Alys Pendragon - Artist Spotlight

Please welcome Alys Pendragon to the first ever guest creator spot on Dread Maps. She and I have been good friends for some time, and since I was booked up this month with family and life-related things, she kindly offered to step in to provide an Assassin's Guild battle map of her own creation. So, cozy up and let's get to know Alys together

1. What initially drew you to creating battle maps for tabletop RPGs, and how did you get started in this niche?

   
   

I started out just making maps for my campaign - it was an entirely homebrewed Welsh folklore-based campaign, so a lot of the settings just didn't have pre-existing maps. I started out making a roadway, then a village, then a town… and 3 years later I'm still making maps just for the fun of it.

2. Which software or tools do you prefer for map and asset creation, and why those over others?

   
   

I just use Inkarnate, although I'm sure most big creators use Inkarnate as well as other post-edit systems. I'm afraid I'm not quite as advanced (yet?)

3. What's the most challenging type of environment or location you've ever had to map, and how did you approach it?

That would probably be my stepwell map - I started out looking up aerial view photos of stepwells, then just went for it. I'm relatively sure it's not particularly accurate, and most of it was custom line work and shading that sent me slightly loopy, but I still love it.

4. What's a project you're particularly proud of and what made it special?

I loved my Lakeview house maps - I made them as a Christmas present for a close companion of mine, and spent nearly two months going through in fine detail, highlighting every crease in the bedding, making assets where none existed, aligning textures carefully. The exterior wasn't bad, but the interior was glorious. I have said before that another house map I made was my dream house - a competition map - but actually, Lakeview is retirement goals.

I’ve also been working to modify some assets, especially in terms of the isometric styles, and I’ve been experimenting with asset creation. I made a particularly nifty little runestone last year with a little symbol I used to draw as a kid. It’s cute, and I love it.

5. What advice would you give to someone looking to start creating their own battle maps?

So, when I started, I was entirely ignorant of the mapping community. I didn’t join the Inkarnate discord until the October before last, and I didn’t dare post on Reddit for quite a while.

There is the temptation to look at your own maps and compare them to others. Whilst that can be helpful later on when you're trying to work out how other creators do things, I would also say that when you're starting out, your focus shouldn't be on what everyone else is doing, it should be on what works for your purposes and what brings you joy. 

I love all things colourful, all things sparkly and all things fey. That brings me joy, and I hope it's evident in my maps - that's what can make a person's map special. I know there are those that don't particularly enjoy that style, and that's okay - I didn't make maps for those people. I made them for my own happiness.

6. How has your personal artistic style evolved since you started creating battle maps?

I think the majority of the changes in my work have largely spawned from management of lighting - my work has always been quite colourful, but the use of lighting is what has elevated everything. It affects everything on a map - water effects, depth, even colour tone - and it's something that I have spent a lot of time trying to improve at capturing. Obvi I'm no renaissance master, I have a long way to go, but I will keep trying ^-^

7. Which artists or illustrators have had the biggest influence on your battle map style, and what specifically about their work resonates with you?

So obviously Dread himself has had a huge influence on my work. He taught me that I don't have to rush, and that the finer details are where a good map really sings. 

I also learned from Becca and Sheryl (The Musical Rogue and SL Mumby, part of Beg Borrow and Steal Productions) how to go about details in nature, water work.

Hynrafoo (also BBSP) has also been a wonderful mentor, and alongside Dread, Becca and Sheryl have helped me understand that art is, ultimately, subjective. Dealing with critique or perceived rejection is hard, but even when I have felt my work has been rejected, those feelings are both valid but also not necessarily accurate - my work is my own, and my style is my own, and to me, my maps are beautiful.

https://bbsproductionsmaps.com/

I learned a huge amount of what I know from Inkarnate’s very own Mati, his videos on YouTube, streams and feedback have repeatedly helped elevate my understanding of art. I am a lawyer by trade, I have no formal education in art, and he has pushed me to actually start looking into colour theory and the like, and inspired me over and over again to try new things.

There are many others that have been endlessly kind, patient and helpful in teaching me (S SO 03 3, Bryan Marshall, Foo, Sesame Seeder to name a glorious few) - I count myself as extremely lucky to have them all in my social circle, and I am incredibly grateful for all the time they have spared for me.

8. Other than other artwork, what else have you drawn (unexpected) inspiration from?

I mean - I still consider it art - but Doctor Who is a big one for me, as well as things like The Good Place, Merlin and a whole bunch of other shows. I also draw a fair bit of influence from the Dragon Age series, Skyrim, Civ 5 and 6 (surprise surprise, nerdy mapper likes nerdy things) and of course, my beautiful, beautiful homeland of Wales. I miss it every day bitterly, and every opportunity I get to return is one I seize with both hands.

9. How do you approach fantasy map creation? Do you have a specific theme and mood in mind before you start? What does the process look like for you?

I’d love to say I have a proper process for the early stages of a map, but I really don’t. I know a lot of people use reference images, but I can count the number of maps I've made that had that on one hand. I usually start off with an imagined or half-recalled location in mind and just go for it. Once I get towards the end, there's more of a process - interior light has its own brush layer, and gets painted in separately to exterior light streaming around, shadows get their own brush layer and painted in,  the same for highlights, but that's all done at the end when I'm happy with where everything sits on a map. 

10. What has been your experience with the TTRPG community? What is your favorite aspect of it?

It's a complex one, partly due to having been in a few male-dominated campaigns early on - whether that was in terms of numbers or in terms of airtime. I will say that the last two years have been brilliant - it took me a little time to find my people, for sure. As a neurodiverse individual, I have had a few growing pains here and there, but I find the freedom of being able to build worlds with people I consider to be close friends has been something that makes my week, every week. Well, when we manage to slay the final boss that is scheduling, anyway ^-^

11. What else are you working on? Where can we find more of you and your work? Website, socials, etc.

I'm still just working on whatever gives me joy, and whatever inspires me - I’m working on a fey fortress at the moment, and a Netherese university, and a couple of secret lil projects here and there. You can find me on Inkarnate, and occasionally (occasionally) on Reddit. I'm typically a little shy of social media, so if you see me elsewhere - shhh, no you didn't <3

Xoxo

Alys Pendragon

Get the free map pack of her Assassin's Guild on Dread Map Patreon