Shadowy Brook, Adept (Patreon)

I'm back, Adepts, with my newest map- the Shadowy Brook (24x30)! This is another of my attempts to make maps that feel more natural, with more interesting water features, variations in elevation, and additional small props. I think it looks pretty nice!

So, I've been watching Twin Peaks for the first time and I really like the environment, especially the waterfall in the opening credits. It made me want to draw up a nice, rocky, alpine stream full of logs- a very atmospheric place for a battle, I think.

As for the stream itself, I felt like I didn't want it to be too overly rocky like the shore of my last map, and also I wanted the shape of the stream itself to be a simple steady curve without much variation. Often I feel like I over-design the layouts of things like streams and paths in my maps, drawing them with more extravagant shapes than is realistic. Now, I'm not saying that this one is realistic either, but I guess I'm just trying stuff out, you know?

Outlines outlines. I'm still reusing the rock walls I've drawn over the last month, though in this one they're more of a little detail I added late to give the right bank a little more intrigue. Also, since I drew so many rocks last week I felt that I'd better put them to good use, so just about all of the larger rocks here were pulled straight from the Rocky Coast with the addition of some moss on top.

Small note- I made my outlines a bit larger for this map, though I'm sure no one will clock it. Why? I like the look of outlines in battlemaps, it gives them a more comic book aesthetic that I enjoy. No other reason really.

Since I was inspired by mountainous terrain I thought maybe I'd also try to use more alpine colors as opposed to my typical vibrant forest palette. I found some reference I liked of mountain streams and worked from there, then later realized that it was rapidly turning into my Haunted palette. To make things easier then, I started over from my Haunted forest palette and tweaked it until I got where I wanted- primarily I just made it a little less saturated, added a touch of haze, and recolored the rocks and dirt. Amazingly, it's that easy!