If you are a Game Master it is always exciting to first a new entrada and permit your players explore new shores, their peoples, customs and the secrets they agree in ruins old, mountains high and dungeons cold. To make it easier for your players to visualize this unfamiliar environment you lot may accept provided them with a map of these lands. May it be as loot or later some negotiation with a Gnome in the local antiquarian store. A map may also come in handy for a wargaming campaign to evidence the position of warbands or armies and natural obstacles.
Ofttimes the start iteration of such a map is a unproblematic hand-fatigued sketch, simply after more than and more of the new surface area is discovered you may want to provide something with more visual appeal, add together a background texture or fifty-fifty colorize your map.
I will show y'all my process of drawing a map by hand, scanning and cleaning it up and finally colorizing it using Photoshop.
INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS – HISTORICAL MAPS Equally INSPIRATION
If you but start out drawing maps I would recommend to first have a look at historical maps to get some inspiration for your ain work. You tin can decide what appeals to you visually and stylistically and likewise brand up your mind which style works best for your world. If it is high fantasy both medieval and renaissance fashion maps could work, if you make a map for a scenario with a historical groundwork you could go so far and emulate a specific fashion.
Tabula Peutingeriana
The famous Tabula Peutingeriana tin serve as an example for a medieval map. Information technology is supposedly a copy of a Roman original, dated anywhere between 250 BCE and 400 BC. Below you see a facsimile version by Konrad Miller, even so, an interactive online map viewer by Cambridge Academy Printing allows to examine the original, heavily weathered medieval map, too.
Every bit is apparent this is quite different to modern maps. Instead of accurately depicting geographical features or the shape of country masses, this map's goal is to aid travelers in assessing how many days worth of travel a journey between cities will take (indicated by the red, segmented lines), and how big a settlement is (indicated by the relative size of a settlement and features depicted).
The cities are fatigued using a semi-isometric style that does not attempt to be absolutely spot on if it comes to accurately depicting the perspective. I could meet this kind of map in a role-playing context, given that your players are oft interested in how long a journey takes. The symbols for cities could exist modified to add together variation. Naturally this would also work perfectly for a campaign map if you run an ancients entrada.
Carta Marina
Another example is the Carta Marina. Fashioned supposedly in 1539 by swedish scholar Olaus Magnus information technology is ane of the earliest maps of the Nordic countries. It is specially noteworthy for its fanciful depictions of fantastical beasts both on land and ocean. The James Ford Bell Library offers a website with an online viewer to examine the map close-upwards.
Inspirational Links
The not bad interwebs can also be a neat inspiration. Check out these resource to really get stuck in the topic:
Fantastic Maps – How to draw a map
The Cartographers Guild – A forum for cartography enthusiasts
Deven Rue'south website offers lots of inspiration for your own work
What makes your map tick? – Developing a background
Earlier you kickoff sketching your map it stands to reason to develop a crude historical background. Think almost the people and creatures who inhabit the land. Geography ever influences the inhabitants and shapes their history. A rugged mural could tend to have only small disjointed settlements or one major urban center where people convene for protection. A country-locked kingdom may focus on maintaining its borders, while a littoral power aims to extend its reach across the body of water to colonise new lands. A war-torn region will exist over again different to a region that saw peace for a hundred years. Are monsters roaming the wild a common sight or take centuries of adventuring fabricated those beasts nearly extinct?
I always thought the well-nigh intriguing aspect of historical maps such as the Carta Marina are the fantastic beasts and odd creatures depicted on them: Humanoid figures without heads, sea serpents swallowing ships whole and dragons terrorising villages. Many of these depictions are based on Roman and Greek myth or on alpine stories told by sailors over an ale. So autonomously from geography and history, as well think about the myths of the land and the stories its inhabitants tell.
A rugged country
For my map I decided to depict an area map of the Margravate of Greifshold, a setting for a RPG campaign I am currently working on:
About 100 years ago explorers discovered a new continent rich in natural resources. The coastal waters were teeming with fish and soon whalers and missionaries followed the explorers. They established a pocket-size outpost and told visiting travelers about the riches and wonders of this uncharted state.
A few years later an expeditionary force landed on this new continent. With little regard to the native tribes they founded the urban center of Greifshold and subjugate the tribes past force. The newly established Margravate expanded to the northwest and northeast and established footholds.
The disgruntled native tribes banded together and rebelled confronting the invaders. At first they had some success reclaiming the northern forest, just later some years of guerrilla warfare they were crushed by the Margrave. X years later some of the wounds have healed, but there is withal tension between the colonisers and the natives.
In the s-due east you observe the city of Greifshold, with the modest fishing village Breka to the east and the remains of a temple to the north. Deep nether the ocean they say a serpent waits to swallow trade vessels whole.
In the westward travelers study of sentient mushrooms, defending their territory fiercely. Some say a mushroom rex holds court on a throne made of precious stones and pure gold. In the east sentient trees baby-sit remains of an aboriginal civilisation, unwilling to share its secrets.
The nomadic tribes of this country consider the mount range that forms the northern limits of Greifshold to be the fossilized remains of an aboriginal, powerful beingness. A child of the gods, the outset dragon and mortal enemy of the sea serpent below the waves. It is said an old pass leads to a portal, hewn in the very rock of the mountains. Where it leads nobody knows.
Something to remainder on – Sketching your map
Subsequently you decided on the groundwork you can starting time sketching your map. Depending on your preference y'all can utilise pencil or a tablet for this step. If you practice the unabridged map digitally you obviously save yourself the scanning. All the same, there is something to exist said to sketch and ink it the erstwhile-fashioned way.
Yous don't need expensive supplies to describe your own maps, nor will you need an expensive Adobe Creative Suite subscription. Drawing supplies are readily available at your local fine art store and you tin can use open up source software like Gimp and Inkscape to clean up and colorize your maps. You can basically use any prototype manipulation plan that allows you to use layers. It comes in handy to accept a function that converts a bitmap into a vector graphic, simply even that is not necessary when y'all start out. You can employ Inkscape for this, which is the open source alternative to Illustrator, a vector cartoon program.
I did use Photoshop and Illustrator for my map, mainly considering I have these programs at my disposal, merely the instructions work with any plan.
So far so good, simply what basic supplies practise you need?
- A pencil or a set up of micro pens. I use 1 with a 0.8 mm and ane with a i mm tip respectively.
- White cartoon paper. I use 80gsm paper for mark and pen rendering. Information technology is smoother than your usual copy newspaper and the marker does not tend to run or smudge on this paper.
- Illustrator or Inkscape to clean upward and vectorize your fine art work.
- Photoshop or Gimp to colorize your artwork.
Y'all can run into, if you don't want to colorize or vectorize your artwork you simply need pen and paper to start. Onwards to drawing techniques!
Let the ink catamenia!
For starters take a slice of paper and simply draw something. Hills, trees, a coastline etc. or if you lot already feel comfortable with more intricate designs try yourself on some buildings, perchance a farmstead or a tower. You can look online for some inspiration.
After an evening of relaxed sketching move to your map proper. Get-go with a uncomplicated frame and think about the geographical features the map should bear witness. Exercise you lot want to draw an entire continent or but a small area map? The larger the scale the more abstract your map: Settlements are depicted using symbols or a small icon. Mountain ranges and forests won't show atypical trees and beasts may be something to beautify the corners or the frame of your map.
If you desire to draw a map of a smaller surface area you lot will need to add together more than details. Settlements may show singular houses, a city wall may be visible and atypical trees will stand out. The beasts tin can exist more hands depicted in perspective interacting with the mural: A sentient fungi would hands tower over metropolis and mountain alike on a big-scale map that shows continents or a whole world. On an area map the fungi can walk through the forest and won't look besides much out of scale. You can besides add together more detailing such as scales and facial expression, which may be difficult if your beasts are simply a centimeter tall.
Some general suggest when cartoon a map:
- Try to be consistent with regard to the perspective.
- If yous want to colorize your map proceed the shading subtle and leave lots of white space.
- Don't draw the details too small if you want to blow the map up later on on. This will give you lot a cleaner look.
- Develope your own manner to practice things instead of copying your favourite creative person.
- When yous start a map, finish it. It gives you a feeling of accomplishment and seeing information technology through volition also hone your cartoon skills.
The sketch does not have to exist perfect, but make sure that the overall composition is to your liking. Keeping the historical background in mind I divided my canvass into a 2 10 4 grid. I aimed on having something of interest in each of the sections: A ruined castle on a hilltop, a dragon curled around a mountain range, a small fishing hamlet and then on. My goal was to give the beholder a reason to allow the eye wander over the map and to engage him or her with evocative details.
Geometric delights – sketching the beasts
When you sketch the beasts keep a few things in listen:
- It is easy to imagine a build structure like a house as a combination of geometric shapes, accordingly drawing them in perspective is much easier than organic shapes.
- However, you lot tin too imagine a fauna as a conglomeration of geometrical shapes. For instance the dragons neck is basically a cylinder that winds around the mountain. Both the head of the dragon and the bounding main serpent can be seen as triangular or square based pyramids. Bodies plough into prisms or cuboids and so on. Rotate these shapes in your head and think how they would look in perspective. Sketch these simple shapes and then round them off to make them appear more organic. Add details, like teeth and scales only when the bones shapes have been established.
- Don't be afraid to experiment. See what happens if you add a line or change its curvature. At the sketching stage your eraser or Ctrl+z is your friend.
- Endeavor to stick to your perspective of choice. If you lot draw an isometric map it would seem odd to draw a dragon with a vanishing bespeak.
You lot tin can utilize this method for pretty much everything: Temples, ruins, farmsteads, mountain ranges etc. First establish the basic shapes then add to it.
A permanent fixture – Inking the map
When you are satisfied with your sketch take out the micro pens and proceed to inking. At this stage it pays off to use different line weights to emphasise sure elements on your map. For case the outline of the snake is drawn with a 0.45 mm tip, while the scales, fingers, eye and teeth are drawn using a 0.05 mm tip. In improver some of the tree and hill silhouettes are pronounced using a larger tip. This way the hills stand up out more easily against the surrounding woods. In example of the trees this change of line weight indicates that they are slightly elevated in comparison to the trees directly behind them.
Exercise non blitz the inking and draw confidently. The sketch will help guide your hand. If you make a mistake you can always delete it later. This procedure can accept several days worth of hobby time for a very detailed map, merely it is very satisfying when you see the finished piece.
Scanner time!
When you are finished with inking remove whatever remaining sketch marks and scan your piece of work at a high-resolution. Depending on the scanner it may have a line art setting that will output a PNG with transparent groundwork, which will save yous a step. If that does not piece of work remove the white background in the photo editing program of your option or vectorize the drawing.
To vectorize your drawing Illustrator offers a handy function: Live Trace. This basically traces your pixel-based artwork, turns it into paths and removes whatever white elements. This non only cleans up your art work just makes information technology scale-able. Have a look at this tutorial if you use Inkscape and this ane for Illustrator.
A dab of autumn – coloring the map
All that is now left to do is adding some colour to your map. Starting time with a white background and a parchment texture. The idea is at present to start shade the map and then add different layers of transparent colors. I wanted to achieve a water-color effect. Naturally you tin can attempt to emulate other styles.
Create a new layer for each color in your editing program of choice. This fashion you lot tin always tweak things and – not dissimilar miniature painting – add layers to change the hue and depth of an underlying layer.
Pre-shading
We offset with the shadows. I apply a dark brown grunge brush with an opacity setting of about 20% and slowly brand my way effectually the map. The layer mode can be "Normal", "Overlay" or "Soft Lite", depending on your preference. Yous tin increase opacity if needed. The goal is to achieve shine transitions.
It begins with G for green
Later the pre-shading is finished you add layer later layer of translucent colours. For example the forest is first coloured green followed by autumnal colors such equally yellow and red. I use xxx-twoscore% opacity, with the aim to achieve shine transitions and to let the underlying colours come through. This way yous can create a more than circuitous texture. The same ruby is too used for the Mushroom king and his young man fungi. His stem is coloured using an off-white. Using like or the same colours on the beasts makes them office of their environs and thus integrates them into the map.
Let'southward get wet
The same idea is used on all remaining features, such equally water, buildings, fields and so on. You can use slightly modified shades for other details to continue the coloration cohesive. I also had success using the color dynamics setting to add farther variations to the forest or the mountain range.
Color for the beasties
The sea serpent and dragon are not dissimilar to the other elements. Effort to imagine where the light comes from and shade the body of the serpent with a dark brown accordingly. Now add additional layers of turquoise and light bluish. The dragon is actually more of a Wyrm (or a Tatzelwurm in German). Information technology has no wings and a smooth, snake-like pare. Adding color and an iris to the eye is another nice bear upon that volition bring the fauna to life. The beast also casts a faint shadow on the trees which further integrates it into the map.
Framing your cartoon
The frame tin be colored using the aforementioned techniques outlined above. If y'all would like to add a gold leaf effect equally I did, a slightly different approach is necessary. First off choose a groundwork colour for the gold parts and block information technology in. I went for a dark blueish. I did not aim for an opaque coat. Much rather I wanted the background to be patchy with some of the parchment texture coming through.
At present it gets a bit more complicated. To achieve the golden foliage effect you start need to create a gold texture. I found this very helpful tutorial that volition show you how to create such a texture and also how to make a gilded text. We can utilise the same idea for the floral blueprint of the frame.
You basically need to cut out the floral blueprint so that it shows the gilded leaf effect, merely not the other parts of the map. This can be achieved using a layer mask and carefully removing the areas were you want the event to show. This is time intensive. You lot can speed it up if yous draw the frame edge and the pattern within the borders on separate layers. If you depict the map past hand this is manifestly difficult to achieve and you demand to utilise the quick selection tool. You tin can further refine the frame adding a shadow layer to emphasise the reflective qualities of the golden leaf.
Adding labels
All that is now left are the labels. White text with a black outline and a very faint glow in the groundwork works very well for location names, while I chose a brown with white outline for area names. Virtually the place names: The native peoples' language is inspired by Old High German language, and thus rivers kept their native proper noun. English is the common linguistic communication among the colonists and thus other sites are renamed by them. That fashion the placenames reflect the history of the region.
The finished map
And at that place nosotros have it: a nice map that can exist used for a roleplaying or wargaming campaign or only every bit a stand alone piece to put on the wall of the man cavern or femme den.
I hope yous enjoyed this short tutorial and give it a try yourself. If you have any questions, remarks or suggestions comment below. Map-maker or not, always wield your brush with laurels!
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Fantastic Beasts and How to Draw Them TUTORIAL
Posted by: martinaambegrout.blogspot.com
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