November/December 2021 Challenge: "Winnipeg River Piracy" by Tiana and rdanhenry

[rdanhenry]

So, Tiana gave me the base map (and some additional feedback/ideas as I go) and I'm adding notations. This map illustrates activity of river pirates in and around Winnipeg in the 2001-2020 period. I've still got stuff to add, but I figured I might as well post a WIP at this point. Maybe it'll spur others to post something.

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[Tiana]

Yes, compete against us and our map of piracy! Thanks for posting, RDan!

[RenflowerGrapx]

ahahah Deal! I'm glad someone posted. ahahah Deal! I'm glad someone posted.

[Tiana]

You can say that again! Yes, glad there will be a little bit of competition!

Ren's comments on the 'how the collaboration worked out' made me realize we didn't really talk about it.

Well, you saw half of it. I posted in the thread here once I was done NOVEL WRITING CHALLENGE and then rdan PMed me and was like 'I was thinking of asking you' and I was like 'I was thinking of asking YOU' and then I made a Drive folder with a bunch of half-assed ideas that I had started in November... that's pretty normal for me, I often have a dozen or so pieces I'll partially complete because I was testing a technique or whatnot. So, this one started because I had a fairly decent start on a Winnipeg map already, which I ended up completely redoing for this variation, since I wanted to capture that semi-modern mid-century look... my original sketch for this one was a grayscale river-focused map. The river focus inspired rdan to pitch "the activity of pirates on the Red River" for decorative elements. So, I did the remake of the street/river map to better fit the color scheme we had in mind (I did a few variations with texture/color for selection as the base), and rdan came up with a bunch of little story inserts and a bunch of color/font variations that I selected from for the final font. Since we were aiming for a mid-century modern kind of map, I went with the typewriter kind of looking font and dark text.

From there, we did some brainstorming on what were "Winnipeg" themed pirate prompts, and rdan put them on the map in narrative style.

I'm in transit right now and might not have an opportunity to add more art, we'll see, if I get the chance I might make a frame for it or some cartoon pirate figures to add, it'll be pushing it close to the deadline.

Compared to Ren and Xploring Map's description of their collaboration I would say ours felt effortless and entirely without imposter syndrome. We just kind of shot a few messages back and forth that ended up being like 'what do you think of these options, pick one'... very low on the waffling, very efficient in the getting things done. I think we worked together pretty well, even though our processes are completely different we found ways that we could use each other's skills without wasting a lot of time on it. I also think the result, even if rdan doesn't get the final version out in time, looks good and it doesn't look like it was two people's work stitched together.

Now, I will say, I have done a lot of historical collaborations. I'm pretty comfortable working with people, finding ways to use their skillset. I may not have had time to get going on this until into December, but even with my limited availability, we made it work. While I wish we had a few more weeks to work on this, to make it perfect, I'm satisfied with our creation and look forward to working with rdan in the future if it happens.

Sorry we didn't share earlier, I thought about it when I did the initial base, and when rdan sent me the text samples, but since a good 50% of our collaboration was brainstorming on the story notations it wasn't as sharable as I would have liked. The couple of art stages, I guess, but it just didn't look like it was pulled together enough for me to want to post yet, I'm always a little fussy about that, I only like to share the art stages when it looks ready. Heh. Like we have been working on this for the past few weeks, of course, but it's only come together into a form that I think is a satisfying experience now that the text is unified into the look I picked and the base has been settled on and whatnot.

[rdanhenry]

OpenStreetMap data is available under the Open Database License. See https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright for particulars.

I should probably also thank Wikipedia for helping with what passed for research on this map.

Nothing's left that I planned to add, so this may be the final version. We'll see if I come up with something more or if Tiana manages to whip up a little extra. At least, we do have my silly attempt at skull for decoration.

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[RenflowerGrapx]

Yay, I like this kind of project, honestly. So I'm waiting to see how it evolves!

I hope my words were not misled. If I had some trouble in the collaborations are troubles with myself lol. Xploringmap has been so easy to work with. I have myself the problem to be a lonely wolf, this turned out in extra control, but I'm glad Xploringmap didn't kill me. lol ?

BTW, River Pirates are underrated. They are part of a niche imaginary, which is bad!! Because people always associate them to open seas. So I'm very curious to know more!

[Tiana]

I like your skull! I might see if I can do a little more, I'm almost back in Winnipeg. Posting from Via Rail right now, as I soar very slowly across the prairies by train... the old fashioned means of crossing these great lakes of grain and farmland. Well. Snow right now, mostly.

BTW, River Pirates are underrated. They are part of a niche imaginary, which is bad!! Because people always associate them to open seas. So I'm very curious to know more!

It's inspired by a Canadiana classic song, The Last Saskatchewan Pirate! I actually made a map based on the song once before. Please enjoy the song to understand why I was compelled to do river pirates, haha. The song of course is also fiction, but Canada has far more rivers and lakes than it has beaches and open sea.

And also don't misunderstand me, I think your personal struggles with typically being a lone wolf creator make a lot of sense, and I would probably have felt similar if I weren't a member of this site for almost as long as rdan with more than a little experience in collaborative work!

[Tiana]

I did it! I managed to get a frame on it before the end but I don't know if me posting it will work for the scraper!

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Edit: it did not work for the scraper. Oh well, I tried to get it in before the wire.

[rdanhenry]

I have added the border created by Tiana. I also made some minor text corrections, changed italics for ship names to underlining for a more consistent "typewriter" look, and added one more incident. Then, I had to redo the text glow process. Finally, I went ahead and exported the JPEG at a higher quality, though you probably won't be able to see a difference.

### Latest WIP ###

[Tiana]

Great, thanks, glad you were able to get that done in time!