Human Skin Map (Pretty yucky in some details, please be aware)
The map that looks back at you.
I built it up with layers with names like 'tattoos' and 'branding' and 'painting' on aged parchment. However, I need a good length of dash to make sewing, for the coastlines. If anyone can suggest a good length or a good set of effects, please let me know. I used drop shadow, with a blur on, but maybe I could use a thin line and a bevel to make it stick up? Nevertheless, it's come out pretty well. Next time, I'll combine brown and red for the coloured lines.
Comments
It would take too long to do by hand, and I don't know anything about macros. Skin crinkles are out unless I can think of a better way.
My only problem with the circles themselves is that the big one has blocky lines in. I've smoothed that a bit with a blur on my working copy, but the circles represent influence of various sorts, with size as one of the main factors. I really want to keep that circle there, because it's central to the theme. The Cibolese don't use scale maps. They use angles to denote what something is, so a dash that comes off a circle at n degrees will mean something entirely different to one that comes off at n+15. Everything flows out from Cibola City to the left of the field, and the big circle is the communication methods. In this case, it may well be a road network.
I've covered the angular bits with circles, which looks pretty good. I'd like to get the skin patterning in more, but assuming a sacrificial victim is young there won't be many big wrinkles. Next time, I'll do it on lizard skin.