A few more b/w maps. Suggestions and critique welcome.

[krostatina]

This is a little test I did a few weeks ago to try Impractical Cartographer's trick with the vodka-colour. Only I decided to stain the paper with spirit tea and see how well it took the ink. It seems it does pretty well!
This was done in less than 5 minutes (plus the paper staining and drying) as a quick trial and it is one of my favourite so far. It seems like I draw better when I'm not trying at all.


I liked it so much that I tried the same kind of style on a bigger map. This one took me a loose 40 minutes, most of which to decide what style to use for the forests.
I consider this a WIP but I don't want to clutter it too much to not loose the feel, and I'm not sure if it will benefit at all from colour. I guess I'll have to have a go at it, but suggestions are welcome.



Next one is a little more intentional, but I wasn't following any preconceived ideas, I just put the pen on paper and filled it with a few ideas stolen here and there. I think I went too overboard trying to fill the empty space, but I like how the elements tied together and the proportion between them that it's something I always struggle with at this large regional scale. And while drawing I came up with a story for the area, so I think it's going to be a keeper. As for the previous one, the big question is to colour or not to colour? I'll probably add a compass rose and title as soon as I came up with a good name.



Thank you in advance for any comment and suggestions!