Island of Stepkliff

[vanScoota]

This is the island of Stepkliff, a place in my RPG world. It is located half a day's journey west of the continent of Atingund. When the heroes traveled there by ship to seek their fortune, they got into a sea blockade while entering the Prinz-Friedrich-Fjord. Their ship sank and they got rescued by Sebastian, a fisherman, who introduced them to the current political situation. The Duke of Stepkliff, Konrad III., is at war with the self-proclaimed Emperor of Atingund, Gustav I., after Konrad refused to pay newly demanded taxes. The emperor's troops are controlling the city of Baiershaven, but they are heavily outnumbered and it is only a matter of time until they will be overwhelmed. One reason for that is the sea blockade, which Konrad set up to cut off Baiershaven from any replemishments from the continent. Konrad also secretly cooperates with sorcerers of an alien folk. In this world magic is not common and most people don't even know of its existence.

After the heroes rescued a group of kidnapped children in the first adventure, they will be involved in the peace negotiations, which will take place in Lensenburg, the Duke's residence, next time.

This is my first digitally drawn map.

[SteffenBrand]

Hey! =)
I like your overall mood and colors, especially for a first digitally drawn mapping attempt! For that alone, I will rep you! Great!
Some pointers if you are interested: Texture density and contrast. With texture density I mean the stark difference between land and sea. This is not always an issue, but I think here you can slightly improve it by adding a tiny bit of it to the overall land. Contrast just what it is: By going a little bit deeper, you can also tone down the hard-white glow on the typo. I re-uploaded what I mean below regarding contrast / light, not including the texture bit. I'm sure you'll see the difference.
Thank you for sharing!

Best wishes from Southern Germany to Southern Germany,
--Steffen

[Kellerica]

Very nice little map! The island's layout looks nice and even, and I like your mountains and your cliffs.

I think Steffen brought up two good points on the textures and the contrast, both of which I'll second. I'd also add that I think the trees in the forest are maybe placed a bit too evenly for my taste, and some scattering and clusters might make them look a bit more lively and in tune with the fantasy look of the piece.

[vanScoota]

Thank you both for your feedback and advices. I can definitely see your points and will incorporate them in my future maps.

This was also my first attempt at coloring and I wasn't really sure how strong of a contrast would be considered okay. Furthermore I drew individual trees for the first time and I'm still not sure whether I like this method more than the cluster method.