# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Town/City Mapping >  El Dorado - City of Gold

## snodsy

Going for a National Geographic look depicting the lost city of Gold. 

Here is my initial map sketch with the illustrations and regional maps as placeholders for now.  I'll do the text, regional maps and placement of the elements in Illustrator with the illustrative map and other illustrations in Photoshop.  Comments welcome.

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## zhar2

Well chibcha art was not like mayan art.

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## Mouse

Hey Snodsy  :Smile: 

I wasn't going to visit today, since MS have rudely used up most of my monthly broadband allowance with one of their wretched Win 10 'updates', but I just couldn't resist, and when I saw you were starting on something new I just had to log in  :Smile: 

I'm really looking forward to this, since its already a beautiful map.  There is just one thing I don't like all that much - the vertical dotted label lines.  I mistook the first one I saw - the sacrificial platform label line - as the dotted trajectory the unfortunate sacrifice might take... and then the rest of them lost their appeal for me.

Sorry!

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## Greg

I love the direction this is heading in Snodsy! You're on a real roll with your mapmaking at the moment and it's great to see such a diverse range of subjects and map types. The perspective you have on the city is spot on and I think it will look stunning in its true golden glow.  :Smile: 

Not a huge fan of the blocky buidling inserts at the bottom, but I think once colour is in there, they could work.  :Smile:

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## snodsy

Thanks guys for the comments;

zhar2, thanks for your comment, although I've found it hard to find any architectural reference other than there living huts, I'll look into this more, but it you know of any reference I would really appreciate it.  

GLS, those blocking buildings are just placeholders, they will be illustrated and in perspective, these were just to show volume for me.

Mouse, thanks I'll look at those dotted leaders after I have the map illustrated to see if a solid leader is better.

Thanks again for the comments.

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## Voolf

I love isometric maps, this sketch looks good. Are you planning to add more details when drawing actual lines ?

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## zhar2

id say the best sources since they use to sculpt more than draw (maybe they did but its all perished) is things like this 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Madrid)_01.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...c91c8a738e.jpg

most of their style is visible from their gold work.

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## ThomasR

You beat me to it ! I'm actually working on isometric views of mayan pyramids and such for a personal project. I love what you laid out so far !

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## snodsy

Here's an update, took the day off to work on this, so far working in Adobe Illustrator only, not sure what buildings I'll redo in Photoshop, maybe turn them all into outlines then place the line drawing in Photoshop and color there, not sure.
Thanks again zhar2 you really pointed me in the right direction  :Smile: 

The golden man/raft setting and the one stone sculpture will be redrawn, placeholders now.  Will add some farm lands and speciality buildings next.

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## J.Edward

Oh, this is looking nice already snodsy  :Smile: 
It's already got a nice NatGeo feel to it.

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## BlindBlake

Really nice ! I don't know anything about pre-columbian civilizations but the map is beautiful  :Smile: 
Newbie question : Do you work with a graphics tablet ?

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## Warlin

Nice work on this Snodsy. The composition is really well done.

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## snodsy

Thanks for the comments guys, appreciate the support.  




> Really nice ! I don't know anything about pre-columbian civilizations but the map is beautiful 
> Newbie question : Do you work with a graphics tablet ?


I do work with a graphic tablet in Photoshop, but in Illustrator (which I've used since it's inception) I use a mouse -- So far on this map it's all been done in illustrator, I can work faster and more precise with it.   

I will probably go back and take most of the color out of the illustrator file though, leaving the line work to import into photoshop - I'll then paint in the textural qualities.  This is the first map that I've done this way however, so not sure how it might work?

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## Mouse

Improvement can only come through experimentation, they say.  I say - your maps are beautiful anyway, but experimentation is a lot of fun.  Enjoy!  :Very Happy:

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## snodsy

Here's an update, I will be taking this into Photoshop to use as a template for the background landscape, then replace the low res sketch.  Whole lot more to do, but won't get much done in the next week since I'm heading to BRYCE and ZION Canyon in Utah for some inspiration  :Smile:

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## DanielHasenbos

This is really shaping up nicely! It's looking very different from your usual map so I'm curious to see the finished map! Enjoy your vacation!

-Dan

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## Mouse

Its looking good, Snodsy  :Smile: 

I have a confession to make...

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the style, but then I've never really liked Nat Geo illustrations.  That's just my personal preferences speaking out loud I'm afraid.

However, and having said that, I think that even though your natural style is _absolutely a billion times more entrancing_ than anything NG, you are already managing to pull their style off... _better_ than they do  :Smile: 

Keep up the good work, because even though I'll never like this map as much as your other works, I fully appreciate the inner drive to achieve a set goal - and you _are_ achieving it  :Smile: 

That's got to be a good enough reason to rep a person, once the job is done  :Wink:

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## snodsy

Thank Mouse for the compliment, but I'm not even close to Fernando Baptista - his Gobekli Tepe, Sagratia Familia, and Trajan Columns are incredible. I also have a "man crush" on him  :Smile: .  His detail and model making really makes his subject come alive.  It's always good to push new directions and using Illustrator and photoshop to illustrator his a challenge to get them to fit together, so this has already been a good exercise.  But again thanks, well off to get ready to see Bryce and Zion !!!!!! See you all in a week.

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## Mouse

Oh yes!  Sorry - out of broadband is out of touch, and I've been out of broadband for 3 days till now!

Have a really great time  :Very Happy: 

PS - I have a crush on your maps  :Wink:

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## Ilanthar

Great job so far! I love the layout, the view and the topic.

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## snodsy

Getting back at it after a week of vacation looking at mountains  :Smile:   Will undoubtably influence my drawings after seeing Zion, Bryce and Capital Reef.  

Here's an update adding some shadow and color to the background photoshop image.  The Huts were done in Illustrator to start, added roof lines in photoshop and then brought back into illustrator. Then made the hut a SYMBOL in illustrator and copied the symbol (symbols reduce file size and redraw time in illustrator)  Still need to do the structural smaller buildings and continue to work back and forth in both programs.

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## Mouse

Hey Snodsy  :Smile: 

I hope you've come back all fresh and revived!

I was just admiring the lovely splashiness of the falls of Muisca... you know how I value artistic expressiveness...  when I noticed a typo in the caption to the little gold covered God statues at the top.

...on the roof of the Sun Temple to protect*ed* the citizens...

Other than that, very tidy and well thought out composition - extremely well presented  :Smile:

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## ThomasR

It's developing quite nicely ! Do you plan on giving the other building some texture ?

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## snodsy

Thanks for the typo finds MOUSE, spelling not one of my strong suits.  Thomrey, yeah I'll probably bring each component into photoshop as individual illustrations and add the texture, then place them back into illustrator.  I probably need to work on the line weights of the mountains too, not sure yet.

Thanks for the comments. Good to be back to see what's up here, not so good that I have to go back to work  :Smile:

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## Bogie

> Thanks for the comments. Good to be back to see what's up here, not so good that I have to go back to work


Going back to work is the hardest part about vacations.  My kids were in the Valley of Fire last week, not to far from where you were.
Oh, and the map looks great!

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## arsheesh

This is really coming along nicely!  Great work on the perspective.  The placement of each of the elements works together well within the overall composition.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

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## snodsy

Update of the top two illustrations - not sure how much further I'm going to take it, losing interest, may just set aside for awhile. Comments welcome.

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## Mouse

Well it looks fairly finished to me  :Smile: 

I do actually like this map after all - very educational!

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## mat_r

Oh wow, this is great! Love the overall presentation with the illustrations around the plan of the site.
Not sure what I would do to take this one a step further, if I were you. Maybe add some green (trees, bushes) to breathe a little more life into the scene and to loosen the transition between the light green plains and the rocks a bit? I'm not sure if that's a good idea, but I would probably try and look if it doesn't distract too much.

/edit: just saw you had trees in your initial sketch. So if you were planning on doing those or already decided against them, forget my comment.  :Very Happy:

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## ThomasR

I hope you'll come back to it, it's really beautiful !

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## Falconius

I love how clean it is.  I think it's a wonderful map.

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## Ilanthar

As everyone, I hope you'll finish it. It's an excellent map, and I think you really have nailed the "national geographic" ambiance you were looking for.

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## snodsy

Ok I lied!, after some comments I decided to add the forest and some mountain color, maybe too much? But I appreciate the comments, so here's an update, finished?

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## ThomasR

It's crazy how little modifications suddenly bring a map to life ! I like the way the green of the forest is fluffy but I think it'll need some linework. Glad you go further with this map !

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## Mouse

That's a lot better!

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## Voolf

Nice map snodsy, i like the concept, very well thought! and the waterfall with lake is great.

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## Ilanthar

Yup, those colors and additional lines on the mountains are a very nice improvement. It could works well as a finished map, but if you find another great element/improvement/illustration to add, I certainly won't complain  :Smile:  :Wink: !

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## snodsy

This is finished, not perfect but learned a lot, can't really mix linework between two different programs (kind of knew that but tried anyway), first time using the paint brush in illustrator. Doing separate illustrations and placing them in illustrator worked well and alway rather do type in illustrator. Thanks for the comments along the way.

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## ThomasR

Great map ! The only thing I'd say is that I'd like to see some details on the ceremonial palaces. Besides that, glad to see another piece of you with this so special sens of coloring  :Wink:

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## snodsy

Thanks for the reps guys appreciate it, and thomrey- congrats on your upcoming marriage, hopefully we'll see a map of your honeymoon travels soon! Enjoy the day and happiness for years to come. I just celebrated our 27th year together.

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## ThomasR

Thanks snodsy and congrats, 27 years is a feat to be celebrated  :Wink:

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