Desert House, Adept & Expert (Patreon)

Wow, this has been a crazy week. I've been a little overwhelmed since the end of May (which is why this map is a fair bit smaller and simpler than usual) but I think I'm starting to get things under control. 

Also prepare for freebies, Adepts and Experts! I'll be making an alternate version of each map just available for you folks from now on; this time it's a version of the map set at dusk. This alternate version can be whatever, if you recall last week's map I made an alternate 'empty' version. 

Next week I'll be back to my normal shenanigans (fingers crossed), but for now let's talk about this week's map!

1. Yeesh, that's a sad little rough sketch. I've been kicking around this map for a while now (the house used to be on top of a mesa, essentially the watchtower map), so I started off with a very good idea of what I wanted to do. 

As usual, I try to keep my rough sketches very simple but in past weeks I've been going a little over the top with them. Perhaps this is a return to the level of detail I should be aiming for?

2. I haven't drawn a sandy map yet, so I haven't quite figured out what works, so this time I went for loose contours, kinda like a topographical map, to try to convey the rippling texture of sand. I think it looks alright! I'm careful not to overdo the contours (because I think it would overwhelm the eye), but next time I draw a deserty map I'll try to toe that line. Rock ledges are rock ledges, I'm rapidly growing tired of them (and also rapidly getting faster at drawing them).

The little garden came out pretty dang cute. After some googling, I came up with ball cactus, prickly pear, and those desert gourds (colocynth apparently) as my crops. In hindsight, I don't think ball cactuses actually have fruit, but you didn't hear it from me.

3. I had a tough time nailing the colors, probably because I haven't made a desert map yet (I'm hoping that consistently cute garden carries me to the finish line though). My usual blue shadows don't seem quite right for some reason, I think they just clash with the desert color palette. I'll stick to my guns though and see what the reception is, but I doubt I'll use this palette again. 

Maybe magenta-tinted shadows would come across better? There's definitely a compromise here that works with my style, but I haven't found it yet.