Drawing Mountains - 7 Styles for Maps

A tutorial showing 7 ways to draw and shade mountains for fantasy maps.
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Intro music:
Bit Quest Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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[@jimmyboyle3543]

Dude you're too humble, number 7 looked excellent from the start haha. And it's very nice to offer the exact copying of your lines

[@louiserichs8316]

I would like to see various styles of rivers :)

[@GilsanTheRanger]

It would be great to see video about "special terrain" - rocks, dunes, fields etc. :)

[@MiltonRosso]

yep! I agree 100%

[@sunriderksy]

I will second this. My fellow gamers have laughed at me for my desert terrain. (I say laughs, but it's good critique and they are family).

[@ClancyXanecrest]

Number 7 with that shading looks so damn cool! Also I've binged all your map videos the last couple nights and they're so helpful. Thank you!

[@hitagi531]

Towns and Cities, but I would be interested in seeing a little bit more detail, with some streets, walls and maybe even people walking. You know, everyday life

[@cbmeeks]

Great video. I don't know what it is about that background music...but when it starts playing, I really get the sensation of actually BEING in the map. It's like the perfect music for loosing yourself in the world you're drawing.

[@julzbehr6696]

I like 6 and 7 best for larger style maps, ones that encompass continents. Styles 1 through 5, I like in smaller style ones, when the only show a country or a coastline or an island that’s not huge.

[@lorddornel2416]

Thanks a lot Nate! I was one of the people who asked for this :-) Maybe next other terrain like deserts, swamps, canyons, grassland, etc..

[@loveloving1]

I really like how you are so humble, but so good at this. I like style 7 best.

[@gynhaley5927]

Every time I take a brake form map making I always come back to this video to refresh my mind, and I watch it again and again I’m probably a good 100-200 of the views lol

[@WASD20]

Well thanks! :) I appreciate the support.

[@Ryotbh]

Drawing my first map using the book you mention by Jared Blanco and was getting stuck on mountains… knowing how to draw density had me perplexed and my mountains were always super steep. This guide is a fantastic way of seeing the different methods / steps - love the WASD20 method!

[@prestonp.1867]

Your earlier videos inspired me to start trying to draw by hand instead of digitally. While I understand your switch to digital, I appreciate your still demonstrating hand drawn techniques as they truly are a great resource for me. Thank you for posting them.

[@KT-zb9mz]

I'm in the process of making a world map for my story but have been really struggling to illustrate it. Upon looking for techniques to draw various parts of the map I stumbled on your videos and they are such a great help! After watching this one I'm really happy how my mountains look (a mix of 2 and 5) using an app on my phone called ibis paint :)

[@lewa444141]

Mate, you have no idea how much your videos are helping me with my campaign. Can't thank you enough for taking your time in your videos and explaining yourself well!

[@WASD20]

Thanks! Greatly appreciated. :)

[@rowandavis2061]

Oddly, I kinda find the realistic style of 6 quite pleasing. Even a really simple version of it looks good if the shading is right. Makes it feel like they're popping out the page.

[@gericko]

Thanks! This was very helpful! I was searching for this very thing as I'm working on a mountainous area with several ranges. Found you right away with a google search. Will be watching your other videos now as I'm very much not an artist. :)

[@jjkthebest]

My style tends to be a hybrid between 2 and 3. Though, I really like 7. I'll try that in the future. Although I tend to nestle trees in between and halfway up my mountains. I'm not sure how well that'll work with style 7.

[@painttank68]

Ablsolutely LOVELY! I have ordered the Blando book. It will be here in South Carolina by Wednesday. For the next two weeks, i am stuck doing ELEMENTARY Art Lessons with from home for the next 2 weeks. We have been teaching IN PERSON with the students all year but the flu season hit our area and we are doing "distance learning." This is my 28th year teaching Public School Art near Myrtle Beach. Thank you so much for NOT swearing so i can include the first 12min 5 seconds as part of my Virtual Landscape drawing unit. I will be streaming your vid EVERY HOUR for each class on Monday and Wednesday. Please do NOT take it down! Thanks. Love your style. Great speaking voice too.

[@justinarusinaite1710]

These look so good. I've used your tutorials and made an amazing map. You are awesome 👍

[@sunriderksy]

Number 7 is my preferred style, though it took a lot of practice to get down. I'm 100% by hand, no digital (my choice/preference). I've been shading with a soft pencil, and I know exactly what you're talking about with the smudging - at least smudging where you do NOT want it blurred. I'm going to have to try the brush pens now. Any idea how they might react later to some tea staining or water color addition?

[@WASD20]

I'm not sure if these are waterproof, but if you read some of the Amazon reviews or product description they might say. Link in video description.

[@sunriderksy]

You know, after further thinking I realized my stupidity. I would not use these AND watercolor paints . . . for these ARE the watercolor "paints". Just put into a handy brush pen format. I must have them! Or some Tombow. I can't decide. But they wouldn't need to be waterproof in that case - and they aren't (per Dick Blick Art Supplies). I think I'd either add color with these, OR do a tea stain for aging on an inked map. I don't know that I'd do both.

[@jonmakar5646]

You can even get "sepia" tone ones for that tea stain look we all love! EDIT: the sepia brush pens are of the same brand (Sakura Micron line)

[@sunriderksy]

OOH! Awesome idea. But how many pens would I go through to coat an entire map, is the question. ;)

[@Bookwright]

@@sunriderksy they are for your already tea stained maps. Tea stain first shadows later. I like to make my teastaining befor I draw or wright anything at all. 😄

[@BloodDragon95]

This has been an absolute help, im currently working on a world map and now i have some points of reference, thanks

[@rataturner]

Thank you, number 7 mountains were life changing!

[@martinmajewski]

As a person living on the northern hemisphere it is more pleasant to have the shading on the left hand side. Why? Because you look at the map which is oriented north. So right is east, bottom is south and left is west. Having the shading on the left means dawn/sunrise, on the right means dusk/sunset.

[@kargandarr]

A few years ago, I used no. 7 to make a map using a dip pen. Another alternative to Photoshop, also free, is Krita. It used the Photoshop .psd extension natively.

[@commercialartservicesartwo3133]

Great - great video. I've watched it several times.

[@shahriarahmed5142]

I love number 6 & 7 Nice work bro ❤️

[@alexvor9418]

I am loving theese types of videos, you should make more of them!

[@WASD20]

Thanks! I plan to.

[@Vampokinght]

The music he 1st played at the start brings some nostalgia to me

[@Mike-oc3bn]

Style 7 mixed with style 2 with some proper shading would look pretty good.

[@kivilas]

The best chanel to learn how to draw maps :D Could you make one teaching the diferents styles of Town, Cities, Castle, and landmarks ? :) pleaseeeee

[@raktoda707]

Most helpful demo..fine suggestions such skill

[@paleotube2172]

To me, the 6 looks like the bottom of a pond when its diried and the clay brakes out

[@julianacarragher7323]

Paleotube it’s the mountain valley illusion. That’s why I straw away from style six since it is ambiguous whether it is concave or convex.

[@SysterYster]

I really, really feel like drawing maps with mountains right now. XD Anyone else? :D

[@666blank0]

Funny thing, i'm a tattoo artist and rpg enthusiast, so i love drawing my maps, characters and overall rpg stuff (not only dnd, but some of our other games capaigns), what i can say, use a brush and ink or a brushpen with bristles for the linework, it looks natural and the feel is amazing! If you want a general world map, you can either color it with watercolors (or watever you like, just feel like watercolors and markers dry quicker than other mediums) or for an ancient look, you can dye the whole sheet with coffee or tea, any way you choose will look awsome at the table! The pens you use are great for quick results, crisp lines and overall control on the line (always steady and firm... Unless they run out of ink). Loved the ideas and love your channel, keep up with the good stuff man!

[@WASD20]

Great suggestion. Thanks for the comment.

[@RenegadeVile]

Style 7 is gorgeous. These videos are making me want to break out my old tablet again.

[@claws61821]

For best appearance you actually want to integrate all seven (or as close as feels comfortable) of these shaping styles into a single scattered range, which should work for both sidelong and bird's-eye views, but if you have to choose just one my recommended pick would be either 7 or 2. The variety gives more of an impression of your mountains crumbling with earthquakes and eroding with temperature and age and both from interactions with land glaciers. The same holds true of the shading styles. As for your examples they're all good and you shouldn't fret so much over their quality, but one critique I'll make on 6 and 7 is that you shouldn't make every line on the same "side" from the peak go downhill the same direction. Real mountains will have slopes and crags that fall back toward the peaks that can be seen from above and sometimes even from below. Thanks for the tutorials!

[@Cubannerd]

😂 😂 😂 The shading thing is kind of funny. I call it right handed bias.

[@rezaulramram]

Bookmarks and notes for myself 1:06 Triangle Mountains (easiest) 2:03 Jagged Peaks (frost) 3:22 Swooping Sides with round bottoms (glacial trough?) 4:08 Rounded top (water erosion) (from How to draw fantasy arts & maps) 5:28 Cartoony Flat-top with Arete/Edge (Plateau? Cliffs? i.e. Sincora Range) 6:54 Top down view 8:47 WASD20 Rigeline 12:34 shade 1 14:03 shade 2 15:53 shade 3 17:24 shade 4 18:28 shade 5 21:04 shade 6 23:26 shade 7 25:19 ending

[@aliloucreations1817]

I love no7 it’s my favourite ❤️

[@prancingsquid]

I really like your handwriting. I keep noticing how nice it is.

[@WASD20]

Thanks!

[@manew_9]

some different biomes would be nice too , like deserts and swamps very nice video btw

[@bigsh00g17]

Take a shot every time Nate says "generally!" :P

[@WASD20]

Oh man! Trust me when I say it annoyed me to death while editing! Almost enough to voice over certain parts. :)

[@bigsh00g17]

I wouldn't worry about it. Your content is great either way!

[@tomlabeau1754]

I am a shite artist, but a decent writer. Using your videos i was able to make a pretty neat map, probably the best thing ive ever drawn. Subscribe for sure. You rock.

[@historygaming7654]

So Cute Mountain 😍

[@thorbeorn4295]

Number 7 is easily the best looking one !

[@Cinderillion]

you know a really good idea I think would be you recording Skyrim but roleplaying as your character using alternative start mod and other roleplaying/realistic mods.

[@classicshot5777]

Amazing dude

[@SMXanathar]

Hey WASD20! I would love to see some towns and cities (like Danko Cimbaljevic). It would be cool to see what you can do!

[@WASD20]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@deafvegetables4874]

number 7 is awesome

[@OutdoorsWade]

I can't get over your pencil not sharpened, Nate. Damn OCD hahahah ! Love your stuff !

[@WASD20]

Haha! Sorry. My office is controlled chaos, with odds and ends everywhere! I mean, it’s very neat and perfect.

[@OutdoorsWade]

@@WASD20 Hahaha !! I understand, I am the same. You should see my drawing / crafting table 🤯

[@JoeChristian02]

Interestingly, Tolkien’s middle earth map has shading on the opposite side of mountains

[@WASD20]

True! I noticed that. Lots of Maps have this.

[@JoeChristian02]

WASD20 I feel that the side it is drawn on can effect the tone of the map, with being on the right having a kind of realistic view, and having it on the left being a bit more fantastical and lighthearted, like with different mountain styles, very interesting

[@JoeChristian02]

Not sure why, just my two cents

[@jonmakar5646]

If it were in any way intentional, Tolkien may have shadowed the left sides of his mountains because the light from the trees of Valinor (the land of the Valar, or gods, across the western sea), Laurelin and Telperion, was taken by Ungoliant under direction of Morgoth. Thus, Valinor fell into darkness in the First Age (LoTR takes place in the Third Age). Luckily the Vala, Yavanna and Nienna, salvaged a fruit from Laurelin and a flower from Telperion, which were used to make the Anar and Rána. Wordlist: Vala(r): Power/ God(s) Valinor (Valinóre): Land of the Gods Laurelin: Laurë = "Golden" = Sun Telperion: Telpë = "Silver" = Moon Ungoliant: The words Ungo (Dark Cloud/ Shadow), and Ungwe (Spider/ Spider Web) are correlated due to Ungoliant being the mother of spiders (most infamously Shelob) Morgoth (Moricotto) = "The Dark Foe" Yavanna: "Fruit Giver" Nienna: Nië = "Tear" Anar: "Sun" Rána: "Moon"

[@jonmakar5646]

*cough* NERD *cough*

[@TheMiejoe]

I like 7 the most! It's the one I'll be trying.

[@TheMiejoe]

I never expected drawing mountains to be so hard! I erased them like 10 times! The map is starting to look good, though.

[@aaron1uk]

Been meaning for ages to have a go at drawing fantasy maps, no talent for art but today I started with mountains and they were awful but I'll come back and keep trying :)

[@onespecialddnerd5933]

1 Basic question: Which brushes did you use for colouring the 7th mountain range? I have the Sakura Koi Gray Brushes. Mind giving me advice on which one I should use?

[@joshuaquessy8501]

Another way to get that ridge line realistic look is to start with a standard mountain like 1 or 2 and then connect them to form a ridge.

[@NAlGubaisi]

Thank you so much

[@kiwis4life279]

Looking swoopy bro

[@vikingshaman3079]

Could you do a video on how to combine/blend mountains and hills with forests????? :)

[@Aboleom]

I'm having real troubles with forests so a video dedicated to them would be awesome :)

[@WASD20]

Here you go! kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWSpmGqtocaKm5Y

[@lancearmada]

An issue i seem to have is that i already have these large regions labeled for mountains, so there is no real defined ridgeline, just a blob of area i want mountains to be in, so if i use any of the simpler methods it just becomes a huge field of triangles when in reality it should actually be much larger mountains with highlands surrounding them rather than a field of spikes.

[@merluw2931]

No. 5 looks like a back of a giant monster turtle or something (6:39)

[@andrewhall7399]

So I’ve had a idea for a post-cataclysmic map where there are giant, bottomless ravines, but I can’t find a god design for them. Any ideas? Or maybe a video of yours that I overlooked?

[@mikeydrago-dt8by]

Nice Nate. I really should draw my maps in pen. I use pencil alot but I'm far too heavy handed. Making detail is great with pen. Sadly though, I make a lot of mistakes.

[@haydencunningham6926]

mikey1393 drago - You could always get it right with a pencil first and then trace it over and add shading with a pen.

[@mikeydrago-dt8by]

Hayden Cunningham Thanks. But the issue is my heavy handedness. If I stopped being so heavy handed, the map won't be ruined everytime I make a mistake.

[@haydencunningham6926]

mikey1393 drago - Maybe try using a really light pencil or try and change your grip on the pencil so that you put less weight into the paper.

[@mikeydrago-dt8by]

Hayden Cunningham Yeh. I should, but it never works. I need to try. I'm just so used to using the nib of the pencil, when I should use the edge. I have more control when I use the nib.

[@sunriderksy]

This is what I do with my main ridgeline. I draw it first in a very light pencil and then go over it with a Pigma Micron 01. All of the other ridges and details I do directly with the Micron pens. Unless I've been drawing A LOT of mountains and feel like I don't need the practice. But that pencil line can be really helpful.

[@lordender_kitty_official]

I like those mountains. For a while I've been trying To find better ways to draw them: ) P.S. I loved mountains number six and seven: )!!!

[@RachelDeRosier010894]

#7 is the best. :) P.S. What would be the difference in using ink markers and watercolor?

[@donneal1352]

Thank you for your time. Love your map work.

[@spamuel98]

I tried sketching some of the #7 style, since I've really liked those kinds of maps for years but the lines always look too weird. Maybe if I focus on keeping the peaks more jagged than the valleys, rather than going a specific direction...

[@chromarush1749]

City Icons, how do you make them look good.

[@Tripod9648]

25:06 omg i had to learn the hard way. I made a map that looked so good until the pencil started smearing all over the map 🤦🏿‍♂️

[@historygaming7654]

So, Cute Mountain.

[@astrotsiga]

I just recognized the music in the intruduction. It's also in the app Pocket Ants. I guess then, it was not written for the game.

[@blaircolquhoun7780]

I'm trying to go doo map myself. Thanks

[@grouchymax6451]

My maps have left shading mountains, maybe it's something related to your latitude, since I'm from the southern hemisphere...?

[@kamuelalee]

Castles and fortresses, please!

[@amandasb2800]

Hello there, can you explain a bit about mountains and scale? I'm very bad at scaling stuff.

[@folo2007]

On fantasy maps everything doesnt need to be all scale

[@roelant8069]

I don't see that link on how to shade styles 6 and 7 in GIMP anywhere

[@Urherion]

I would like to see some styles of swamps, rivers or streets

[@WASD20]

Thanks for the suggestions.

[@jennayyye2525]

You made me start a map 😄 and of course I'm struggling with the mountains lol

[@Cinderillion]

2nd for the vote of various biomes

[@PangWindyingDarklilacThao2014]

How do you draw plateau mountain shapes?

[@farukpatel7537]

same

[@wolf_quill]

Lovely! Also Inkarnate got a huge update! You should check it out!

[@pawe6968]

Ashley Bowers Thanks for info!

[@morrisgunn]

13:37 stop right there, before you switched pens. that is where to stop shading and leave the bottom of the mountain.

[@turtleshell1814]

Do you have another link to the Pigma Micron and Brush Pen set?

[@WASD20]

Oh yeah. Broken link. Try this one: amzn.to/2C9FrL3 Unfortunately mine came with a nice case, and this one doesn't look like it does.

[@martinconrad9260]

I like how #7 is the best of both worlds... (pun intended)

[@imsleeplol4429]

How do you draw the furry catterpillar style??

[@lamchekyeow]

Thanks

[@WASD20]

Very kind of you. Thank you!

[@lamchekyeow]

@@WASD20 No worries, I really appreciate your videos as I'm trying to do some map designs as a hobby with storytelling. So tytyty

[@eliasrowanalbatross6533]

its important to note, i think, that you dont have to only use one style on a single map. in the real world there are many different types of mountains, they dont all look the same, some are round, some are ridgelike, some sit alone, som are in a line, some are clustered. so you could express that one mountain range is swoopy and sandy, while another is steep and rocky.

[@WASD20]

True!

[@serbiancrusader7813]

Can you show us how to draw farmland on maps.

[@luisaymerich9675]

You may have figured it by now but I thought I would comment. The easiest way to depict farmland is to draw around settlements a series of contiguous squares and rectangles and draw inside them squiggly parallel lines to show the rows of ground broken by the plows. For fields in hills you can draw lines that follow the contour of the hills then draw short perpendicular lines along the long lines. This way you can draw terraced farms like they have in Asian countries or in the Peruvian Andes.

[@serbiancrusader7813]

@@luisaymerich9675 thanks for the tips 👍

[@jonmakar5646]

Here's a mid-15th century map of Germany, showing of how mountains that are drawn pretty close in style to Mountain Style #1 or #2 can look fantastic: drive.google.com/open?id=1KHlKJjkhMom05QD1Q1UkEOoi4JgBUcXE

[@jonmakar5646]

Oh, I would also like to add these excellent 16th century example of horizontal lines (wavy, deliberate) and cross hatching: Germany: drive.google.com/open?id=1XWeZI8EJNkf7R4dqKKiMvyLHprmIoLyb West Africa: drive.google.com/open?id=1y3g855xts1yrIOrm-4D4KgzUDRIsT3tK Girolamo Ruscelli is my favourite ༼ づ◉‿◉༽づ

[@WASD20]

Thanks for sharing. These look great!

[@TheRonandt]

I'm drawing a fantasy map on the bedroom door and I've been caught up until now to make the mountains HELP ME

[@tiskolin]

4 looks like big hills to me

[@Cinderillion]

Fourth comment....................Big Swoops!!!

[@LLULL-yn1rr]

Broncano … ¿Que te ha pasado en la torra?

[@cindirosso5685]

nare what happened to your dm videos?

[@WASD20]

Still coming. I may take several weeks off between episodes as I do for many of my ongoing series.

[@akabami2161]

17:30 These are monk-mountains

[@cindirosso5685]

who can do the ridge lin mountain style as good as nate can?

[@sunriderksy]

Me! Number 7 is my preferred style, but lemme tell you, it took some practice. And if I haven't drawn it in awhile, I have to practice it again. It's a great style, and once you get the hang of it, it becomes automatic. But there's a steep learning curve. (I swear, no mountain pun intended).

[@WASD20]

:P

[@edmeister4031]

Nobody gonna talk about the booty he drew at 0:33

[@AGuyNamedSquid]

Second comment

[@foxfire9680]

1 looks like pyramids