Fantasy World

Jasen Smith · 06-16-2012, 04:20 PM

Hello my people. It has been a long time since i posted anything art related. I have been so busy recently with my day job designing things that are really amazing looking but can't show them here.

Other than my day job stuff I have also been working on visual aids for myself.
Over the past few years I have been writing a series of fantasy novels, I huge undertaking for myself as it is a amazing learning experience.
While writing for my novel I also like to create pieces of art to help make the world come alive.

Here are some of those pieces I have created.

First, is my map. Every fantasy story needs a map and this map is very detailed.
(Still a work in progress.)
The actual image is 27x27 inches.

Ever since I was in college around 10 years ago, I have been interested in family crests. I have studied them, learning what each piece means and the differences from different places. Here are just a few of my family crests that I have made.

This story has been a a work in progress since I had the idea in high school. At them time I wrote it to be a comic book, but I wanted it to have more feeling and rewrote it in a screenplay. Once I realized that I could never turn it into a movie or series, I decided to write it into a series of books.

Some of you may remember when I talked about this awhile back, but this story is one that I have rewritten several times, mostly because I had no idea what I was doing.
Mostly recently I have reached my first milestone of reaching the first 5 chapters. Doesn't mean I won't go back and do more rewrites, but so far, it's been a lot of fun, learned a lot about story telling and my grammar has improved. (Though not perfect.)

Thanks for looking.

Magnus · 06-16-2012, 05:28 PM

This looks good. Maybe vary the material for the backgrounds for the crests to make them stand out from each other more.

World-building is always fun, and if you've managed to write a book already then huge amounts of kudos. It's a big undertaking, no matter if it's biblical in weight or a short, punchy one.

You are likely fully aware of this, but your maps and family crests reminds me of G.R.R. Martin's Songs of Fire and Ice. Or was it Ice and Fire...?

:M:
www.magnus-aspli.com

Jasen Smith · 06-16-2012, 06:13 PM

I can see why you'd say they resemble his maps and crests but feel that's mostly because Game of Thrones is very popular right now.
He got inspired from Lord of the Rings as many writers and artists did.
I also used several maps as reference, even our very own world map.

Maps from World of Warcraft, Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls, Middle Earth, and Westeros. Not so much using them for ideas but how they textured their maps, or how things flow together.

Back when I created this very same map out on paper and ink 10 years ago, people then said it looked like Lord of the Rings. Another 10 years from now, who knows what it will resemble.

The crests I took from mostly English and Scottish crests. Lions were a symbol of royalty, hence why we see King Henry's lions on his shields.
I can see how the animals used resemble those of Westeros, because of the wolf, lion, and octopus.

You wouldn't believe how hard it is to actually be original in a fantasy genre, I'm finding that to be the hardest part of this. Names I thought of in my head I later find out actually exist but in a different language and have a meaning that I did not intend in that language.
Places I create and think of exist in another fantasy book or game.

Even though visually similar to others, the story is completely different and something I feel is original in this genre. (But that is my little secret)

06-16-2012, 04:20 PM	#1
Jasen Smith Lee Nordling is my hero Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: My own mind Posts: 3,980	Fantasy World Hello my people. It has been a long time since i posted anything art related. I have been so busy recently with my day job designing things that are really amazing looking but can't show them here. Other than my day job stuff I have also been working on visual aids for myself. Over the past few years I have been writing a series of fantasy novels, I huge undertaking for myself as it is a amazing learning experience. While writing for my novel I also like to create pieces of art to help make the world come alive. Here are some of those pieces I have created. First, is my map. Every fantasy story needs a map and this map is very detailed. (Still a work in progress.) The actual image is 27x27 inches. Ever since I was in college around 10 years ago, I have been interested in family crests. I have studied them, learning what each piece means and the differences from different places. Here are just a few of my family crests that I have made. This story has been a a work in progress since I had the idea in high school. At them time I wrote it to be a comic book, but I wanted it to have more feeling and rewrote it in a screenplay. Once I realized that I could never turn it into a movie or series, I decided to write it into a series of books. Some of you may remember when I talked about this awhile back, but this story is one that I have rewritten several times, mostly because I had no idea what I was doing. Mostly recently I have reached my first milestone of reaching the first 5 chapters. Doesn't mean I won't go back and do more rewrites, but so far, it's been a lot of fun, learned a lot about story telling and my grammar has improved. (Though not perfect.) Thanks for looking.

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06-16-2012, 05:28 PM	#2
Magnus An agent of chaos Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Trondheim, Norway Posts: 1,126	This looks good. Maybe vary the material for the backgrounds for the crests to make them stand out from each other more. World-building is always fun, and if you've managed to write a book already then huge amounts of kudos. It's a big undertaking, no matter if it's biblical in weight or a short, punchy one. You are likely fully aware of this, but your maps and family crests reminds me of G.R.R. Martin's Songs of Fire and Ice. Or was it Ice and Fire...? :M: www.magnus-aspli.com

06-16-2012, 06:13 PM	#3
Jasen Smith Lee Nordling is my hero Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: My own mind Posts: 3,980	I can see why you'd say they resemble his maps and crests but feel that's mostly because Game of Thrones is very popular right now. He got inspired from Lord of the Rings as many writers and artists did. I also used several maps as reference, even our very own world map. Maps from World of Warcraft, Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls, Middle Earth, and Westeros. Not so much using them for ideas but how they textured their maps, or how things flow together. Back when I created this very same map out on paper and ink 10 years ago, people then said it looked like Lord of the Rings. Another 10 years from now, who knows what it will resemble. The crests I took from mostly English and Scottish crests. Lions were a symbol of royalty, hence why we see King Henry's lions on his shields. I can see how the animals used resemble those of Westeros, because of the wolf, lion, and octopus. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to actually be original in a fantasy genre, I'm finding that to be the hardest part of this. Names I thought of in my head I later find out actually exist but in a different language and have a meaning that I did not intend in that language. Places I create and think of exist in another fantasy book or game. Even though visually similar to others, the story is completely different and something I feel is original in this genre. (But that is my little secret)