How to Draw A Fantasy Map (Part 2: Mountains)

How to draw mountains for your fantasy map.
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[@marquisealexander1371]

Player: So what’s up with the land formations there, doesn’t really make sense realistically. DM: Magic. Player: Magic? How does... DM: Shhh... Magic.

[@calasurien]

Before spellplague a spellcaster could literary move mountains,I guess it was a 10th level spell

[@jaythefae1595]

Yes just yes

[@samuelbrancaglion1592]

yeah kinda that

[@xalxika]

@@calasurien It was a 12th level spell that caused the spellplague

[@d4n737]

"Magic made the world, right? Well, there you go, it's literally fucked up world generation"

[@nicklarocco4178]

In my cartography class our professor explained that having the illumination for a map being from the upper-left corner is the gold standard for map making. Not just fantasy, but real world maps as well. It looks more natural to us for some reason and helps to bring shapes out more than having the light coming from the upper right.

[@DuskyLark]

Thank you for the advice !

[@urmomgay]

Something that my friend did a few years ago (He was really, REALLY into making maps) He took a picture of seas and bodies of water, and inverted them to make islands and continents. It gave a really natural look. He did one with the Mediterranean Sea, and BOY did it have a lot of lakes and swamps in the North East.

[@princessthyemis]

that sounds awesome!

[@gruaim]

is there a link to this? sounds really interesting

[@mexa_t6534]

I think there’s something important to consider: mountains aren’t always a barrier. Having grown up in a town in the mountains, I feel like they are also a place alike the desert or the forest or the plains. So there can be town directly between the mountains, because there’s also valleys, rivers, lakes, etc. They aren’t just walls that impede traveling or that are uninhabitable. Heck, just look at the whole Huasteca Potosina region. It’s a huge ridge that goes along central-eastern Mexico and has loads of major cities, towns, etc. I’m using it for inspiration for a region in my fantasy novel.

[@user-pv9ui7gv9m]

People tend to have flat plains and ridiculously high mountains in their maps. Probably the influence of European geography?

[@princessthyemis]

that sounds awesome!

[@mexa_t6534]

채지훈 I mean. That makes sense but isn’t the entirety of Switzerland up in the mountains? Maybe they’re only looking at like France or Spain for reference but it’s still odd to see people use mountains as a wall or a place where only dwarves can live

[@mexa_t6534]

Caleb Sommers well see Mexico is really mountainous, particularly the west and the south and they have some very tall mountains, but most major cities in the region are smack in the middle of them, as is in the Huasteca region next to the gulf. There’s also cities in the Rockies and the Appalachians, right?

[@giannisg3387]

Hey Nate, can i make a suggestion? Would you be interested in making a series where you review maps that your viewers send you? I think that you reviewing them would help a lot of amateur mapmakers in their works. Keep up the great work.

[@WASD20]

Ooh. I really like that idea. I'll add it to my list! Thanks.

[@Redbeardblondie]

Seconded

[@Shaso-xv3tw]

Please do this, I wanna send you my Bronze Age “known world” map

[@grumpyoldmanneedsanap8365]

WASD20 plz do this, omg, YES!

[@hover2652]

you can call it 👏map 👏review

[@laner.845]

Dude, I'm a geologist undergrad and got my MS in meteorology. My world has seafloor spreading, a divergent rift valley with a dead arm, a hot spot that is forming an archipelago. My mountains have a strong impact on the climate in terms of deserts and temperate rainforest locations, as well as dictating river direction and size. I also have a really freaking sweet canyon area where the Dragonborn make their home as far from humans as possible because... reasons. I think I spent three times longer making sure my geology and climatology were perfectly logical in function than I did placing my settlements and cities in relation to those features. ^_^

[@aycoded7840]

I think it's a cool use of your knowledge. If someone ever asks, you have plenty to use in justification.

[@purplemosasaurus5987]

Weird flex, but OK.

[@armyaircat2]

I freaking love the way you teach.

[@felscorf456]

It occurred to me, what if the cartographer's preference for shading left or right side of a mountain comes from whether or not they're a morning or evening person. That is at dawn the shadow will be on the left of the mountain, and the dusk the shadow on the east of the mountain. The morning (dawn) people will most often see the left side dark and associate that as the norm, whilst the evening (dusk) people will most often see the right side dark and associate that as the norm.

[@griffincreech2019]

Glen Yardley this is interesting but most likely inaccurate because unlike looking at a map, Earth is 3D so you don’t always look at it from the same direction. You could be a night owl but still see shading on the left side depending on which direction you’re facing.

[@tablen7224]

@@griffincreech2019 it is accurate, in my opinion. left is always west and right is always easy on a map. the sun rises in the east so that causes a shadow on the west side and sets in the west and casts a shadow on the east

[@xarnate9994]

I just do it on East because it looks smoother than west but that could just be me

[@strangecokacola5246]

I just shade on the left because I'm left handed and it's easierer

[@germ-x6855]

wait wtf I legit always draw my sun on the west and my shadows on the right

[@Redbeardblondie]

I personally want to include the minutiae like plate tectonics, for one since I want a land lost beneath the waves that players can locate using geological clues, and also to track humanity’s migration patterns resultant in paralleled languages and physiological features in people who are now separated by several millennia and leagues of open ocean. “Lore says that there was a temple on the highest mount of the sunken land; let’s use basic geology to figure out the most promising areas to sound.” “It seems that these ancient texts refer to religious beliefs closely congruent with those of the mainland of Zer, and if that is true, then the customs should be similar as well. In that case, we should examine the far grounds for the burial grounds.” I personally want that consistency and predictability to reward attentive players’ intelligent conjectures.

[@WASD20]

For sure! If you and your players find it meaningful, I think that’s great!

[@bonnardireichbeaty1421]

That's so good mate!

[@kristijanmadhukar516]

This is comment is probably too long ago to see my reply but, but on the topic of too long ago, if civilization has existed long enough on your world for tectonic plates to change up the makeup of your world, it has also probably invented space travel. All the paper currently in the world would crumble to dust before the continents change shape. Thats way too freaking long, unless they have some magic that stifles technological progress, and keeps age old artifacts intact.

[@chuncite5719]

I really like your approach to showcasing & explaining map drawing techniques. I think it would be really cool, if you get the chance, to make a video about historical cartography techniques, and the ways cartographers of the past drew their maps. like history of map making or something.

[@WASD20]

Ooh. I like that a lot. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@SherlockHolmesGamin]

Watched your first series years ago which helped me make my first map. Then now as I go to draw my second one I come back and BOOM you’ve got a new series. It’s fate

[@achimsinn7782]

5:03 - that is exactly what I like to use mountains for. They are a nice tool to "funnel" the (player) characters towards a passage so something could happen to them on that journey. Or they are a plot point - like people crossing that passage are lost and the heroes have to find them or there are bandits and/or monsters to be defeated. I wouldn't split a continent right in the middle, though. But isolating a peninsula by a mountainrange with only one passageway makes for a good setup for an adventure.

[@ami876]

What I learned from this: The ruler he has says "Gerard" on it lol

[@shiy6055]

Hey, I have an idea from a new series. So, maybe take real countries, Ireland or Poland etc. And make them look more fantasy and all that? It's just an idea

[@WASD20]

I've definitely considered it! Thanks for the suggestion.

[@shingojira6612]

Could've made multiple country borders perfectly fit to each other, thats how i like my islands/continents

[@Divinemakyr]

Recently switched to photoshop for making maps instead of drawing because of my laughable art fortitude, but I still watch this channel a lot.

[@blastarrow3661]

This video has first sponsor who is actually useful

[@AlkalineBatterien]

11:55 THANK YOU! That bit was killing me this entire time XD

[@artfleming3912]

I feel like Nate spends 15 minutes crafting the script for his introduction

[@wmichaelbooth]

You should definitely always shade on the right hand side of maps. Real world maps are virtually always shaded this way, and we're so used to it that doing otherwise can make the topography look inside out. Obviously, the style of most fantasy maps will help prevent that effect, but shading on the left runs the risk of making your maps look "off" in a way that's hard to pinpoint.

[@emeraldqueen1994]

Pro tip if you do shade with pencil / charcoal ETC seal it with hair spray or a spray on varnish (I personally prefer matte) to prevent it from smearing

[@lachlanmckinnie1406]

Idea: Putting shading (or hatching, or whatever) on the rain shadow side of the mountains. So some ranges would have shading in one direction, and other ranges the other, depending on climate.

[@SanguiphiliaTV]

Thank you for showing each step in full! The more you added the better it looked. I'm building a world where the mountain ranges play a big part in the story so I want to get them right, and following this will help a ton.

[@bekatjusa]

Where have you been man, I missed ya!

[@ReikaChang]

Anus

[@MiltonRosso]

This has been a great mapping series, very exited for the next video

[@spamuel98]

I'm pretty sure you shade the right side because you're right-handed, which makes it closer to your hand and less of a stretch.

[@wicrosoft8091]

Just found your channel and it is great help. I am making a fantasy map for some friends and this is the first I have ever made. Thanks for all the tips

[@Penguin2923]

Yay! I waited so long for this video!

[@jrtheworldbuilder]

Another great video! Thank you so much!

[@kage6840]

I have self taught myself how to draw maps, but this helps me! I love watching these videos, and how to draw all this. Great Job! Thanks!

[@joshypunch1694]

This a tutorial on how to be God

[@goldenjasper1358]

You arent wrong but you are not correct

[@arthurmee]

Or how to be Slartybartfast.

[@lisaschropfer8866]

Uuhhh a whole series about world making called how to be a god

[@chaoswarstcg6845]

This is the only comment lol

[@wreckincru]

@@arthurmee You know what they say, best laid plans in all.

[@alexanderpoljansek4655]

The Matt Colville of map making.

[@davewilson13]

Alexander Poljansek you mean Matt is the Nate of DMing?

[@kribbu148]

Finally been waiting for this

[@jaekamei]

Really enjoying this content, thanks for making these videos!

[@WASD20]

Great! :)

[@jankima8646]

this is looking amazing!

[@lacauts]

Thank you, really thank you, you've been helping me a lot since I met your channel. Congratulations from a Brazilian fan!

[@BrunoSantos-jp1lv]

Oi

[@lacauts]

@@BrunoSantos-jp1lv eae cara

[@oogyboof]

This stuff makes me so excited that I feel sick.

[@toxicrat6571]

This really helpssss! Ty for these videos!

[@alexandersmith9144]

You can also say that the Tarrasque‘s not so peaceful slumber is what causes mountains to form since when it stirs they cause an Earthquake like tremor. 😁.

[@stormrogers5318]

That's a bad ass map bro. I'm getting excited

[@bazookabullet101]

I remember your old series from a while ago, it was very helpful. I noticed you did say you chose a different mountain technique, so you should link your old mountains video for the people who wanna draw those ones.

[@patrickknip3648]

I've found taking pictures of clouds and tracing their outlines make for a good starting point for land mass shapes.

[@notbudoski]

Helpful video, but there was one thing I disagreed with. I prefer to use D4s to mark mountains as they have have pointy little peaks

[@divyakethumalla7646]

before i was terrible at drawing maps but after i watched your videos i became really good at making fantasy maps

[@lordbacon3936]

Cool map man!

[@antunbaderbistrovic9497]

The king is back

[@puglord7176]

god I remember watching your one that was 4 years ago... how time flys

[@kaelliotsee3124]

This tutorial is amazing

[@LnPPersonified]

11:06 I imagine it's because winds tend to push west to east, which is why you get those lines to begin with as the air blows over the ridge and pushes debris down the other side. But of course fantasy worlds can have wind blow in any direction.

[@francoisdumont4105]

Great recommendations

[@leviathan1082]

can you do forests next? I was hoping to know if there is a simplar way to do forest where you're not drawing out every single individual tree.

[@WASD20]

I will do forests in episode 4 most likely. I’ll likely do the individual tree method, but I’m not totally certain. Until then here’s one I did in different forest styles. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWSpmGqtocaKm5Y

[@leviathan1082]

@@WASD20 Thanks you, this alone helps a lot.

[@lolitemaster234]

I think your channel has gotten me a new hobby! although after trying my hand it this i must say that rather drawing the kind of typical triangle-like mountains i prefer to draw from a more top down perspective, and simple shading in steep surfaces, although that is just my opinion

[@darkagesvampire6926]

The best ending music among all youtube!

[@earlgrey3519]

I had just finished outlining my main continent. I had coastlines i loved and even some nice islands i knew what to do with plotwise later The second I was done i spilled all the graphite powder out of my pencil sharpener all over my map... Angrily i slammed the table and the powder kinda started to formed together, i bumped the table again anf again (it was interesting seeing how the powder formed) and the powder lined up into natural looking lines and bends and gaps and *BAM* my mountain ranges

[@old_geeky_Michael]

Great stuff Nate, thanks! And you managed to stay away from the Lonely Mountain controversy! :-P Looking forward to the next one.

[@WASD20]

Haha! Thanks, Michael. :)

[@matoaks8709]

This is great

[@memereview9803]

he 👏 uses 👏 freaking 👏 micron 👏 pens

[@katiepeterson1516]

thanks for the link!!!

[@filipliska2901]

Good video!

[@luisalejandro799]

i like the energy that u show xD

[@mikkelmadsen6395]

How would you draw different variations of mountains in the same style? snowy, jagged, "hilly", "sandy" and other kinds??

[@k4rma770]

I would definitely use this I WorldBox, but it’s not detailed enough! I like this series

[@gavigilbert-trachtman6011]

Nate, I love the style of your vid making, and i was looking in your materials list, and the pen you're using in this vid isn't there. What pen is it?

[@WASD20]

Ooh. Thanks for the heads up! Looks like the exact pack I linked was removed from Amazon. These are close: amzn.to/2JW2JaQ

[@thejollyjackass101]

You should write a story with a map. Multiple or combined cultures and unique interesting animals.

[@RicksPoker]

Hi WASD20, The point (for me) of plate tectonics is that it gives me the geology. THIS would be a sedimentary basin. This area was crushed, so there would be a lot of metamorphic rocks. Shallow seas would be here. We have a rift valley, so the rivers will be weird in this area. That area is ripe for a igneous province like the Deccan Traps. This continental margin rolled over a mantle hot spot, so these mountains will be especially metal rich. Maybe put a mantle plume here? Super rich metals, and kimberlite for massive diamonds. Generally, the stronger your science background, the more use you will get out of thinking thru the plate tectonics. Warm regards, Rick.

[@DividedStates]

You should come back to this and show some stuff, that you could do on a pc. Pattern brush etc.

[@mr.manman4447]

Hey Nate, loved the vid, just wondering, what sized pen did you use for the mountain outlines and the coast?

[@WASD20]

I think it was 02. Then 01 for shading.

[@spectralkits7769]

If you don't have dice, use legos!

[@vimlamalhan6615]

👏MAP👏REVIEW👏👏

[@Maadhawk]

Yer doing the right side shading on mountains cause you prefer sunsets over sunrises. :)

[@WASD20]

Sure. Makes sense. :)

[@slabo6381]

Hey what about mountain that land on country lines? What do I draw to represent the country line but also show the mountains???

[@josephgibbons1195]

Thanks for these videos... I am learning a ton. Any advice on how to draw a cliff? In my world I want to have a mountain range that falls off onto a cliff on one side (I promise there is a reason for it haha) but I am struggling with how to draw that cliff. Thanks!

[@Lucy-ng7cw]

You probably do the shading on the right side because you are right handed. It is more comfortable for the hand and looks better.

[@galador8089]

Is there a part 3 to this? That’d be amazing

[@WASD20]

Yep. Coming sometime in the next week!

[@sirbillius]

How would you mark a plateau region or highland region without drawing a bunch of mountains. For example, how would you draw the Tibetan Plateau on a map showing only physical characteristics? It’s fairly flat up there even thought it’s at like 14,000 feet.

[@Hobbit_libertaire]

If our world was created by some gods, is it really compulsory to care about plate tectonics ? Coucou de la France !

[@WASD20]

It absolutely is NOT compulsory.

[@magiv4205]

I would agree that it is not compulsory, but depending on the age of your world, plate tectonics may well have been an influence regardless of who or what created the planet. If your world is only, say, less than 10'000 years old, plate tectonics would be pretty insignificant and the geography would, outside of big catastrophies, pretty much look like when the gods first created it, which can be whatever the hell you like. If your world is many millions or even billions of years old and the gods pretty much didn't intervene with the geography on a grand scale since creation, then the world would probably look much more realistic since plate tectonics would have altered the planet far from how it may have looked originally.

[@Hobbit_libertaire]

@Madolite Oh ! I must ask them...

[@davewilson13]

I think of plates a little, most afterwards as in what might make this more fun.

[@dexterl967]

There are alot of d&d guys, but I listen to you because your voice isn't annoying. Real talk.

[@WASD20]

Lol.

[@dexterl967]

From Canada with love dude.

[@boopityboopboop4073]

my map is a sort of distorted earth and i ended up making korea be right next to florida so america has two peninsulas now. also, Scandinavia is no more, or at least now its in alaska. australia is around where greenland is and alaska is now part of south america. i dont know if this is going to be the actual map or not.

[@lindadeblois1794]

Oooh I just joined the Discord

[@justintherhino6585]

Any tips on how to draw super tiny mountains when you have a pretty large world so you are zoomed out?

[@memereview9803]

hypothetically you could just say " my fictional world, my fictional mountain placement "

[@WASD20]

If you're mountains are placed in a fictional way that can be totally cool, but people don't understand your fiction it can be immersion breaking for some. But yeah. You do you. Don't let realism hold you back!

[@KajiRider1997]

So if your planet has been terraformed by a god who also locked plate tectonics and mountains are just stagnant volcanic/rocky areas for elementals to dwell in you need to mention it. got it.

[@RAY__BLAZE]

I don't know why but I'm not liking how my mountains are placed maybe its cause I'm trying to do a supercontinent map like Pangea and I don't know where they would feel right

[@shereitograce7844]

What about if my world needs to have a dormant volcano filled with rain water and a dungeon inside? What kind of location should I use

[@Nico-pq2ky]

Hey Nate? I have a question I was thinking for my map,and i decided to make a one river So it has two landamasses right? Is it ok that near at the river it has a forest or something elses like a plain,etc.

[@icemage7739]

11:21 another thing to consider is which way the sun is going to rise and fall

[@some_idiot83]

What size pen did you use to draw the land masses?

[@DoctorBabylon]

Should the mountain ranges still be perpendicular if my continents/coastlines are slanted?

[@ardet7383]

I have no clue if you will see this, but could you make a vid on volcanic islands like hawaii? Very few people have covered this.

[@alexanderholton1300]

How would you draw a volcano?

[@coreyguiver2449]

You probably don’t respond to comments on this video anymore but I’ve got a question. How would you go about putting mountains on a smaller island? On my map I’ve got an island about the size of the largest one in your chain in the top left and it is described as quite mountainous. There is another map focused entirely on that island (as it is a major place in my story) and I’m really struggling in terms of the scale of the mountains. Any advice would be great. Thanks

[@PedroloVonKarona]

The mountain range at the east of your big continent breaks your tectonic plates rules. Looks like your two continents were one in the past (they fit with one another) and now are drifting apart. If they are drifting apart there shouldn't be a sobduction under that mountan range tu push it up. Usually in a rift escenario like this one, the newly formed oceanic plate fuses with the continent it was formed into and makes it very dificult for it to subdue under it.

[@homejunk55]

Tried to google what he said at 0:16 and got pendimethalin come up. Dion't realise weed killer was a keen race between homebrewers damn

[@TheGreatestHelicopter]

Cool

[@PpAirO5]

How much time do you put into making a map like this ? I'm thinking about doing the same, but i'm an extreme perfectionist, so i might spend a lot of time doing a map 😅 Just to get an idea of the timeline 😁

[@trash_guy_bg805]

Can you make tutorial about the number 7 mountain

[@armedbobery4879]

Do you know of anybody who uses a computer and a flat screen as a table to play on. Have a bunch of pre loaded maps on your computer and then hit a quick key on your computer to open that map, then have your party at on the screen, as they adventure you can actively move the map around as the DM. Load in caves or other smaller areas? Even use things like the desk stream things for quick access buttons for each location.

[@kerbalairforce8802]

I know this is a year old but... I used a cheap projector pointed at a white board on the table.

[@shrewdguy4916]

how long would it take to draw map for beginners

[@retonetzer8065]

Wow, you're close to 100k subs! Great! Will there be a 100k-special?

[@WASD20]

Not planning anything at this point. Business as usual. I'll certainly mention and celebrate it in a video somewhere. :)

[@danielmalinen6337]

Mountain ranges usually appear in clear lines, but the map of Europe is its own chapter. And figuring out Europe's winding mountains, peninsulas and strange shapes still causes trouble for geologists, and when one problem is solved, ten new problems arise that are waiting for an answer. For example, how the Iberian Peninsula was formed in the right time and right place without overlapping with the Adrian microplate, how many microplates form the Anatolian Peninsula, what is happening on the seabed between Spain and Corsica or how how the Carpathian Mountains on Balkan Peninsula got its characteristic s-bend shape (which oddly enough cannot be reproduced by computer simulations). But if you're a freak like me who loves the strange shapes of Europe and wants to replicate them on a fantasy map, welcome to the challenge club.

[@WASD20]

Ha! Good stuff. I just learned a lot. :)

[@hmmm6317]

Where can i send you a map i made recently following your old tutorial (kindof)?

[@WASD20]

Check out the discord server I mention in the video. Link in video description. :)

[@AB-cy2wf]

How would you do volcanoes?