# Community Participation > Mapping Challenge Archive >  January 2020 Challenge : Map of Ulrizen

## - JO -

Hello, fellow cartographers! 

The year 2020 has barely begun and I already need a project that occupies my thoughts about something other than work! So I'm going to try to join this January challenge... 

I must admit, without much conviction, because I haven't found an old map very inspiring. I dived into my archives and found an adventure I had written for a part of Dungeons & Dragons. I know it's not my oldest map, because I had started drawing earlier, but this module for D&D level 1-4, I must have written it in the late 80s or early 90s... here's what it looks like : 

 

I don't think we even finished playing that saga because it was soooooo long. 
To write it, I was inspired by quite a lot of references from what I was reading at the time, from the Lord of the Rings to a comic book quite famous in the French-speaking world (Thorgal). 

The story was set in a Viking atmosphere, it was about a curse that had fallen on a northern kingdom (launched by Sauron himself - and yes, I was afraid of nothing at the time!!!) A series of 5 magical objects that protected the kingdom had been scattered throughout the region (a sword, a helmet, a shield, a scabbard and a precious stone) and evil had descended on the region. The adventurers had to find the 5 objects and pass through the gates of time with the king of the region to return just before the curse began. If the king was carrying the 5 items at that moment, the curse did not take place (This is basically what is written in French below). 



For the whole adventure, I had drawn a large map of the area (in addition to the plans of all the dungeons to visit), laminated and everything... This is the one I'm going to try to bring back to life, but I find it not very inspiring : too flat, not various enough... 



And I have to admit that I'm not sure how I'm going to do it. My first idea would be to respect the fact that it's a map that tells an adventure, so I'm going to try to put as many details that tell the story as possible, while letting the curse that strikes the kingdom appear. To do that, I'm very willing to take a big risk and go outside my comfort zone, by using a style that fits well with the main line of what I want to do, but that I don't master at all: that of a medieval tale, full of illuminations, a bit like "The very rich hours of the Duke of Berry". By cheating on the scale of the different elements of the map, I should be able to tell several things in a single map. I would also like to keep two inserts, for text (again, in the style of an old medieval book)... I don't know at all if I'll be able to do that (and if the result will be edible), but I'll still try the adventure...

Here's what I've got for now...

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## J.Edward

Glad you jumped in  :Very Happy: 
This should be fun to watch.

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## Domino44

Great start! I'm glad we have so many great mapmakers joining this challenge!

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## ThomasR

Go for it Joel, it's already promising !

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## - JO -

> Glad you jumped in 
> This should be fun to watch.





> Great start! I'm glad we have so many great mapmakers joining this challenge!





> Go for it Joel, it's already promising !


Thanks a lot for the encouraging words ! I'll start moutains and trees now...

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## Ilanthar

I'm liking where this is going. It has "style" already  :Smile: .

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## - JO -

> I'm liking where this is going. It has "style" already .


Thanks a lot Ilanthar ! I'm moving forward (I think) with lots of detours... I still don't know exactly what I'm doing. I'm afraid I can't really go out of my confort zone, becaus I keep falling in old habits (hence the many erasing-redoing). Here's what I came up so far :

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## - JO -

Work of the day... 
I have drawn the 5 main places of the quest, but I still have to make inserts with the 5 objects to be found, in order to draw attention to these places in particular.
I'm still not sure I can follow the "old parchment illumination" style faithfully. I feel like I'm falling back into the "comic book illustration" style. Maybe I'm going to lower the opacity of the shadows and strokes again to make the whole thing "flatter"?

anyway, that's what I've got so far...

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## Kellerica

Damn, mate, that big castle looks awesome. I see what you mean about maybe losing the "old parchement style" a little bit, but even so, the illustrations look great. The only thing I'd personally watch out for is the large difference in linework width/strenght. Right now the coastline has a much wider line than the castles, for instance, and I think it may make the whole look just a bit inconsistent? I do like the fuzziness of the lineart in general, though, gives it a nice atmosphere.

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## - JO -

> Damn, mate, that big castle looks awesome. I see what you mean about maybe losing the "old parchement style" a little bit, but even so, the illustrations look great. The only thing I'd personally watch out for is the large difference in linework width/strenght. Right now the coastline has a much wider line than the castles, for instance, and I think it may make the whole look just a bit inconsistent? I do like the fuzziness of the lineart in general, though, gives it a nice atmosphere.


I see what you mean, and you're right... It's out of style (if there's any). I think I was trying very hard not to fall in the "comic book style" with a hard line around every item. And yet, I did it with all the buildings... I tried to lower opacity of these lines, so they are pratically invisible, I think I'll try the same method with the coastline, maybe it works. 
Anyway, thanks a lot for pointing out this issue !

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## Ilanthar

And here come the fantastic cities  :Smile: !!

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## Tiana

If you want the text boxes to remain editable, make them as separate files and then combine them afterwards.

I think it looks neat, if you want to get the lineless style down there's no better way than to just try it until you make results you're happy with, I swivel between doing comic style pieces and more impressionist style pieces and I think it's important to capture what the world feels like to you, so if you want this one to be a bit fuzzier, then go for it. I like to dab on sharp highlights when doing fuzzier artwork to pop areas out. It's all clear to me what you're intending.

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## arsheesh

Man what a cool piece of memorabilia that old module is!  I'm really impressed with the amount of work your younger self must have invested into writing it.  Cool stuff.  The updated map looks splendid so far.  That big castle is killer.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

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## - JO -

> And here come the fantastic cities !!


Thanks Ilanthar... No cities this time.. just castles, temple, and such...

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## - JO -

> If you want the text boxes to remain editable, make them as separate files and then combine them afterwards.
> 
> I think it looks neat, if you want to get the lineless style down there's no better way than to just try it until you make results you're happy with, I swivel between doing comic style pieces and more impressionist style pieces and I think it's important to capture what the world feels like to you, so if you want this one to be a bit fuzzier, then go for it. I like to dab on sharp highlights when doing fuzzier artwork to pop areas out. It's all clear to me what you're intending.


Thanks a lot Tiana ! Like you say : I do try a lot... but it's difficult to be happy with a result without thinking that... maybe, if I do it otherwise... It could look better... I have lot of version of the same file, with different attempts on each one. But I'm glad you see what I'm trying to do : it's very encouraging !

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## - JO -

> Man what a cool piece of memorabilia that old module is!  I'm really impressed with the amount of work your younger self must have invested into writing it.  Cool stuff.  The updated map looks splendid so far.  That big castle is killer.
> 
> Cheers,
> -Arsheesh


Thanks Arsheesh ! I'm surprised too by the amount of time and energy I spent on this campaign (and for nothing...) I'm glad you like the new map.. I try to be faithfull with the younger me : the castle looks like I drew it nearly 40 years ago (I wouldn't do it like that, now)... Same for the castle up north, the temple and the palace (a palace alone on a tiny island so far up north... hem... ) I just changed the building on the "skull" island : it was supposed to be a pyramid, but I think, it's too much.. So I made a mountain that looks more or less like a pyramid.

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## Tiana

Trust your heart, pick one version and go for it! You're running out of time!




> I just changed the building on the "skull" island : it was supposed to be a pyramid, but I think, it's too much.. So I made a mountain that looks more or less like a pyramid.


ROFL a skull inspired island is fine but a pyramid is just too much, I love it. I don't think it's important to the challenge to keep every aspect from the original but to challenge your skill and vision.

Also I like line variation more than I like static line widths in art, I like the lineart style just fine the way it is, the map just needs to be populated more.  :Smile:

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## - JO -

> Trust your heart, pick one version and go for it! You're running out of time!
> 
> 
> 
> ROFL a skull inspired island is fine but a pyramid is just too much, I love it. I don't think it's important to the challenge to keep every aspect from the original but to challenge your skill and vision.
> 
> Also I like line variation more than I like static line widths in art, I like the lineart style just fine the way it is, the map just needs to be populated more.


Thanks Tiana... I had to draw a line somewhere... and it was with this pyramid (but, sure, the rest of the  map is not very believable... I just try to save as much as possible from the old map)
Actually, now I try to fade as much as possible the coast line and I'll see how it goes. Regarding population, I have ideas... just need the time.
Anyway, thanks for your comments, it's much appreciated

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## Marc

Been keeping an eye on your progress in sillence Jo, but I just need to compliment your work. The whole map allready is telling a story and I like that you kept it close to the original. Keep it up!

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## - JO -

> Been keeping an eye on your progress in sillence Jo, but I just need to compliment your work. The whole map allready is telling a story and I like that you kept it close to the original. Keep it up!


Thanks a lot, Marc ! I hope I can put everything I think of in the map before the end of the month !

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## Ilanthar

> *By - JO -*
> Thanks Ilanthar... No cities this time.. just castles, temple, and such...


Ah! The central stronghold is so impressive I thought it was a fortified city.

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## - JO -

> Ah! The central stronghold is so impressive I thought it was a fortified city.


Thanks... I always see big, castle regarding !

I had little time to move on with my map. I'm still working on the coast line, it's not finished yet, but I really try to harmonize my lines, as Kell advised to

I still have a lot to do to fill the map with monsters and adventurers, but I go on...

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## Ilanthar

Nice sea monsters and I love those characters  :Smile: !

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## - JO -

> Nice sea monsters and I love those characters !


Thanks... I've a lot more to do, and time is running fast...

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## - JO -

New update...

I have completely reworked the coastline and the line for the mountains: thinner, less visible... I tried to follow Kell's advice. I think it's still a little better and more harmonious with the line of the monster and adventurer drawings. 
It's a bit the final rush and I'm far from finished: I still need quite a few monsters, and also a nice illuminated border. I'm working on the border with the Ipad to be able to move forward outside my home. I also have to write the whole story that has to take place in the two rectangles at the bottom right and left, and translate it into English . In short: the to-do list is long, and the finish line is approaching... 

In the meantime, here's where I am :
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## Ilanthar

Great illustrated scenes here and there!
I think the mountains are better now, indeed. And... I don't even dare to look at my "to do" list (both for the challenge, and in general).

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## - JO -

> Great illustrated scenes here and there!
> I think the mountains are better now, indeed. And... I don't even dare to look at my "to do" list (both for the challenge, and in general).


Thanks, Ilanthar... I think I'll have to lower my expectations. Fortunately, I have 3 days off : I know what I'm gonna spent it on !

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## - JO -

I think I'm done with the map. Now I have to work on the border...

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## Tiana

It's cute, lots of fun features. Hope you get the border done in time.

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## Ilanthar

Héhé, those knights have a lot of work, it seems  :Wink: . I hope you'll find the time to fill the frame, indeed.

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## - JO -

> It's cute, lots of fun features. Hope you get the border done in time.





> Héhé, those knights have a lot of work, it seems . I hope you'll find the time to fill the frame, indeed.


Thank you for your support! 

I just spent the last three days glued to my chair in front of the computer... I think I've got something that looks more or less like a finished map.

There are a lot of solutions that I haven't found (especially for the border and the thumbnails: I tried many different ways to add a background color, but none of them were valid in my eyes... It made the whole thing too heavy, and the whole thing is already almost indigestible to my taste).

I tried to go fast, so a lot of monsters are copies or adaptations of monsters found in medieval illuminations.

I made it very difficult for me to achieve my goals, which were to make a map that has both a medieval and antique look (to reflect the old age of the original map), that is still more or less faithful to the map I drew thirty years ago and that tells a adventure.

In the end, I'm not sure that the medieval look is present on the map (probably it is on the border, but the map seems far too current to me). 
The fidelity to the original map is quite respected, I think...  Maybe too much, because I think the original map is quite devoid of interest (the drawing of the coasts, the relief, the various elements completely crazy - a palace on a frozen island? really?) and as a result, the current map reflects this lack of interest (that's why I went for this medieval look: the drawings of the time are sometimes as crazy as the original map, in terms of mixing elements and credibility). 
The adventure, I think it's quite present. If only by the text. I tried to illustrate it also in the drawings of adventurers and monsters, as well as with thumbnails and objects: It was a map meant for an D&D adventure, I tried to make the current map reflect this adventure.

I think I had a lot of trouble getting out of my comfort zone, and in the end it's not really a success, but hey ! It's a challenge, and isn't the goal to try things? On that point at least, I've tried...

This should be the final version, but if you see any details or mistakes, I can always try to make a new version before the end of the challenge? Feel free to criticize and comment, anyway !

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## J.Edward

I really like this one, Joel  :Very Happy: 
I'm going to have to explore this realm.

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## Marc

:O amazing work Jo!

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## - JO -

> I really like this one, Joel 
> I'm going to have to explore this realm.





> :O amazing work Jo!


Thanks a lot for the support...

Small corrections in the bordure (there may be another one later, if the challenge is still open) :

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## - JO -

And another correction...

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## - JO -

Now, I think that's about all I can think about to improve this map... Unless you have any other advice or if you see an error that I could still correct, this should be the very latest version. 

Thanks for your advice!

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I also think that Kellerica had an excellent idea (one more) by comparing her first map and today's one. So, I'm getting into it too:

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## - JO -

And of cours, there's always the little details you see after you're finished....

I Hope it's the final one...

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