jice
OdobenMy method for creating fictional world maps:
1) go for a walk after rain
2) take photos of drying spots on the sidewalk
3) draw over them ✨ 
#worldbuilding #worldbuildingart #cartography #fictionalmaps
Spud@odoben popular walrus 
Takiro 🎨@odoben Patterns in marble also work pretty great.
fenchelmit@odoben finally some shoelandia representation
Quinn9282 🖥️🌙✌️@odoben So creative! I love it! ❤️
Urs G.
Jessamyn@odoben So simple and yet so effective.
Ric@odoben this is the coolest thing 😶
@MiBro54517@odoben
I discovered this digital map generator just a few days ago: https://azgaar.github.io/Fantasy-Map-Generator/
But I love the idea of painting over photos 🤩
JoelBarr
Peter Butler
teefax@odoben Sort of continents on a foreign planet. Could it be earth 2.0? How is the climate spreaded?
Jorge Candeias@odoben :)
I once did the same with an old peeling wall.
Steve@odoben that is a small piece of genius!
Poligofsky
Helena S.
Primo@odoben amazeballs
A. No, née: Moose@odoben Look out for fresh tree stumps. Fungi can create marvelous fictional maps in wood.
Word of Mouth 🍄 
@odoben Aurotania, Yyss, K'Atar, and Far Eaioaia
Juho MäntysaloWorks for regional maps, but for world maps things like world's origin myth should show up in the landscape. Not necessarily tectonic shifts, ice age's signs, or continental drift (a fantasy world can do without), but stuff like where the gods fought, where a mountain was dropped on the undeserving, from where was the landscape redecorated to suit the whims of a mad god etc.
🪷 प्रियंका | Priyanka 🪷@odoben that's awesome! 🪷
GLCThis sounds to me like a mathematical conjecture.
With a certain plausibility to it.
*_jߍyrope@Odoben That method is very sympathetic to me.
beka valentine
Solar🌄Garden@beka_valentine @odoben @firefly
The*actual* coffee foam might work for my suggestion about adding a weather satellite layer.
Zuri (he/him) ❌️👑 🕐 CET@odoben Butterfly effect universe Pangaea development
MostlyTato@odoben
I've noted something similar: pour a small amount of water on a flat surface and photograph the results.
Its a valid representation of fluid dynamics, though ofc geology would come into play to (ie. a non-flat surface).
Your method is better though.
I've noted something similar: pour a small amount of water on a flat surface and photograph the results.
Its a valid representation of fluid dynamics, though ofc geology would come into play to (ie. a non-flat surface).
Your method is better though.
Cavyherd
exu0@odoben there's a pair of giant ships in the ocean!
korin 🔜 kodi@odoben another ridiculously effective technique is just to drop any kind of powder on a table
Next, run a bathtub with some kids foam-bath; let it settle to a thin layer, give the surface a stir and make a short movie from 30cm above. Add as a transparent layer to your map image and what do you have?
A weather satellite sequence.
It'd probably work with a beer and a macro lens too.
E.T.Smith@odoben @beka_valentine One of my favorite maps started from rings left on a table by dirty breakfast dishes
Bytebro 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇬🇱I'd be willing to bet that there are Actual Laws Of Physics to explain why the result is so plausible. (Which, tbc are well beyond my expertise. But I'll bet some bright soul out there could explain it.)
Marco van Burgsteden 🍋Do you include the boots in your map Y/N <g,d&r>
Professor_StevensYours is a lot better, but here's my version done quick-and-dirty in a photo processor:
Mad Argon 
@odoben I usually look for original creatures in random wet spots, patterns on wood etc.
binarymelon
Luchuco Cadáver@odoben 4) imagine a story that happens there and tell it to your children
*Aya Freya ⋆.˚🦦⋆ - Neptuwunium@odoben I wonder how accurate this would be for erosion and natural climate development because it is, well, natural drying cycles.
Kee Hinckley@odoben @grrrr_shark Somewhere a geologist is turning over in their grave. :)
Nebyoolae@odoben this is super cool!
Pare@odoben Ha, I took some pictures of some snow and ice a couple of weeks ago for this exact purpose!
Maybe I need to really draw some maps.
Aleksei � Matiushkin@odoben and that’s exactly how Rorschach invented his tests.
ets@odoben 'Grease stains on the inside of pizza boxes' is also a good option.
Not Called Jake@odoben genius idea. 👏
TuileThis shouldn't work, but it does! A similar trick would be the coffee stains on paper.
Dan York@odoben That’s amazing! Thanks for sharing what you do.
オチュー (stop colonialism 🇵🇸)
Nix Kharon
Lio Hong@odoben Nature is a better RNG than computers
Jeremy Mallin@odoben
In art school we had a similar exercise freshman year except—we used ink blots and had to enlarge them 10x and copy them by hand.
In art school we had a similar exercise freshman year except—we used ink blots and had to enlarge them 10x and copy them by hand.
@odoben I wonder if you could do automatic map-genration like this 🤔
1. Simulate realistic rain/water simulation on a flat 3D road
2. Simulate evaporation
3. Take a random screenshot, do edge detection, and fill with colours
1. Simulate realistic rain/water simulation on a flat 3D road
2. Simulate evaporation
3. Take a random screenshot, do edge detection, and fill with colours
Reagan ୨୧@odoben one time i tripped and fell and hurt my knees badly, so i used the scabs to draw a map
Sylvhem@odoben Oooooh. That’s such a nice idea!