Map Creation

Creating maps is easier than it looks and really it is more about technique rather than raw talent. This was 100% done in paint.net (free). The most difficult part is a sketch. I usually start with an outline of the land mass and fill in the terrain, ala 3-dots for plains, curly forests, and brusk mountains. After that it is straight forward:

1 - Sketch scanned, made 2 color. I pixilated the drawing to remove any smoothing.
2 - Apply semi-transparent layer parchment, full map
3 - The basic parchment background I used
4 - Apply another semi-transparent layer of the parchment, darker, for water
5 - What I used for forests
6 - Apply semi-transparent layer of forest for greenery. Erasing the unneeded bits. Manually paint in the small areas with green.
7 - Last semi-transparent layer, clean up colors - buildings, coasts, plains, badlands, etc.. Font it up (Treasure Map Deadhand) and stick a fork in it.