Arcannan Commission (WIP)

[Josiah VE]

Hello again all! Sorry for my inactivity, I have been quite busy with school and such

I have taken on quite a large commission. I've gotten through the sketching stage and now am on the linework.





I've done the mountains and now am onto the forests.

I deciding on what style to use, I have two on the map here. Which one do you think fits better, the one that really pops up or the flatter style?



Critiques and comments are more than welcome!

[foremost]

Hello Josiah,

I really like how this one is turning out so far... the shapes of the different continents are really quite interesting. The map definitely has a jagged feel already (in a good way), so hopefully this is what you were aiming for. I would love to know what some of your client's directions were (not being familiar with commissions myself, I'm not sure it's appropriate to ask).

I like the flat forest style myself.

Also, as a critique, I noticed that some of the mountains on the islands you have look a a little bit odd. Here's an image of what I mean (taken from the top right corner of your map):



The mountains in the areas I have circled look like ledges (imo), which is trippy because both sides of the islands are (naturally) at sea level, so there couldn't be a drop between them. I think you could make the "ledges" look more like mountains with shading later on... but maybe you could avoid that work by correcting the line art now? It's tough to draw mountains on small islands.

Other than that, it is, again, looking very nice!

[ThomasR]

First, the overall lay out is wonderful ! Then, I have to second foremost and say that some of your mountains look a little bit cliffy. Also, I find the linework a little bit thick but it's a department where I've got my quirks. It's a very nice start !

And Forest 1 works well.

[DanielHasenbos]

Congrats on the commission! It's looking great Josiah! I actually think those mountains look good, considering they represent something like a crater. The layout is great and for the forests I would go with number 1.

-Dan

[Greg]

I thought you'd been quiet for a while Josiah, so it's good to see you back!

Firstly, it looks great so far what you've done. I always love your linework style and this is no different!

I'm also going to have to agree with Dan on this one in that I think those mountains around the creater-esque bay look good. Admittedly, completely zoomed in they seem slightly odd, but I don't think that's an issue in the slightest as they are probably not intended to be viewed that close. Besides, once shading (and colour?) are added, I don't think it will look odd at all. Anyway, the point is, I think that they work well and look really great from a more zoomed out perspective.

As for forests, I prefer number 1's look and think it more coherent with the style, but whichever you choose I'm sure you'd pull it off equally well!

[Mouse]

Oh, now that's really quite pretty already

I love the shape, and the crater... though I think where the optical illusion of things being not quite right in the bits that foremost pointed out could be improved by a few ever so slight tweaks in the lines that come down the face of the steeper, inner side of the crater. If you straighten them just the very tiniest amount (make them more obviously vertical) I think you might get rid of the slight confusion there - since cliffs, or near cliffs are what they are supposed to be, aren't they?

I'd definitely go for forest number 1, since the front edge makes it totally obvious that these lines are trees and they cannot be mistaken for anything else, like rough ground or swamp, for instance.

Overall a very promising start, and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest

[ThomasR]

My bad, I withdraw my comment about the cliffy mountains now that I see they're part of a crater... Deepest apologies

[Mouse]

And my bad for being so strident in my remarks that I make other people feel bad!

Sorry Thomrey!

[Tiluchi]

I love the 3-D sort of effect you get with the crater- it definitely enhances the effect of some sort of impact or explosion. As for the forests, I actually like both, but I agree with Mouse that it's easier to tell what it is with style 1. On the other hand, if it's going to be in color, style 2 would work perfectly well also. Excited to see more of this!

[kacey]

I'm loving the land shapes, and the mountains look great, even the cliffy ones others have picked at, I quite like them the way they are. Like the others I like style 1 for the trees. This is looking to be a really good start, I will be watching for updates, what you have so far is very promising.