Nice. And not so overly specific that I couldn't use it, but with enough flavor it practically writes the adventure for me. I especially like the "Cave of Weeping Echoes".
torstan - for the water I just used a plain round brush at about 60% hardness with wet edges turned on. Used a couple shades of blue at about 30% transparency, then hit it with the watercolor filter then faded the filter effect 50%. Lastly set the whole layer to normal and 40% opacity.
Steel General - thanks for backing me up =)
thebax2k - Thank you!
My debut novel, The Final Warden is available on Amazon.com in paperback and on Kindle.
Please visit my blog for more information about my writing and my art
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TomCardin
Nice. And not so overly specific that I couldn't use it, but with enough flavor it practically writes the adventure for me. I especially like the "Cave of Weeping Echoes".
update - added shrooms to The Fungus Grotto and Vileslime Chamber - got rid of that nasty papyrus font.
My debut novel, The Final Warden is available on Amazon.com in paperback and on Kindle.
Please visit my blog for more information about my writing and my art
Please visit my sketchbook on Conceptart.org
TomCardin
nice! i like the mushrooms. And good choice on the font.. it gives the same kind of look/feel without you having to dodge rotten fruit
My finished maps
"...sometimes the most efficient way to make something look drawn by hand is to simply draw it by hand..."
A subtle color gradation might do it. Nothing rainbow .. just ... like a pale yellow for the highest, shading through to a gray-turquoise for the lowest. If you want a lot of depth, go three colors, maybe a washed-out sienna for whatever's really really low. Should be pretty easy to test out, and if you hate it, ditch it.
Venus Public Transit, Map Of Ceres, Jack Vance's Ports Of Call & Lurulu ... why do I only have 3 maps here?
Like it a lot. And that's certainly a little easier on the eyes!
Those mushrooms are great.
We all have our pet peeves, and familiar/overused fonts is certainly going to be one of them, for any group of people who are using fonts the way we do.
However, I think we need to keep a smidgeon of objectivity, and remember that -- other than some really bad kerning -- there's nothing that awful about Papyrus. In fact, for this image, I think it's better than the one you changed to.
TECHNIQUE: You know what I do, is, every time I need a "new" font, I get on those free font sites and find one I've never seen before. Sure, a lot of them are just renamed bootlegs ... but I can't tell the difference, and I often find a unique font, with lots of novelty value, to avoid the "omg not THAT font again" syndrome. Plus, because it's for a specific project whose flavor I kinda have in my head, it's not so difficult to find one that matches the overall feel I am going for.
Venus Public Transit, Map Of Ceres, Jack Vance's Ports Of Call & Lurulu ... why do I only have 3 maps here?
I agree entirely. The papyrus comment was a little tongue in cheek, but it's got a bit of a reputation for itself and I think that's worth being aware of if you are interested in sending a map around.
I agree about the font websites. They are a brilliant source of inspiration and I've never failed to find something good with a little hunting. It certainly makes a difference to get the font bang on in a map.
Of course, for a true creative type, the thing to do is make your own font. However, that's almost never practical because of the time it takes to make a font.
I once long ago had a nifty proggy that takes two fonts and "morphs" them together ... mixing a serif with a sans-serif generated some neat results. Oh, I remember the name: Font Chameleon! probably extinct.
You can also fudge existing fonts by converting them to outlines and applying various effects, especially distresses. Papyrus is distressed, which I think is its primary appeal, because the lettershapes themselves are less than unique.
Venus Public Transit, Map Of Ceres, Jack Vance's Ports Of Call & Lurulu ... why do I only have 3 maps here?
In PS, if you rasterize your type layer and then put a mask on it then you can do all sorts of fun things to the edges...cracks, blobs, bloats, drips, grunge, spikes, custom swashes, etc. I do it frequently on large text, like for "Wanted" posters.
If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)
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