Philadelphia [Quenched]

[RedBaron0]

Alright I'll get on that.

On the lines of... no lines, I'm tinkering with the idea of giving each territory their own color. Like all 6 South Philly territories being a shad of green, like this:



Which I think will help with the brickwallyness, and is reminiscent of Classic Risk Asia

[natty dread]

I like that idea. Very nice.

[gimil]

I played around with some graffiti and though I would share what I came up with....

Click image to enlarge.

[RedBaron0]

You mean for the title?

[natty dread]

I don't think gimil's example is very good honestly... the wall texture doesn't show up good enough under the paint.

[koontz1973]

I don't think gimil's example is very good honestly... the wall texture doesn't show up good enough under the paint.

Agreed, but it does show how hard it will be to get it right.

RedBaron0, for me right now, it is the small things that bother me. Things that can go on a normal map but no one would never do as a graffiti map. The glow under the names just looks to damn perfect. The sides of the river, the depth you have given it would look OK on a normal map but again, how many graffiti artists go to that sort of trouble. The colours look to perfect. Would a spray paint go on so uniformly? And as for paint, does it not run in places?

I do like the idea though of giving each territ its own colour. That way you can get rid of the black lines. Another thing that stops the effect from happening.

[natty dread]

Agreed, but it does show how hard it will be to get it right.

Meh... not to brag, but I made this in like 5 minutes, some few months back:

Click image to enlarge.

[koontz1973]

Better than gimils effort but I would argue that it is still not great. Again, the paint is to perfect.

Now if you really want to do this right, go out and buy some spray paints. Find a neighbour that is out of town for a couple of days and paint the side of there house. Take a hi res photo, scale down and bobs your uncle. One finished map that no one can argue with. Just make sure they do not come onto CC any time soon.

[natty dread]

Better than gimils effort but I would argue that it is still not great. Again, the paint is to perfect.

It's just an example, it's not about the paint shape, but about how to make the paint follow the texture & depth of the background... Adding wear to the paint is easy by alpha masking the paint layer.

Now if you really want to do this right, go out and buy some spray paints.

Bah, totally unnecessary. Everything that can be done with conventional methods can be done digitally as well.

[gimil]

I don't think gimil's example is very good honestly... the wall texture doesn't show up good enough under the paint.

You are right. I haven't spent enough time fine tuning what I did. What I was trying to show was the basic idea of what spray paint should look like.

1.Take a solid colour...
2.Draw your shape/text (or use an appropriate handwritten text)...
3.Add a (very) minimal outer glow of the same solid colour and make this glow blend out the solid edge of what you you did in step 2...
4.Find a way to blend this onto a brick wall background. Alpha masking does sound like a winner natty...

There is a bit of tweeking needed on what I done. But the concept is simply.

[RedBaron0]

While I agree there is simplicity here, why is there such a negative feeling towards "perfect" paint? I think a lot of you are thinking of graffiti as something 13 year old's do... There is a TON of extremely good looking graffiti art that looks "perfect."

To be completely honest I do want to work on this, but other lil projects have given me greater pleasure for my artistic drive, so I probably have been slacking on this.... I'll figure it all out and put in the effort in to meet the people's needs, as well as my own.

[natty dread]

While I agree there is simplicity here, why is there such a negative feeling towards "perfect" paint? I think a lot of you are thinking of graffiti as something 13 year old's do... There is a TON of extremely good looking graffiti art that looks "perfect."

I don't have anything against "perfect paint"... however, wall paintings usually only stay perfect for some time after the painting, after that, the elements start to wear on it... Flaking happens.

[Master Bush]

How about:

[gimil]

Doesn't really look like spray paint to me...

[Master Bush]

Hit Pedronicus up! He's a tag artist.

[lostatlimbo]

The problem with the spray paint effect is that you need to accentuate the shadows wherever there is paint.

Right now it looks more like a transparency that is being held inches away from the wall. The bricks look flatter wherever there is color.

Think about it this way. The brick is red, with white mortar. But if you paint both, then your base color changes. The mortar is no longer lighter than the brick and the shadows should darken to reflect this. The bricks should stand out just as much where there is paint as where they are plain.

It will also help to increase the texture of the brick (the natural little holes and creases) where there is paint. Otherwise, it all looks too subdued to be vaguely realistic.

It will take some work to accomplish this, but I think the easiest way would be to duplicate the brick pattern and place it above your paint layers, then lower the opacity to... I don't know 5%? Then delete all the redundant areas where there is just brick over brick and no paint. You'll have to toy with it a bit, but I think that is your best bet.

[lostatlimbo]

More importantly, Center City looks awfully phallic to me (especially on the main map).

Although, people from Philly are known to be dickheads as much as underdogs, so I guess that's fitting. :P

[natty dread]

It will take some work to accomplish this, but I think the easiest way would be to duplicate the brick pattern and place it above your paint layers, then lower the opacity to... I don't know 5%? Then delete all the redundant areas where there is just brick over brick and no paint. You'll have to toy with it a bit, but I think that is your best bet.

You're on the right track, but it's not that simple. With a normal layer mode, and no editing, putting the brick layer on top will just make the paint look awful, as the colour of the brick & mortar will blend with the paint.

What should be done is separate the brick layer in two layers, with the colour of the brick & mortar on one, and the depth & texture on the other, then put the paint in between. There are various ways to accomplish this, but since I don't know PS, I can't give any more specific info on that...

[Master Bush]

I agree about the center city part. the rest of the map looks great, except center city, which looks cheesy and somewhat penis-like.

[ndrs]

Nice map!

I think to get the right graff style, the most important thing is drawing it like if you actually painted on a wall in a traditional way; outlines, filler (maybe faded), higlights, etc.

The lines could also be a bit more uneven. Add some lines on top of each other. Add some details like dripping paint. (It always dripped for me when I've tried ).

Here's an example of what I talking about: http://www.webdesign.org/photoshop/drawing-techniques/paint-graffiti-on-wall-in-photoshop.16017.html

Get the style right and maybe the integration with the wall will matter less?

[thenobodies80]

RB, did you try to use the brick texture in PS instead of using a image of a brick wall?
If you use it on both layers it will match and will give you a nice realistic effect.

Going to draw a quick (and probably ugly) example for you, I'll be back here in few mins...i think

[thenobodies80]

The bricks can be done bigger and obviously better, as said just to give you an idea.
In this way you can apply it also to the text, it will follow the shape of the bricks and the whole map will look like painted on the wall instead of floating on it.

show: example

Also ndrs suggestion is nice if you want to keep your wall.

[RedBaron0]

I really do think I'm gonna dive back into this, I've finished a few other fulfilling projects, and I know I've been neglecting this this....

Along those lines I'm gonna request a small supersize upgrade, mainly for clarity on the legend on the right side of the map. Lets get these things squared away and setup and I'll see about kicking this into overdrive and get-r-done!

[zimmah]

brilliant idea that underdog bonus.

[RedBaron0]

Click image to enlarge.

Image size: 830x800

The size is still the previous size, still haven't heard about the supersize upgrade yet, but that's an easy fix.

Hopefully now.... this satisfies most on the brick wall part. There is more work to do of course and I have new features here for you all to see, and new features to get your opinions on.

No borders.... well they are there, just using the difference in color to differentiate between regions.

Font fiddling: The outline is gone on all all the texts.... well almost all of them. I'm also looking at a few different fonts and styles. Frankford's territories are all all different fonts, some with outlines, some not. Also Overbrook and Fairmount Park are the original "Philly Sans" font but at 18 pt instead of 14. Somerton is also a different style all together. A graffiti font that is mainly a white outline, there is a colored layer beneath with a bit of white shine added, like was suggested in one of the tutorials in a previous post. I know the white isn't conducive to all the territories, and will work them all out one the font is set.

I still have some work to do, and I plan on doing more on all of this on at least a more frequent basis... otherwise it might take another year to finish up... lol

Whatever other suggestions are out there feel free to make them!

Will work on the lines that connect territories and the bridges and the Liberty Bell. And the bell itself I will work on as well.