Good first steps. Every map you create, you improve your skill, so even if they don't turn out exactly like you'd hoped, it's still valuable practice.
My DM handed out this hand-drawn map for our campaign, and I thought it might be a fun exercise to try to create a more "map-like" version of it.
My first attempt was to do something following RobA's tutorial. However - due to my newness with GIMP - it did not turn out quite how I was hoping. It looked too "digital" for the setting. I stopped after placing the towns when I realized that I was unsatisfied with the mountains and forests especially.
So, now I've moved on to trying something new, by mixing and matching from various tutorials and generally starting to discover a style of my own. So far I have the background parchment and the water laid out. Hopefully, I'll slowly work my way through the remaining elements. It'll be fun to see how the map evolves as I play with it.
Good first steps. Every map you create, you improve your skill, so even if they don't turn out exactly like you'd hoped, it's still valuable practice.
It takes some time to get used to Gimp and in the beginning it's a lot of trial-and-error.
I love the background of your new map - it looks quiet realistic! I'm curious how your map will develop.
Thanks for all the encouragement! To get the texture, in addition to a noise layer on top of the paper, mode I added a layer of fuzz on top using a plasma cloud in overlay and draining most of the color, but I left a little color peeking through, giving some red and green shades. I'm pleased with the results and I'm glad to hear others like it too!
I spent a little more time on the water, getting the shading right, stroking coastlines, and giving the River more shape and tapering.
Next I'm going to focus on the mountains. I'm trying for a hand drawn feel, but unfortunately, I don't have a tablet, so it'll probably be a slower process trying to get the lines just so.
Finally got to finishing up the forests. Would have gotten to this sooner, but I got caught up working on the Lite challenge. Anyway, the next step will be the borders of the commonwealth, cities, and roads.
Comments and critiques welcome as always - although I don't want to make changes that take me too far from the original map.