Batikshal Empire

[ThomasR]

Ilanthar, might I suggest something ? By having an unevenness in the paler blue around the coasts, you would suggest shallower waters un particular places. For example, it would look good to further the peninsula movement with this paler blue suggesting that the ocean floor continues a little bit (or that there lies the sunken city of Ys qu'on peut apercevoir au large de Douarnenez quand le ciel est clair et que l'eau est calme ... je m'emporte). Same thing for a special bay where you could have the whole bay in shallow waters (allowing for a good surfing spot). I dunno if you have decided of the tectonics (nothing could surprise me from your awesomeness) but these features would break the monotony of your actual shallow waters and infuse more life in your marvelous piece. Juste mes deux centimes

[Ilanthar]

Yup, that's an excellent idea! Thanks Thomrey . I didn't planned anything about tectonics... it's a very magical world. And I have a lot of mysterious places to put on the map... why not a sunken city ?

Right now, I'm focusing on mountains. I guess I should work the main elements or I'll get lost in the tiny details of a small region...
### Latest WIP ###

[Ilanthar]

OK, I'm not even done with the basic shapes of the mountains of the Empire... and I'm already bored .
So, I did a few more rivers and tests about waters and things...

[Abu Lafia]

Well well, the good old mountain boredom Keep strong, the mountain ranges' basic shapes making up quite an interesting landscape already, and despite that, the Shardom Empyron in the east was planned as a vast steppe right?

[Mouse]

Ilanthar! Agh! How can you be bored when you can draw like that?!

I am most horribly jealous. Hmph

[Chris Lewis]

I really like the look and feel of this map, Ilanthar. It's got an "antique" feel to it I REALLY love, and I would like to emulate that as I make my pencil/pen drawings digital. Agreeing with everyone else, I love the mountains you're creating and I also like the wave lines along the western bay at the base of the mountains. I also like the way you have made the trees enshroud bases of the mountains. These may be menial things to you as an experienced artist but I really appreciate them as a beginner. Thank you for sharing and thank you for the inspiration!

[Chris Lewis]

OK, I'm not even done with the basic shapes of the mountains of the Empire... and I'm already bored .
So, I did a few more rivers and tests about waters and things...

I really like the addition of the shallow water regions along the coast lines, Ilanthar. If you have time at some point, would you be able to tell me how I could achieve the same effect in GIMP? I don't have a tablet and am really working to wrap my arms around GIMP - I can imagine this would go a lot more "smoother" with a pen than a mouse.

[Abu Lafia]

Hey Chris, i think Ilanthar isn't working with gimp as far as i know. I described the steps i use to produce a similar effect for coastal waters (and all kinds of other stuff too) in this little tutorial i wrote for gimp (step 8 ). It's about making a textured edge for a parchment, but the technique is the same. Just select your watermass instead. The most important thing is to find a nice fuzzy brush that is to your liking. Hope it helps a bit!

Btw. it's a more automatized way to achieve this effect. You could also just manually draw them.

Sorry for Hijacking Ilanthar

[Ilanthar]

Thanks everyone! You're pushing me to keep working on it .

By Abu Lafia
the Shardom Empyron in the east was planned as a vast steppe right?

In the NW part, yes, but it quickly turns into a desert.

@Chris Lewis : thanks a lot, I'm glad you find the map inspiring . Abu Lafia is completely right : I'm using Krita here (for almost everyhing) and PSP7 for labeling). I used GIMP mainly for a few filters and things I can't do otherwise... Have a look on the tutorial Abu is pointing, it's surely way more clear and efficient than my current experimentation.

And the basic outline of the Empire's mountains is done... (now, the major part is details...). I'm gonna have a break with mountains and do the forests/rivers basics now.

[Chris Lewis]

Hey Chris, i think Ilanthar isn't working with gimp as far as i know. I described the steps i use to produce a similar effect for coastal waters (and all kinds of other stuff too) in this little tutorial i wrote for gimp (step 8 ). It's about making a textured edge for a parchment, but the technique is the same. Just select your watermass instead. The most important thing is to find a nice fuzzy brush that is to your liking. Hope it helps a bit!

Btw. it's a more automatized way to achieve this effect. You could also just manually draw them.

Sorry for Hijacking Ilanthar

Thank you for the link, AL! I sent you some rep.