounding it. The mountains look great at a distance, but the whole map is a bit blurry and suffers a tad when zoomed in at a 100%.

Good work on this, keep at it!

[Gidde]

You know, another way you could get the text to stand out, while keeping the vibrancy, would be to change the label layer to something like multiply. Then the color of the labels slightly changes based on the color beneath it.

[Jeremy]

Pretty nice map! I personally really like the vibrant colors used here. The only place where I feel like they could still be improved is the area around The Bone Cold Sea, the white of the land is so extreme that is clashes a bit with the ocean blue surrounding it. The mountains look great at a distance, but the whole map is a bit blurry and suffers a tad when zoomed in at a 100%.

Good work on this, keep at it!

Many thanks for your kind comments Kellerica. I also thought that about the empty lands, almost to bright, but have tried everything (changing blending modes etc), but still can't get it to work. I would ideally like to see the texture of the land come through here as well, ut was one of the reasons I gave it the name of the empty lands, you know unchartered. Do you have any suggestions for technique to make both your points on zooming in and the bright white? I really want to be able to make maps as good as you guys.

Again many thanks for the help, its gratefully received.

[Jeremy]

Well I have made some of the adjustments suggested, and think the labels read better now (thanks for the multiply trick Gidde). I am really enjoying making these maps, and really like the way they are going, I suppose its just practise, but really want to be as good as you guys some day. So any suggestions on what to improve are always received with feeling of warm gratitude and something to I will promise to try and implement next time.

Many thanks again

Jeremy

[Gidde]

Multiply worked nicely on those labels! What program are you using? In GIMP, Color -> Curves could tone down that bright white without messing with anything else (you just make the curve slightly level out at the end instead of going all the way up).

[Texas Jake]

Another thing you might try is adding a parchment layer and fool around with the blending modes and opacity so that it tones down and textures those bright white areas.