MIP: Válkia May 23rd


So as you can see, my map's slowly progressing. Well, it is a "map-in-progress". I'm lucky in that I don't need to rush this.

I really hope it's not turning out too messy. What do you guys think?

I just added a couple of things today -- some mountains nearby Tarne (necessary for a plot point, in fact), "The Great Arlean Forest" in Arlea and the "Northern Ranges" in Arlea, where I think another major plot point will occur. Also, I'd misnamed a village as Stonecrest -- I've now changed this and moved Stonecrest from its original north-west of Heath to mid-south Duthonne. The villages are fairly well spread now, although Robarre is still largely segregated. I think that place will be uniquely self-sufficient, unlike the other villages which work together.

There are four final touches I would like to add:
1. Two or three more villages in Meira.
2. A final mountain range in northern Meira.
3. Extra patches of forest, as there is currently only one major clump in each country, which is geographically ridiculous. (Not saying that any of my map is geographically accurate, though.)
4. Some minor rivers breaking in from the shoreline.

Any thoughts or ideas?

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9 comments:

Julia Hones said...

It sounds like an interesting idea. So what's going on Valkia? Is it worth visiting? ( smiles).

J Andrew Jansen said...

Saw this post from CC. You've finally convinced me that I need to do mine as well.

I went to the Cartography Guild site, but couldn't find many tutorials. Maybe I looked in the wrong spot?

I found one though, and it is getting me moving along the path. Great series, and great inspiration!

--j--

Ryan Sullivan said...

Julia:
:D Válkia is amidst its Second Revolution, during which the dictatorship of the Church shall be overthrown in Duthonne and the Auras that have plagued humanity in its greed shall be returned to the very gods who sent them down.

I would certainly love to visit it. ;)

J Andrew Jansen:
I agree that it's hard to find tutorials for just the thing you're looking for. I've mostly made my map from fiddling around with the software, and it didn't take me too long to find my way around.

For some time I've wanted to do a map-making tutorial. Would you be interested? I'm sure you will have started working on your map by the time I start the tutorials, because I don't want to begin until I've finished my Válkia map.

I can't find where on the Cartographers' Guild, but somewhere someone gave a tutorial on how to draw mountains, and he also gave us scans of his own and the freedom to use them as we wish.

My foremost suggestion, though, is to draw the map youself with a pencil first, scan it into your computer, and then trace the outline with a paintbrush.

J Andrew Jansen said...

I'm a big fan of tutorials, even for stuff I already know how to do.

Skipped the pencil step. HA! I guess we'll see how bad I mess it up.

--j--

Ryan Sullivan said...

Of course, there are many different ways you can approach the creation of a map. I prefer a very "clean" style, as you can see.

Sarah Allen said...

All I can say is that I am terrible at this kind of thing, and you are obviously not. This is fantastic, you are very talented.

Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)

Ryan Sullivan said...

Thank you, Sarah. Very much appreciated. :)

M.J. Fifield said...

I'm new to this blog but I just wanted to say how impressed I am with your map. I'm in the process of making a map of my own for my own WIPs and it doesn't look anywhere as great as yours. Nicely done!

Ryan Sullivan said...

Hey, M.J.. Welcome to the Dark Corner! Thanks for joining, and thank you for the lovely comment.

I've joined your blog in return. :D

I'm sorry that my blog is sort of out of action at the moment. I'm currently blaming school for not letting me write or blog, but the truth is I'm just not getting around to it! You'll find I have my ons and offs, so I'll be more regular asap!

Best of luck with your map and your WIPs, and I'll see you around.

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Welcome to The Dark Corner of the Mind. My name is Ryan Sullivan and my aim with this blog is to help others with their own writing, as well as to make note of some of my own writing endeavours.

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