Thanks, X-M-O!

I'll have an update up soon. I think my skills are getting better.

Oh wow, lots of updates! D=

The black/white image looks cool, because the world is all put together and looks like a "could have been" Europe. =D
Very nicely done with the second image (the one with the red arrow) it puts everything into perspective. =]

The last one looks amazing! The vegetation and such looks great! A little fuzzy, but still good.

Yea, sorry about that and thankies!

The tutorial said I should have a Pangaea of my world to help figure out latitude etc etc, so I've been working hard on it. The only problem is that the mountain range and trees and my new little marsh south will most likely have to change due to the new understandings I have lol

And that's it! Fuzzy! Yes, its fuzzy! I've been trying to figure out why I feel it doesn't look good...you just helped! I'm gonna go mess with the settings and see if I can fix it pronto!

Here's an idea to help with the fuzziness problem: check out this image.

Notice the patches of grass, and how they differ and such? Perhaps you could try making some details like these appear on the map, that way you can discern forests from plains, etc. =]

Okay, I was messing with it last night and the fuzziness is used to turn the pattern overlay, into something is suppose to appear like grass. I can't change it if I'm using the current pattern...so I'll have to look for different patterns first, or find a way to lessen the pattern I'm using now xD

I'll post an update as soon as possible! :3

Ok, great. ^^

Yeah, patterns can be difficult to use at times. Have you looked at different patters available for download that may work better?
I may be able to assist you in searching for some decent sites that supply those patterns. (Photoshop, right?)

Sure! That would be awesome, X-M-O! Anything you think could be used as a forest, I'll try out! :3

Here are a few that you may want to tinker with and see if they work for you (note that I haven't used them myself, but I was browsing this site for resources at one point, which is why it was in my bookmarks, and I found a few that you might be able to use):
Carbon Sheets
Dark Grungy Patterns
Beige Grunge Patterns
Tread Plate Patterns

Just which version of Photoshop they are usable in before downloading, as you may not be able to use all of them (I don't know which version of Photoshop you use). =]

Awesome! Awesome! I think the second and last just might do. Shall I post a image for each one?

Thanks for sharing, X-M-O! :33

Oh yes! The more variants we've got, the more ideas can be thought! >:3

You're welcome. ^^

Yeh, I'd love to see some of your full scale progress too! So, what are you planning on using this map for anyway? Are you just practicing your skills or does it have some greater purpose?

I'm both practicing my skill and building a map for a novel. The novel I made with my language needs a map, and this map I'm making will give me my practice to change my hand drawn map, into something like this. This current map is also a map for another novel I have planned

As for scale work, I'll be practicing that too. I think I found a way that helps me. If I draw the scales to the side first, it helps me determine where the rest flows.

Here are the different version maps. I think the two make the forests look a bit flat...

Carbon Version
Treadplate version
Original Version

The other too made them look like deserts, so I decided not to use them for forests, but for my swamp and deserts! :3

lol, I actually don't mind them as flat forests. You want your mountains to look bumpy but trees arn't THAT tall =P They do look good as swamps too though. Maybe your world is just made up of swamps and your book can be all about frog people! (worked pretty well in Chrono Trigger)

By flat I meant it looked more like grass than trees, but the second one is pretty good, I think. If I knew where to search, I would up more of the metal kind of patterns X-M-O got for me, they would do perfect if the style was just slightly different :33

Well for the entire world of most of it being a swamp, it would require making the planet tilt in such and such way, or turn in such and such. I think. That's what I'm learning in my books at least.

I definitely agree that the second one looks great - adds more to the image, in my opinion. ^^
Looking good, and you've got the idea down that I was suggesting with those patterns. =]

First time using Paint SAI Tool, so I have no idea how everything works T.T

image broken

@X-M-O:
Yea, I think I like those two better than the TUT's version. I think I like Treadplate version the best...hmmm.

You have to block your facial structure out a lot better as you arent creating a foundation for the head and its joints. It needs a lot more definition and tone.
Block things out. Block things out! BLOCK THINGS OUT!!!!

its super important and it really helps in keeping consistent.
Also, if you are sort of serious about learning how to draw I strongly recommend practicing realism. (Its super dry and not a lot of fun but oh boy is it so important oh so important) With a solid foundation things become easier to skew and it makes the process literally 10000% easier.~

As for tablets, I would recommend just getting a bamboo pen and touch. It is pretty cheap and not that hard to use and it comes with photoshop elements. It is also relatively small. Which is good because it helps you with precision and cohesiveness. I was interested in getting a giant tablet and stuff like that too at one point when someone said to me "You wouldnt even know what to do with it"
He was absolutely right looking back at it. I dont think I still would know what to do with it~

Wow, thanks for the reply Bacon!

May I ask something? What do you mean by "Block things out"?

I am serious about drawing, but I don't think I can do realism. But I'll try it.

And thank you for the tablet suggestion! :3

Are there any function differences (better precision etc) in the larger ones, or is it just there are more buttons/short keys? I would like to get one that is the closest to a pencil-paper feel. xD

Blocking out means taking something and deconstructing it into a super rough thing then building it layer upon layer


this is a really shitty ass, poorly blocked out face but
its an example

basically you start out with simple shapes such as circles and triangles and then you slowly build onto them to create consistency
its basically super basic skeletal structure


this isnt mine but its another example of blocking things out

the more you block things out the better and easier it is for you to create a consistent and nice piece

Realism is the best foundation of anything
learning realism opens pretty much every door in the art world for you i am not even kidding. If you have a good grasp of realism you have the power to make legit, amazing, styled, unique pieces that stand out. Learning realism is like starting on a blank sheet of paper; what you draw and what you become is limitless. By drawing in a style (such as anime) you limit yourself to that style and it becomes x100 harder to become better as an artist. What happens is that you start progressing just like everyone else trying to do that style (im using anime here). Your work becomes generic and its hard for you to stand out of the crowd because you are doing the same thing 10000 other people are doing. Even if you get good at the particular style, it becomes harder for you to skew things because you are already in a skewed style. It is extremely easy to tell when someone has learned a foundation based on anime even when attempting more realistic art; ultimately it destroys any type of diversity that you might have. One of the most key things about being an artist is standing out and being unique and original! Style is just as important as technical merit and creativity. Creativity dictates what you draw, technical ability dictates how you draw it, and style dictates how your art is different from the crowd and how well you stand out (which doesnt sound huge but it is super huge especially if you become good!!!!!!!!)

Not only that, as you progress as a better artist, you start to learn what things sort of annoy people like me and other artists trying to learn basic art. Things such as side eyes (which make no sense people are not flounders!!!!) and eyes that pop out of hair are just not very appealing things to look at. You also understand how to skew things to make them look correct. Skewing is basically compromising. You compromise certain features to compliment feature changes in order to make them look like the artist intentionally drew it this way instead of it looking like a mistake (which happens more often when you dont study basic realism and anatomy and proportion)

All Im saying is just do some basic realism even if it doesnt sound fun it increases your technical ability by 100% and with a super solid foundation you will start to explore different realms of art and eventually come up with a unique style that you make up all by yourself! When people think of realism based things they go bleh. You dont have to draw realism 24/7 because that would be silly; im just saying use that as your foundation instead of things such as anime! Just learn some basic realistic proportion and anatomy. It will make your life 1000% easier in the short term and long term. Your style may eventually turn up to be anime based (which is fine because you will most likely draw it correctly and it will stand out from the million other anime people draw). The whole point is style and standing out and by basing your art and proportions on what a million other people are doing, you are setting yourself up for disappointment and a lot of headaches. Trust me~

As for tablet, you wont ever get that paper-pencil feel. That just doesnt exist. Starting out with a tablet is one of the most tedious things ever because you have to reteach yourself how to draw in a different way. You cant see what your pencil is drawing and there is that disconnect and it always exists. That isn't always a bad thing though. Using a tablet has taught me so much about gesture and line confidence and minimizing strokes. It also is a great way to practice painting and understanding basics. Is a tablet hard to use when starting off? Hell yes it is. Will it make you a better artist in the long run? Absolutely. That is why I recommend the bamboo. It has just enough features and stuff like that to get you started with the basics. With added features and stuff like that there is a significantly larger learning curve. The bamboo has pressure sensitivity and all of the basic and mid-level features of a tablet for a good deal.
i also recommend getting the pen and touch not the craft or anything like that because the smaller the canvas the easier the learning curve is and the more it teaches you about line strokes and gesture~
Start out with the basic Bamboo Pen and Touch it will teach you a lot
and never stop drawing on paper
do your realism on paper and then explore with the tablet
but study and be studious
read some realistic tutorials, learn how to block and form correct faces and bodies, practice certain features, etc

also I made drawing with a tablet sound terrible but I absolutely love it because it gives me some super creative freedom but when I began i hated it so much. Now I like to draw on my tablet whenever I can but that took me about 6-8 months to develop this certain relationship with it. Just stick with it and it will become second nature

This rant was brought to you by bacon.

That "rant" was a great help Bacon!

I will definitely do the blocking things out from now on! I'll look into my art books (Most are anime, but I have a small collection of realism books) for some practice as well! But so I may look up more tutorials on DevArt, is this the realism you were talking about?

Yea, I know its impossible to get the feel, but I hear one of those two comes close to a paper/pencil feel, so I was just curious. Also, I agree with starting with a tablet. When I got one, I felt like I was never going to learn how to even use the functions of it. xD

Thanks for all the help bacon! I will do some realism art and post back with it!

Okay, while I gather some realism tutorials and find something to practice with (and really until I get my tablet), I decided to study all sorts of different tutorials.

Hey guys! Working on a new logo for my game. Wanna see what you think.





The moon was created in GIMP, font made in Photoshop--used the GunSlinger tutorial.

I was also thinking this would be the new start of screen:





All of the second round of spoilers was created in GIMP. I'll probably remove the sun 'cause I was mostly messing around at that point. xD

Wow, that's a huge improvement (logo and background).

Excellent work!

Thank you, X-M-O!

It took me all day to make 'cause Photoshop was refusing to save PNGs or non PSD formats correctly. Plus, had to find some decent textures and made some patterns.

I'm glad I decided to do it today, though my moon looks a bit more like Jupiter than I intended (the two vortice spot like things!).