Tir Na Scail, Commissioned World Map

[IllustratedPageBookDesign]

Hello everyone! I previously shared it on the Discord server, but I'm posting it here as well. This map was created for author AC James's Land of Shadow book series Kickstarter campaign. I created the entire map from scratch by drawing in Photoshop, with the exception of the different icons -- those were made by the author and her husband and incorporated at her request.

Probably the most time consuming part of this was the Shade, the multicolored forest. For this, I started by shading it all as one color, then using hue adjustment masks and the lasso tool to separate out the different trees. The lasso tool is my go-to for all the coloring. Line art was all drawn using a simple hard brush with pressure size turned on.

I got a basic Inkarnate map from the author that I used as a reference for placement, and I also asked a lot of specific questions about the look of the different courts and locations. I ended up with a multi-page Word document of notes before I started drawing.

[Simkin]

I like the colored version more than the B/W. Really good map, original style well executed.

[XCali]

Very nice! Love the forests.

Question what was the Canvas size for this map?

[IllustratedPageBookDesign]

Thank you! I like the colored version more too. I did give the author the line art version though, since she may later on do regular, black-and-white printings of the book.

[IllustratedPageBookDesign]

Very nice! Love the forests.

Question what was the Canvas size for this map?

It was a double-page spread for a 6 by 9 inch book, so 12 by 9 inches at 300 DPI. The author may need to adjust things a bit when formatting, but that's why we did the solid color frame -- it'll make it easier for her to scale things up or down and account for bleed.

[- JO -]

I love your lineart ! So precise, so effective... It gives you a proper style that I find very attractive for the eye
And that's why I prefer the B/W version...