Eurydöme WIP/advice

[DMJackRackham]

Hey, so I'm in the early stages of making my first globe and it's more of an investment (maybe $20) than my previous maps, so I want to get this right.

Other than building them up in 3-dimensions, what's the best way to depict mountain ranges and forests? And, any specific suggestions about places that look like nice places for a particular terrain feature?

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[DMJackRackham]

I should also say, the relevant back story of this world is that there was once a pangaeic supercontinent that was broken apart by the gods. This ugly pic shows an approximation of how things fit - though, like our world, the process of breaking apart changed the shapes of landmasses, so that they don't fit nearly.

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[DMJackRackham]

I wanted to update this with my progress so far. There's still some fine touches and cleanup work I want to do, but:

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[Ilanthar]

Always nice to see a globe! Looking good. Not much of advice as I never tried it myself.

[DMJackRackham]

Always nice to see a globe! Looking good. Not much of advice as I never tried it myself.

Thanks! Yeah, I've drawn detailed maps for my game worlds for like a decade and it somehow never occurred to me to try a globe until this year.

It has been fun - surprisingly challenging, but rewarding. In particular, having to make a surface is new, and having to deal with irregularities in the surface is challenging. And then going from 2-dimensional drafts, to a 3-D globe, and then back to 2-D for supplemental maps (that I will use for political maps) has been hard. You can't just make a copy as one could working in 2-D. I've had to recreate those shapes free hand every time.

[Naima]

This is pretty cool, something to try out .

[DMJackRackham]

This is pretty cool, something to try out .

Thanks! It's been a pain in the butt, but I definitely recommend trying it.

(In case you want to know how I did it, as a starting place.)

I bought a couple different kinds of foam globe. The ones that have worked the best are the hollow, styrofoam half-globes (example linked below).

I basically put the two halves together, put a few layers of papier mache, waited for it to dry, painted it with a couple layers of white gesso. That gave me a white surface that would take pencil and pain.

From there, I drew outlines in pencil, used pastels for the bulk of the oceans, colored pencils around the coastlines, and colored pencil inside the land masses. I plan to use more pastel (carefully) to blend in some areas where pencil marks are visible. And I've been advised to put a layer of clear coat when it's dry and finished.

I will say, I am looking for a smarter way to get a better, smoother, more consistent surface. I'm considering buying a half-globe mold and making it out of plaster next time. Idk.

FloraCraft SmoothFoam Hollow Half Ball White https://a.co/d/gFUPgZw