#taludria

[kysketches]

A continuation of a previous project, mapping my story's setting in a blocky gridded style. (The better to identify longitude, and eventually build a globe.)

Done with pencil, pen, and colored pencil on grid paper.

[kysketches]

An expansion to the previous map, outlining the neighboring fictional continent. Drawn with pen and colored pencil on grid paper. This continent was something of a challenge because it's a major revision of the old draft (as in, circa 2003 or so). I had another story draft that I'm folding into this world and setting, so I'm blending some of the world design to pick and choose elements from each. It was also a pain trying to lay it out so it was close enough to the intended size without spilling over the page! I'm going to need to double check my work on this one before I do any versions with the climate regions. The latitudes are switched around enough to screw with the old design. May reupload with better images later.

[kysketches]

A sequence of maps of a fictional continent, drawn on grid paper with pen and colored pencil. I experimented with a few different ways of representing mountain ranges and coastlines.

I did the first by tracing a non-grid draft of the continent and simplifying it to the grid lines. The second and third I did by hand, looking at the first and working square by square to replicate it. The fourth I cheated and traced, largely so I could do the river so neatly.

The first depicts a few historically significant regions to the story so far, overlaid with latitude lines (every 10 degrees, the highest depicted being 60 north and the lowest being 10 south).

The second was a crosshatching colored pencil setup. One set of diagonals indicated mountain / arid / tropical moist / subtropical moist / continental moist / marine west coast / water. The other set of diagonals went more precisely into the climates, including crossing all but the highest mountains. The plan was to depict all this so I could theoretically look at a square and know the typical conditions in that area. I would need to use a wider range of colors, though...

The third was a simpler, more stylized version of the first. Replaced the pen crosshatch of the mountains with little Xs and stars, small enough that I could depict something else in this map. I haven't yet decided what.

I liked the effect of the blue rivers so much that I began to carefully trace it for the fourth. This became an elevation map, with a blue green for regions that are at or lower than sea level, a warmer green for low (mostly coastal) regions, yellows for low hills, and the orange/reds for mountainous regions. The light blues of the water are continental crust, and where the purple turns reddish is very much not.

The images are quickies down with the tablet camera and my lamp for lighting, lampshade removed. I will probably edit in better versions of the pictures later.

*Edit: Holy html fail, Batman!

[kysketches]

Planning drafts for symbols and depictions of three gods for the world I'm designing for stories and/or roleplay. Devourer: the spirit of resentment and unfulfilled craving. The desire of a moth that flies into flame. NE. Symbol: an open moth-like skull within a black hole, sometimes surrounded by colors that turn to gray in its presence. Decider: the spirit of authority and restriction. The fear that witholds flame within the security of a lantern. LE. Symbol: a tall thin black lantern slightly shaped like a house, with a small orange flame within and an impression of bars before it. Destroyer: the spirit of sanctity and purification. The wrath that burns out rot and corruption. CE. Symbol: a comet of silver blue light turning red as it enters an atmosphere, with broken shackles trailing behind.