City of Kingkel

[Ilanthar]

More and more impressive!

[MistyBeee]

Before registering on this forum I thought to be someone with patience.

This one is special, I must say. I would have bet it would become boring, but actually it's really not. Working on this map, restarting from scratch at every new layer has something hypnotic and pleasant. I'm pretty sad to know it's almost done ^^'

On top of being one of the best illustrationist, you certainly are a master of perspective ! Such a talent !

Ohh... Don't make me blush ! I definitely don't see myself as good at illustration. It's just... you know... trying, failing, trying again and being insanely stubborn. Something like "fake it until you make it"

More and more impressive!

Thanks Ilanthar ! Let's see if the next step works too


=

It's been a while since the last update : my schedule changed with an unexpected commission, and as I have no specific deadline for this one, it's always the poor Kingkel which falls at the bottom of the list (don't imagine I'm lenient : the commissionner still doesn't have the information I need for the upcoming steps, so I'm not late !) ^^'

So what's new on this one : drew tons of details on the line work, adding texture to the streets ; finally worked on the countryside color & relief ; added the last shading layer on the buildings. Just one more light layer and I think I'll be done with the city itself !

Now... phone is a terrible, treacherous tool, you know ? Yesterday evening, I was innocently chatting with someone by phone in front of my tablet, and while my brain was occupied, my hand started drawing hundreds of tiny people in the street. And now, I have half of the map populated with 10px tall Kingkelers. What do you think, Guild ? Do you love them and are they a great addition, even that small ? If yes, I'll fill the old town with them the next time I get a call

### Latest WIP ###

[snodsy]

Wow this one is stunning. Such detail at this scale. You could get lost in this map for hours, great job, look forward to seeing it finished.

[- JO -]

Fantastic work !
For the inhabitant, I must say I can't tell... even if I zoom in your map, they look 2 pixels high.
So the "impression" of having people walking the streets is good, but to really tell, I should have a better resolution map to see how they look (generally speaking, of course...)

[tainotim]

Such amazing work MistyBeee. It will be hard for anyone to compete against this for the annual awards next year! Already a winner.

For me the only things I would like to change is to just keep the map plain, without all that extra surrounding ornamentations and information. I think a true masterpiece should speak for itself, and this really is a masterpiece. To me decoration is just unnecessary distraction from the jewel in the center. Often I find that the best maps are the once that have the least writing on them.

Looking forward to see this finished.

Cheers,
Karl

[Voolf]

Agree tainotim. Only the greatest of the greatest of city mapping can compete with Misty map

Misty, where do you get your ideas for more complex building (like castle etc) ? Or do you draw without any refference ?

[MapMappingMapped]

Totally loving this. Great to feel like a bird soaring over the rooftops...

[MistyBeee]

Wow this one is stunning. Such detail at this scale. You could get lost in this map for hours, great job, look forward to seeing it finished.

Thanks Snodsy !!

Fantastic work !
For the inhabitant, I must say I can't tell... even if I zoom in your map, they look 2 pixels high.
So the "impression" of having people walking the streets is good, but to really tell, I should have a better resolution map to see how they look (generally speaking, of course...)

Thank you Jo !
Quick closer view, just for you :

Such amazing work MistyBeee. It will be hard for anyone to compete against this for the annual awards next year! Already a winner.
For me the only things I would like to change is to just keep the map plain, without all that extra surrounding ornamentations and information. I think a true masterpiece should speak for itself, and this really is a masterpiece. To me decoration is just unnecessary distraction from the jewel in the center. Often I find that the best maps are the once that have the least writing on them.
Looking forward to see this finished.
Cheers,
Karl

Thanks a lot Tainotim ! As a big fan of your city maps, it means a lot !!
That's an interesting feedback you submitted there. Most of the people I talked with agreed the wider surrounding was a better showcase, so it's great to have a different point of view. I'll try to not lost the focus on the main map while working on the border, but it's now a request from the client, so I'm not totally free.
However, I already planned to prepare a first version of the map without the informations, so I assume at the end, we'll probably have the two versions

Agree tainotim. Only the greatest of the greatest of city mapping can compete with Misty map
Misty, where do you get your ideas for more complex building (like castle etc) ? Or do you draw without any refference ?

Thank you so much, Voolf !
For the ideas... The client sent has specific styles in mind for a few buildings and sent me reference pics : old town/North castle (1 on the map) is roughly inspired by the Dover Castle, new town/South palace (2) by Whitehall, the University (3) by the University of Edimburg and finally I had to draw something similar to the Mausoleum of Tor de Schiavi (6).
As far as I can say, all the others are from imagination, but I sometimes look at a... starting point from something I saw in reality (I always have an eye open on architecture when I travel or even in my own area and I have ton of weird pics in my phone ^^'), or in a book, or on the web. A good example would be the cathedral (5) : I got a picture of the Portland Oregon Temple and liked the spire, which was the starting point for Kingkel's cathedral, even if at the end it's difficult to identify a common point ^^'

[XCali]

MistyBeee... Your talent knows no bounds. Thank you for enriching our lives by showcasing your maps and inspiring us to know that nothing is impossible if put your heart and mind to it. *High five*

(How long have you been busy with this one so far?)

[Voolf]

Thanks for the answer Misty.