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Thread: The Forest Smithy - Critique welcome

  1. #1

    Default The Forest Smithy - Critique welcome

    This time I'm trying something different. I thought it would be fun to find a description from an old tabletop rpg adventure and make a map from it. This is of course extra interesting as this particular area didn't have a map draw, it is pretty insignificant to the adventure at large. But I like it. I roughly translated it to English so you could all see what I have guiding me with this map.

    “A slow moving pillar of smoke rises from the chimney of a small timbered cabin. A large knoll rises behind the cabin and makes it look smaller than it actually is. A dark cave opening finds its way into the mountain next to the cabin.
    The area surrounding the cabin has mostly been cleared of trees and other vegetation. A pile of large logs lie at the foot of the mountain.
    You hear a cracking sound from an axe hitting wood, and you notice a large man under a pine next to the cabin. In his hand you see a large axe that he, with a powerful swing, leaves in the tree stump before he approaches you.”


    The text further describes how this is the home of a smith and that he has all that stuff behind the house. I made a quick and dirty sketch of the layout. I will be remaking the cabin interior as I move the chimney a bit and stuff like that. So here is what I have so far!

    Last edited by Dysterkvist; 06-18-2016 at 05:51 AM. Reason: Forgot stuff

  2. #2
    Guild Journeyer
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    Looking great, Dyster.

    Don't know how you feel about it, but I would zoom in the general view a bit to concentrate the image on the nearby yard of the cabin, unless you have something important bit further away!

  3. #3
    Professional Artist ThomasR's Avatar
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    That's a great start !

  4. #4
    Guild Expert snodsy's Avatar
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    You have some great elements to illustrate here, look forward to seeing this come together. Make sure the Chimney is in the same location on both. Great start

  5. #5
    Guild Master Josiah VE's Avatar
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    Very nice so far.

    I offer map commissions for RPG's, world-building, and books
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  6. #6

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    Hey everyone, thanks for the comments!

    It might have been a good idea to zoom in a bit on the house, the jury is still out on if I could/should do that. I'm learning as I go here so mistakes are bound to be made. I quite like where it's headed so far though.
    It also seems like I was just dying to detail stuff at a fairly ridiculous level this time.

    Not sure about how I will handle the mountain sides and the general ground. It will take me forever if I want to keep the same level of detail all over the place, will have to get creative there and figure something out I guess.

    I think I might have fudged the perspective somewhat on the outdoor smithy oven thing, but I realized that far too late so we will see if I go back and fix that or not. I intend to lay in some simple shadows to create some depth later, as it all looks very flat at the moment. I upped the black with a levels layer just before saving it out, so it might look a bit off now, I will fix that properly at a later stage.


  7. #7

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    Bit of an update here, added some more stuff in the interior of the house, scratched out some more details all over the place.
    I'm not sure how to handle the walls of the interior, I see people doing both fancy patterns inside and just leaving it empty. Any ideas concerning this is very welcome!

    I will be going away for a few days so there wont be much more progress this week.

    Thanks for looking!


  8. #8
    Guild Master Josiah VE's Avatar
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    Wow! That looks awesome! Some real amazing linework there. It looks almost real. The roof, the logs, the carpet, the shoes... Everything looks incredible. Can't wait to see more! I'll rep you in the meantime.

    I offer map commissions for RPG's, world-building, and books
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  9. #9
    Guild Artisan Jacktannery's Avatar
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    Excellent work! Superb style. One of the best maps I've seen in a long time. Simple and brilliant.

  10. #10

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    Really nice! I like the fact that you kept parts of the map empty giving it a really clean look. And the roof ..

    A few small things that you are probably already were planning to do. The lines of the walls of the interior view feel too straight compared to the other line work, and the mine could probably do with some scaffolding.

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