As per Jim's comment, some barrel cacti can be quite large - perhaps make 1 of large size, and people can resize them for their maps if they like. Also prickly pears (a pest nearly eradicated in Australia) are quite different looking to the other cacti, so should be worth considering just one example - they can be small, or grow to over 10 feet high. With their flat oval leaves with prickles on them and purple fruit, they are quite different from other cacti (and are typical of vegetation in my Myirandios world). This would help make a desert region look very authentic if we had different cacti and desert shrubs. (and termite mounds) - perhaps part of spectrum 3 next year.
I'm sorry, Quenten. I had a choice to make and I already made it. Now I have another choice to make, and that is between prickly pear and gum trees. Which would you prefer?
The ghost gum is awesome, isn't it. usually seen in semiarid and arid regions of Australia. If you run your hands over the bark, you get a white powder on your hands, used by the aboriginals to rub on their bodies, and to make a paste of for painting (along with other substances for the white colour). Murray gum can often look the same, if it hasn't got its lovely large overhanging branches, but their bark is not powdery. These are called red gums because of their wood, not their bark.
Thanks Quenten. That's some very useful reference material. I only have time to do one type of gum, so I'll go for the Ghost Gum - its the one that most people imagine when someone says "gum tree", which makes it the best kind of map symbol :)
The app is free, but relatively primitive. "It's really heavy to steer." As my dad used to say of the Ford Zephyr we had. For you young-uns, that's the same type of car used as cop cars and smashed up in their hundreds in the Blue's Brother's film.
Yes, but don't forget that this is a true isometric view - half way between top view and side view. Even the tallest trees look a little more squat when viewed from that angle ;)
Ok. How about this one? I managed to get it to look a bit taller by shortening the lateral branches a bit. It's all relative. I also managed to get the fronds to clump a bit more and show more of the branches, like the real one, by removing a lot of the distortion on all the stems. This might seem to make them a bit too straight, but at the size they will be in an overland map I think it will be ok.
Now back to the palms for one last try at making them look like something decent, and then the swamp trees and general jungle trees.
Not sure if they would double for birch because the leaves are quite dark, but you could scale them differentially to make them slimmer.
Been working on everything I've done so far together today - to get things like relative contrast and shadows right. The Joshua trees are in the pipeline, but not yet finished.
I think I may have a scale issue here. Because I've never seen any of these trees for real I can only go on what Google says is the height range for each one, which is altogether rather vague. So here are a few I'm not sure about next to each other. Please feel free to comment.
Are the Joshua trees too big? Are the gum trees too small? Are the saguaro too big or small?
Comments
Thank you @Loopysue for sharing this information. I will have a look at it.
Can't wait to see your Joshua tree in action - when it fills the deserts of future CC3+ maps with life ?
@Loopysue SUE = Master Craftsperson!
Aw, thank you, Mike :D
Joshua tree?
(two random seed variants of the same model)
As per Jim's comment, some barrel cacti can be quite large - perhaps make 1 of large size, and people can resize them for their maps if they like. Also prickly pears (a pest nearly eradicated in Australia) are quite different looking to the other cacti, so should be worth considering just one example - they can be small, or grow to over 10 feet high. With their flat oval leaves with prickles on them and purple fruit, they are quite different from other cacti (and are typical of vegetation in my Myirandios world). This would help make a desert region look very authentic if we had different cacti and desert shrubs. (and termite mounds) - perhaps part of spectrum 3 next year.
I'm sorry, Quenten. I had a choice to make and I already made it. Now I have another choice to make, and that is between prickly pear and gum trees. Which would you prefer?
What a choice - gum trees, especially the white trunked ones (Murray River red gum and ghost gum).
And here is the quintessential Aussie wattle (Cootamundra wattle) - a tall tree with purple-green leaves and abundant yellow-ball flowers.
I thought you might prefer them. At least at overland scale they will be just as visible as all the other trees :)
The ghost gum is awesome, isn't it. usually seen in semiarid and arid regions of Australia. If you run your hands over the bark, you get a white powder on your hands, used by the aboriginals to rub on their bodies, and to make a paste of for painting (along with other substances for the white colour). Murray gum can often look the same, if it hasn't got its lovely large overhanging branches, but their bark is not powdery. These are called red gums because of their wood, not their bark.
Thanks Quenten. That's some very useful reference material. I only have time to do one type of gum, so I'll go for the Ghost Gum - its the one that most people imagine when someone says "gum tree", which makes it the best kind of map symbol :)
Those are looking real fine Sue.
Thank you, Mike :)
The app is free, but relatively primitive. "It's really heavy to steer." As my dad used to say of the Ford Zephyr we had. For you young-uns, that's the same type of car used as cop cars and smashed up in their hundreds in the Blue's Brother's film.
That looks real good !
Thank you, Jim :D
I hope this is gum-like enough for everyone, because I've run out of time to work on just this one tree.
it's perfect
It's wonderful Sue!
Thank you, both :)
It, and its siblings, will be a lot smaller than that, of course, and I will take the trouble to fade out that harsh line at the base of the tree too.
The only thing that may make it look more like a gum is a taller but still slender trunk
Yes, but don't forget that this is a true isometric view - half way between top view and side view. Even the tallest trees look a little more squat when viewed from that angle ;)
Ok. How about this one? I managed to get it to look a bit taller by shortening the lateral branches a bit. It's all relative. I also managed to get the fronds to clump a bit more and show more of the branches, like the real one, by removing a lot of the distortion on all the stems. This might seem to make them a bit too straight, but at the size they will be in an overland map I think it will be ok.
Now back to the palms for one last try at making them look like something decent, and then the swamp trees and general jungle trees.
Better.
I think I'm finally happy with the palm trees.
(work continues on all fronts, so don't think I've forgotten other types of tree)
Wonderful Sue!
This is turning into one of the prettiest styles in the whole catalog.
Looks wonderful
Thanks everyone ?
At typical overland map-scales, the second version of the gum tree could also pass quite well for a silver birch.
All looking great, as usual! ?
Not sure if they would double for birch because the leaves are quite dark, but you could scale them differentially to make them slimmer.
Been working on everything I've done so far together today - to get things like relative contrast and shadows right. The Joshua trees are in the pipeline, but not yet finished.
I think I may have a scale issue here. Because I've never seen any of these trees for real I can only go on what Google says is the height range for each one, which is altogether rather vague. So here are a few I'm not sure about next to each other. Please feel free to comment.
Are the Joshua trees too big? Are the gum trees too small? Are the saguaro too big or small?