City of Marraic

[- JO -]

Hello, fellow cartographers!

Here is a new map in a series that details particular places in Nossym's world (in which stories written by my wife are set).

This is the third in the series, after Cluses and the Twin Cities of Maredale.

Marraic is the capital of the Elves, an reclusive race. Very few of them travel to other continents and even fewer settle anywhere else but this island. Marraic is both the name of the main city (the only one that is somewhat open to foreigners for trade) and that of the whole island. It is a name which is a phonetic translation of the elf name of the town, a name given by the first visitors of other races who "discovered" the place. By extension, they named the whole island after the capital.

The island is home to mountains, high plateaus, an immense forest, lakes and several glaciers. Each region is home to elven tribes who have adapted to their environment over the years. This is the rare information that has reached the peoples of the other races that populate Nossym, as the continent is largely off-limits to non-elves and remains very mysterious. Very few people have been able to visit part of it and even fewer have returned to talk about it.

From the very first sketches of Nossym's world, this island stood out from the rest and seemed quite suitable to welcome a race which is not very widespread in the world, that of the Elves. When I drew the first regional map of Nossym, a piece of Marraic was part of it and I made a small sketch of a town built on a promontory at the mouth of a river. A city divided by a series of walls and ditches, a bit like Minas Tirith, but without the mountain. This little sketch seduced me and I always told myself that I would try one day to draw the city more precisely. Today I have done so (7-8 years later...).

The map was mainly drawn on Ipad Pro (Procreate), but the labels and composition were done on PS CC 2019.

Feel free to comment and criticize

[Tiana]

Nice drawing.

[cherrytea]

Wow!! That’s beautiful!

[J.Edward]

That looks great, Joel.
I like seeing the other connected maps along with this.
It's really developing nicely, and you are really expanding your skillset.

[Josiah VE]

Wow, this is really really beautiful. You've nailed city maps, I love the incredible detail you put into them, amazing work!
I just have two really small nitpicks, the brown linework of the forest seems to clash a bit with the forest color. A dark green for the linework might work very nicely. Same with the linework for the cliffs, it looks a little off when the shading is darker than the linework.
The only other thing would be the water. the style just isn't my favorite with the textured look and dark blotches, but maybe it's just me.

Overall, a masterpiece!!

[ThomasR]

Joël, I've been meaning for a long time to comment on your latest posts but life gets in the way and I keep forgetting. This time won't be different so, sorry for the delay on the other maps but this one ... It is simply outstanding ! The city just... exists ! It is beautiful and it is here, you gave life to your drawing. Bravo l'ami !

If I had one little nitpicking comment it would be about the forest. At this scale, with a city this much detailed, it would have deserved a whole awful lot of trees individually drawn but I really cannot blame you, plus, the focus is on the city and itlooks beyond awesome

[Tiana]

If I had one little nitpicking comment it would be about the forest. At this scale, with a city this much detailed, it would have deserved a whole awful lot of trees individually drawn but I really cannot blame you, plus, the focus is on the city and itlooks beyond awesome

While my only nitpick is also about the forest (I don't love the brown lineart on it), I think individuated trees could have made it look too busy. This was the right choice to ensure the focus remains on the central point. Especially if the final print is intended to be small. This also implies the forest is highly dense, which could be a storytelling decision. I would have liked to maybe see a few individuated trees on the outskirts of the forest as it thins out, and even some logged areas, but I like how the design focuses the viewer on the city because the detail isn't present in every square inch.

[- JO -]

Nice drawing.

Thanks Tiana ! I'm glad you like it !

Wow!! That’s beautiful!

Thanks a lot Cherrytea !

That looks great, Joel.
I like seeing the other connected maps along with this.
It's really developing nicely, and you are really expanding your skillset.

Thanks so much for your kind words, J. ! Especially since I don't really feel my skillset is expanding... I see every flaw in each of my maps, and each time I think i should restard completely. But your support helps me get on with it !

Wow, this is really really beautiful. You've nailed city maps, I love the incredible detail you put into them, amazing work!
I just have two really small nitpicks, the brown linework of the forest seems to clash a bit with the forest color. A dark green for the linework might work very nicely. Same with the linework for the cliffs, it looks a little off when the shading is darker than the linework.
The only other thing would be the water. the style just isn't my favorite with the textured look and dark blotches, but maybe it's just me.

Overall, a masterpiece!!

You're absolutely right about that line... At first I wanted to make a map with much less strong colour, so I took brown for the line, and I reduced the opacity of the line, to make a less "flashy" map, then there were so many pauses during the making of the map that I lost sight of some initial ideas... and in the end, I "make do" with it (it's not the line layer that has its opacity lowered, it's the line itself... difficult to go back to the original). In fact, if I refer to the two other maps drawn on the same model, all the colours have their opacity lowered. And if I do the same thing with Marraic, the city stands out less (I put below a "corrected" version). As for the water, I also agree with you: I don't really like the result either, but I still haven't found a good way to draw water on Procreate, with the brushes at my disposal (not to mention that I try to remain consistent with the two previous maps). In any case thank you for your enlightening and enlightening remarks, it helps me a lot to progress!



Tell me what you think of this one ?

Joël, I've been meaning for a long time to comment on your latest posts but life gets in the way and I keep forgetting. This time won't be different so, sorry for the delay on the other maps but this one ... It is simply outstanding ! The city just... exists ! It is beautiful and it is here, you gave life to your drawing. Bravo l'ami !

If I had one little nitpicking comment it would be about the forest. At this scale, with a city this much detailed, it would have deserved a whole awful lot of trees individually drawn but I really cannot blame you, plus, the focus is on the city and itlooks beyond awesome

Many thanks for your encouraging words, Thomas! You know how much your opinion means to me! You're probably right about the forest, but considering its size, I have to admit that I didn't have the courage to tackle drawing all the trees individually. Not to mention that I try to remain consistent with the two other maps that I have already drawn, but which have a different scale. In the end, I'm quite happy that you like the map despite its flaws! Thanks again for the encouragement!

While my only nitpick is also about the forest (I don't love the brown lineart on it), I think individuated trees could have made it look too busy. This was the right choice to ensure the focus remains on the central point. Especially if the final print is intended to be small. This also implies the forest is highly dense, which could be a storytelling decision. I would have liked to maybe see a few individuated trees on the outskirts of the forest as it thins out, and even some logged areas, but I like how the design focuses the viewer on the city because the detail isn't present in every square inch.

Thank you Tiana for your remarks, quite justified! I admit that I didn't put all my efforts into the forest, I wanted above all that the city be successful and that it emerges from the drawing. Tell me what you think of the corrected version I published above, I have changed the opacity of the colours and as a result the brown line should be less disturbing?

[Tiana]

Especially since I don't really feel my skillset is expanding... I see every flaw in each of my maps

That's literally only the case BECAUSE your skillset is expanding. If you didn't know more, you would be unable to recognize what the flaws are, and instead just chalk them up to "something seems a bit off". Just because you haven't reached a point where you have the skill to correct those flaws doesn't mean you have not improved overall. Frustration because you can see what's wrong but not fix it... is pretty normal for the learning process, I think.

I do like the corrected version a bit better, yes.

[J.Edward]

Thanks so much for your kind words, J. ! Especially since I don't really feel my skillset is expanding... I see every flaw in each of my maps, and each time I think i should restard completely. But your support helps me get on with it !

I know what you mean. I see all the flaws in my own work.
I have just gotten better at accepting them and continuing forward with new maps.

I make things that aren't successful, but just don't tend to show them much.
In fact, I've just been practicing with heraldic stuff again, as well as little spot renderings of items and objects.
Some were not great, but I'll probably show some of them. Always practicing and trying to expand on skills.