Mapping Forests in Adobe Illustrator

[Dangerbutton]

I've been working in Adobe Illustrator to create my latest map, and I've run into trouble with making forests. Short of creating each tree as a tiny vector object, what methods have you used for depicting forests?

[Meshon]

In my first ever comission (Thanks Anstett!) of the Principality of Dryad's Lair, I needed to make a forest and some wooded areas. I drew several trees as vector objects and then turned them into symbols. I was then able to use the Symbol Sprayer and related tools to fill in areas of forest relatively quickly. For the Oak Hollow map I think I only drew one tree and then used a scatter brush to fill it in. Finally, you could try something like I did on the Menkong River map (a style I'm pretty sure I stole from someone here!). It's hand-drawn, but you could definitely do that in Illustrator, especially if you use width profiles for your lines, and a drawing tablet to make squiggles easier.

Hope this helps!

Dryad's Lair


Oak Hollow


Mengkong River


cheers,
Meshon