Cahan World Map

[Jason Stevenson]

Hi all,

I've been working on a homemade TTRPG project for 3-4 years now and recently I've been practicing my digital art skills, so I decided to update my world map. I drew and watercoloured my first map (image 1. below) based on randomly generated continents (https://www.fantasynamegenerators.co...reator-old.php), making up countries and borders etc. on the go. The borders, names, rivers and other terrain have changed since then, with my second attempt being made in photoshop (image 2. below). I used a tutorial I found online which had me generating random cloud layers, altering the contrast and hand picking bits which looked like the coastline I wanted and then stitching them together. I ended up not liking either of these much; the first had problems with rivers and borders, the second was too washed out.

This year I decided to have another crack at it. In 2020 I learned the basics of Clip Studio Paint and thought I could improve the map somewhat. First I drew out on paper what I wanted the updated coastline to look like, taking the basics of what I had and making it look more detailed and dynamic with less straight-looking continental regions and more curves and crinkles. For parts of it I took inspiration from real world features such as Canada's northern arctic islands, inland seas, and large estuaries like those seen in northern Russia. Once I was happy with it I redrew it in CSP and got to work on the borders and terrain features. Some borders changed, one country becoming landlocked, and there was a complete overhaul of sea names. I ended up using a combination of fonts for water names, one for the starting letters and one for the rest of the word, it looks nicer than either on their own I think. Some fancy corner curls and a paper-fold texture later the map was done; now looking much better than previous drafts. As I improve I may come back to it again sometime, but for now this is the official map of Cahan - a flat circular world held in the hand of a colossal god-like entity. Hope you like them :)

1. First draft - watercolour drawing (ca. 2017)


2. Second draft - Photoshop (ca. 2018)


3. Final Map - Clip Studio Paint (2021)

[Arimel]

Really nice! I think the maps complement each other rather well. The latest give the coasts and the countries (much clearer than the old ones) and the 2nd/1st give the land features/biomes. Really nice map though. The concept of it being in the hand of a god is cool too. I hope his arm does not get tired though

[Ilanthar]

An original layout and a very nice map.