When I was in motion to get Vallidin published, I had a lot to do. Some of it was tedious, but some of it was also just pure awesome. Watching the cover of my story come to life was, hands down, the best process of the entire publication. I got to see my imagination take form, become colored, adjusted, and created to my liking - all in a professional manner. I will post that process later. For now, I want to show you an equally exciting aspect of Vallidin - the behind-the-scenes creation and evolution of the official map!

This little gem below is the first rendition ever created. I drew it by hand when I was 15 years old and never threw it away. Take a look:

Click here for a larger versionThere it is, version one of the entire process. It's obvious that this thing needs to be revamped in a professional manner. After I found my artist, I approached him with the idea. He had trouble identifying some of the landscape (I don't blame him!), so he sent me back a scan with some questions:

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After a brief discussion, we dove right into the project. I gave him a sample map to work off of for reference, a map that someone else had completed. I wanted to see what he could create. I wanted to give him free reign on the project. This is the first rendition he sent back to me:

Click here for a larger versionWow! That was my first thought when I saw this. How exciting to see my old, hand drawn map starting to look real! The edges look worn, the mountains look bold, and the forest full. I couldn't be more pleased, so I told him to keep going!

Click here for a larger versionThe water has been colored, the forest is more detailed, the shading darker. We move on:

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Buildings have been added. More mountains have been made. This is exciting stuff!

Click here for a larger versionThe tower from my cover has been added, along with the world being effected all around it. You can see that this place in the corner is clearly not a good place. I told him I wanted the darkness to be a lighter black as to not overwhelm the feel of the map. This is what came next:


Click here for a larger versionPerfect! Odessa has been drawn. Now let's finish up drawing and slap some names on these places.

Click here for a larger versionNow isn't that fancy? Snow has been added! But there are a few issues. The names look great. Only, I think they can look better. So let's flip them all right side-up. Also, the Chakran Palace is a place where Wizards live. We need this place to pop! So I gave him a sample picture to use for reference, and told him that I want it to be all white. Also, let's make that volcano at the top a little more pronounced and the river look more professional. The results:

Click here for a larger versionNow that's starting to look like a finished product! Satisfied, he then gave me three options on how I wanted my map to look:

Option 1: Click here for a larger version Option 2: Click here for a larger version Option 3: Click here for a larger versionAwesome. I like them all. But I liked option 3 the best. But I thought it could be just slightly improved. Let's make those silly mountains near Echo Tower more like the others on the map. Also, let's move the compass to the bottom, near the Chakran Palace. And, finally let's add an edge to this thing. The result:

Final result: Click here for a larger versionAnd so we have it, the official, final map that shows the world of Vallidin!

Stay tuned for more!