jshoer's workshop

[Voolf]

The galaxy is so NEAT.

[Ilanthar]

Cool! The village & the galaxy are particularly impressive.

[jshoer]

Thanks, everybody!

The next page contains a "real" version of the abstract pattern map...

[jshoer]

Here we go! Trying a couple things, including trying to make it look like the map is on a well-folded woven surface and adding annotations in a later hand - maybe a trader going through the unfamiliar land:

[Diamond]

I'm honored to be swiped from!

I can only echo the rest when it comes to that village map - daaaaaamn. And that galaxy map is pretty sweet too.

[ThomasR]

Here we go! Trying a couple things, including trying to make it look like the map is on a well-folded woven surface and adding annotations in a later hand - maybe a trader going through the unfamiliar land:

I like it ! If I may propose an advice ... Scan it, throw a parchment background beneath, slightly erase the fabric marks and stain it. Ok, that's my answer to every hand drawn map these days but I think it could look cool. Add a fabric overlay and perhaps a layer with a greayscale fold set to hard light or linear light and you're set with a gorgeous map.

[jshoer]

I like it ! If I may propose an advice ... Scan it, throw a parchment background beneath, slightly erase the fabric marks and stain it. Ok, that's my answer to every hand drawn map these days but I think it could look cool. Add a fabric overlay and perhaps a layer with a greayscale fold set to hard light or linear light and you're set with a gorgeous map.

Hmm, trying to step through your advice, and I came up with this...what do you think?


The layers are:
- a brown color on the bottom
- a fabric texture at 80% opacity normal
- a brown/black radial gradient along the border at 100% normal
- the hand-drawn map, set to multiply
- shadows: big, soft black brush at 30% opacity soft light, and then half the line erased with a harder brush
- same thing with a white brush for highlights

[ThomasR]

It looks pretty good ! I'd add some stains here and there and a bit more near the creases and borders and maybe, change the background from that bright brown to, maybe, a white in order to add a cast shadow to anchor your map on the background.

[bkh1914]

For a little more realism, you could do a displace along the fold lines to shift/distort the map line-work slightly and further make the map look like it is still slightly folded. (Use the fold line highlight & shadow for the displace map.)

[jshoer]

Ooh, that was a cool trick! Anything else you think I can do?