Fantasy maps created using Xara Xtreme

[Gamerprinter]

The above map is currently intended as an inset, as part of a larger close-up map/illustration. It is a contest entry map for July's mapping challenge at the Cartographers' Guild. Since I was working on the map above anyway for my setting, I thought I'd incorporate it, as in inset, into this month's challenge.

Though the inset is a topdown view, my main map will be an isometric - 3Dish map to show a stone circle and surrounding support structures for a Celtic theme, as described in the previous post. This contest map only uses the setting as backstory - the challenge is to create a Locus of Ley Lines into a power source map for fantasy setting... this is what I'm doing.

OK, trying something different (I'm always experimenting)...

The base image is created in 3D, modeled in Nendo, then imported to Raydream (old simple 3D app), I don't texture it, except the stones in the menhir circle. I import the rendered image to Photoshop, adjust the contrast severely, enlarge to 11 x 17, then print to my laser printer. I cut a sheet of tracing paper to fit the 11 x 17, tape off one side, then trace the edges of the terrain and menhir stones, ink in with a pen, the stone carvings, shading lines, detritus detail - then scan it into PS, import to Xara.

I import the 3D image and the hand-drawing. Both get a stain-glass transparency filter, though I copy the 3D image, I cut it out with a pen tool then Combine/Intersect, remove the bitmap texture and replace with solid fill, make it white and place behind, then group the solid fill and the semi transparent 3D image bitmap. I create shapes of the tops of the hill in Xara, outline to 0 pixels, give it a soft green fill, apply a Color/Fractal Clouds, and change the white to a light tannish color, apply a stained glass transparency.

So this is a composite 3D image, hand-drawn tracing, and color filled in Xara - a true multi-media illustration. I think it works well - I need to be fast, to get lots of work done in a short amount of time (that's how I do anything.) So I don't dabble as some artists, I'm on a production schedule.

Thoughts?

GP