Inkarnate World Map Aesthetic Guide

1. Hide all layers.
2. Enable filters, using settings shown in the Filter Settings section.
3. Show Background.
4. With brush tool, fill BG with #3a7472.
5. Show Foreground.
6. Set Mask Tool Advanced Settings, using setting shown in the Mask Tool Settings section.
7. Draw some land masses.
8. Using a smaller brush, chop up the edges. Flow water inward through inlets. Dot the coasts and waters with outcroppings and islands.
9. Add Textures with the Brush Tool. Recommended Textures for each terrain type are listed in the Recommended Textures section. Blend the textures using opacity 0.35.
10. Place stamps for mountains, hills, rocks, trees, cities, etc. See the Recommended Stamps section for the exact stamps and modifications I use for each.
11. Cut in rivers with the Mask Tool in subtract mode. In the Rivers section, I detail the settings for 5 sizes of rivers, from broadest to narrowest.
    
12. Shading and shadows. This is the magic part!
    1. First, decide what direction your light will come from. I chose top-left. Use two different "Light" stamps to create a lit half and a shadow half of all elevated features: mountains, dunes, hills, etc.
    2. I put the gold stamp on the NW side of the features, and the black stamp on the SE side of the features. The exact settings for these stamps is in the Recommended Stamps section.
    3. Here is an example of a basic stamp, the Light overlays, and the finished result.
    4. When you're done, your Light layer might look like this.
    5. And your result will look like this.
    

    Light layer example:

    

    Final result:

    
13. Time for clouds. Add in cloud stamps wherever appropriate: magical or dreamy places, swampy or steamy places, stormy places, industrial places, foggy or mountainous places, etc.
    
14. Let's add a border. Use an opaque cloud stamp, and replicate it around the edges.
15. Time for labels. Use the Recommended Labels section for the fonts and styles I use.

    You're done!

Show Filters: On

Action: Subtract