So Exciting! New Artwork for Y'Dahnndrya!

Yesterday, our internet signal was terrible. I couldn't blog. I could barely run facebook in the morning and not at all in the evening. It's frustrating when that happens...but at the same time, I accomplished some other things I needed to get done. Wanna know more?

Creating a fantasy world map isn't exactly the easiest task. You have to make sure your distances are at least more accurate than the forest service map. And I believe the artwork on the map should reflect the world you're writing about. If your world contains unfamiliar flora and fauna, like mine, you don't want to put a dragon or a sea-serpent on it. (Though in my case, a sea-serpent would work fairly well.)

So I've been working on creating a unique compass rose, symbols for each of the clans, and a general symbol that will help people recognize my world without actually seeing the word 'Y'Dahnndrya' or having to sound it out. *It's OK to laugh here.*

Compass Rose

Every map needs a compass rose. It's the map's crowning glory. My original thought was to keep the compass rose simple. I used three floral medallion elements and a fancy free font to create this one. (*No you do not have my permission to use it. It's protected under a CC-4.0 license. If you want to use it, let me know and I'll make it available for purchase somewhere else.*)

So while this would have worked, and it looked pretty cool, I really wanted something that reflected my world a little bit better. I put in several hours of work yesterday and I'm so happy with the result. (*Again, you cannot use this without my express permission. But seriously, why would you want to? It reflects my particular world...Anyway, it's protected under a CC 4.0 license.*)

I've had no formal training in graphic art and design. Everything I know, I've learned from my husband or from video tutorials and a hefty dose of trial and error. If I can do this, anyone can do it. I used three elements to create each of the suns (Tsifi'Ra and Mit'Ra), five different moon elements, and those fancy free letters I mentioned earlier. All of the elements I used were royalty free. I found them at Open Clip Art. I usually get my free fonts from Font Squirrel but DecoCaps can be found at Font Palace. (If you use one of these places to get your fonts, be certain you check the license closely to be sure you can use the elements commercially.)

Once I put them all together, I ended up with this epic compass rose that accurately relates to my world. I'm so happy with the result, I started creating jewel dots to represent each of the clans. I'll share those when they're complete. I think all this will come in handy for future quiz art and merch, too! So exciting!

Tomorrow, I'll resume blogging about the challenge responses. I didn't even get to do that yesterday because I was so caught up in graphic design. *chuckle* Until next time...