Top down map drawing

Discovering a cave entrance in the face of a cliff lends to a number of storytelling possibilities and encounters. But, how exactly do you draw something like that, especially if you’re using a top-down perspective? It’s certainly a challenge, but I want to walk you through the process and share som

I’ve realised I have a particular workflow for drawing coastlines in my maps. Here’s a quick walkthrough. Each step is done on a new layer in photoshop, and I use a 5px hard round brush in each case with size set to pressure. However, all of these steps can be done in Gimp – or … Continue reading "How to Draw Coastlines on a Fantasy Map"

Made on Procreate using the Map Effects Brush Sets and my Imagination 🌈

I'm a professional fantasy mapmaker posting tutorials on how to draw maps, free map resources, and my published work.

One of the biggest challenges with fantasy maps in a top down perspective is they tend to look a bit flat. Fortunately, there are some simple tricks you can use to build up the layers of the landscape to give a sense of depth. In this Map Tip we’ll be looking at how to draw cliffs on a coastline in this perspective and make them really stand out in your map. #mapeffects #fantasy #rpg #drawing #maps

When you sit down to draw a fantasy map for your story, one of the first things to decide is the perspective you’ll use. The most common tend to be isometric and top down, but which should you use? Here we will look at some of the benefits of each using something like cliffs to show some of the differences. #mapeffects

Followed the advice from Paths Peculiar and drew up a village map.

Have you ever wondered if you’re placing forests in the right spot on your fantasy maps? How does a forest even form, and why do trees grow in one area and not another? In this Map Tip I will walk you through how a forest grows to fill a landscape so you can have confidence when placing them on your

Cities and towns don’t pop up by accident; which means some thought needs to go into where you place them so your map doesn’t appear unrealistic. The good news is there are a few simple principles to keep in mind which will not only help with the placement, but will cause the story to begin to emerge organically from the map. Let’s start with some questions you can keep in mind. #map #mapeffects #fantasy #rpg #roleplayinggame #dnd

One of the most enjoyable things about being a Dungeon Master in Dungeons & Dragons is making the maps for the world you players will be playing in. Today we are going to look at the top free D&D map builders around and let you know what makes each of them unique. Hopefully after this you will have all the tools you need to try making maps for your campaign yourself.

Here is a quick map drawing tutorial for how to draw a tree in a top down perspective. This works great for city maps, as well as battle or encounter maps for rpg. #joshstolarz #mapeffects #rpg #dungeonsanddragons #fantasymap #map

How can you differentiate between mountains and sand dunes when drawing your fantasy map? Here are a few tips to help them read clearly on the maps for your rpg campaign or book. Then if you want to learn more about how to draw sand dunes, be sure to click here to visit the Map Effects tutorial. #fantasymaps #rpg #pathfinder #dnd

So I was asked a while ago about different cliff mapping styles. Today I thought I’d break the hiatus of the last couple of weeks with a few different styles of cliffs. It’s not really a tutorial, just a breakdown of a couple of the styles I’ve used for different maps. 1. Classic cliffs This … Continue reading "How to draw cliffs – 3 different styles"

Why do some mountain ranges have a lush forest on one side, and a desert on the other? This is caused by an amazing process known as rain shadow. Here is a quick map tip on how it works so hopefully you can implement this type of feature on your fantasy maps for your next rpg or book. Tap here for more tutorials and tips!

This is a hand drawn map I made using ink pen. It's a small village located around a ruined fortress in the mist coast, a region from my actual campaign.