Test map (Eguisheim 1400)

[Chlodowech]

Thanks a lot Adfor!

At the point that i‘ve reached with this work, i got two decisions to make, and one of them was already made - this will no more end up as a test map, but instead i wanna properly finish it.

With the other decision i need your help, it concerns a stylistic question that came up during the drawing.
As i started detailing another bunch of fields by drawing the outlines i thought that they already look quite decent without all the parallel lines, and now i‘m unsure whether i should keep those lines or get rid off them completely or keep a mix of both. What do you think.

Here‘s an image that shows both variants.

[MistyBeee]

Firstly, it's superb, as always !

For your asking, I would go for a mix of two : fields with lines looks like cultivated lands, while the others looks like meadows for cows and other animals, so it adds a nice variety. But if it's about choosing between two, fieds with lines have a more 'finished' look in my opinion and will make the roads easier to see.

[Chlodowech]

Thanks Misty, for the advice and the nice words, and i've taken the advice, or rather the 2nd part of it: I decided to draw the lines on all the fields, and then i added a pasture close to the south gate. The free space in between the two walls was used as common pasture as well (The road there is still called "Rue du Allmend", Allmend meaning land used by the community).



PS: Has anyone found the gallows yet?

[Chlodowech]

Another update, all that remains by now is the border, the text and the watercolour shadows.

[Falconius]

Just so amazing. This has to be one of my favorite city maps ever, already.

I haven't found the gallows though, unless it's the three pillared thing next to the trees.

[Chlodowech]

Thanks a lot Falconius, and yes, that three-pillared thing is indeed the gallows. This type was typical for the european middle ages, and some of those can still be found in lonely places near old towns. Mine however is purely out of imagination, there is no source proving that there used to be a gallows there.

Now for the progress on the map, which isn’t huge, but it is there: The border is finished , and now al that remains to be done with the pencil is the text.

Concerning that text, i have finally found some good sources that mentions medieval spellings of the town name. According to those sources the name had a lot of different spellings already by the 12th century - in use were ‚Hegensheim‘ , ‚Egensheim‘, ‚Egesheim‘ and also ‚Egisheim‘, the modern german spelling ( the ‚U‘ in the French spelling ‚Eguisheim‘ is only there to make the german name work with French pronunciation rules).

Other than that, there is an early 14th century document which contains the words ‚in opido egensheim‘, and that’s where things become more relevant for my map, since that is probably the spelling which was still used at the point of time that i put my map at (mid 15th century), and furthermore, it states the legal role that the town had back then - oppidum. This word was used in medieval documents for places that had functions similar to a town (market, defenses), but not a full town charter.

The text on my map on the top part will therefore be ‚Oppidum Egensheim‘, and on the bottom part ‚Anno domini 1450‘ ( arabic numbers were well in use by that time). As a font i‘ll try to find an early 15th century textura, probably the one of the Gutenberg Bible.

Enough text for now, here comes the latest WIP



PS: i never really learned latin, so feel free to correct me if there’s anything wrong with those 4 words.

[Chlodowech]

And that’s as good as it can get with my limited calligraphy skills:

[Chlodowech]

Last update of the linework, next ones will be on the watercolouring (rather indian ink mixed with water to get gray instead of pitch black), and by now it can be over pretty quickly because of the potential of indian ink to ruin a drawing.

[Chlodowech]

I know i should probably post things less often and more at a time, but still i want to share the first results of the watercolouring.

[Falconius]

I know i should probably post things less often and more at a time...

I also always think the same thin when I'm posting. But I really appreciate it in other peoples threads because you get more of idea of whats happening in depth and its easier to follow along. Perhaps more important though, is that you yourself have a log about what you've done, and when you go back through its you can learn a lot more than if you space it out too much.