Hmm, I thought trees were sort of what made swamps actually swamps. What's the difference between a flooded forest and a swamp, then? There are a few areas near me that I think of as swamps, and most of them seem to be full of dead trees.
I'm not sure I'm going to fully embrace the "swamps are evil" propaganda from Magic. I thought I'd do a landscape for each land type they have, but I'm not planning to send them to Wizards as a portfolio or anything, so they don't need to perfectly match their take on land types. I'm hoping to get better at this sort of thing so I can make nicer backgrounds, but I think I'll have a long way to go before I can crank out landscapes that are interesting enough to stand on their own. The current version does feature all of the dead trees, greys, and browns so commonly found in Magic's swamps, but I thought I'd brighten it up a bit and put in more living plants than they tend to feature.
If it's not a lot of trouble, I would be curious to see what the swamps near you look like, green or not.
Indeed; a swamp is a wetland where trees dominate, with areas of dry land scattered throughout.
An ordinary forest that's been flooded does look like the Magic swamps, with most of the trees having died due to the saturated, oxygen-poor soil. Only tolerant species such as ash, willow, silver/red maple, and sycamore will survive in such an environment.
Here's a picture I took a couple weeks ago at a wetland reserve down the road. It's a true swamp, of the sort typical to the midwest. Far from being dead, it has exceptionally diverse flora and fauna. Hope it's helpful.
Thanks, I'm always grateful for more photo references. I'm still going to draw a relatively green-less swamp, just to be sure it's distinct from the eventual forest, but I do hope to squeeze in a few living things here and there.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-06-30 09:46 pm (UTC)I'm not sure I'm going to fully embrace the "swamps are evil" propaganda from Magic. I thought I'd do a landscape for each land type they have, but I'm not planning to send them to Wizards as a portfolio or anything, so they don't need to perfectly match their take on land types. I'm hoping to get better at this sort of thing so I can make nicer backgrounds, but I think I'll have a long way to go before I can crank out landscapes that are interesting enough to stand on their own. The current version does feature all of the dead trees, greys, and browns so commonly found in Magic's swamps, but I thought I'd brighten it up a bit and put in more living plants than they tend to feature.
If it's not a lot of trouble, I would be curious to see what the swamps near you look like, green or not.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-01 04:02 am (UTC)An ordinary forest that's been flooded does look like the Magic swamps, with most of the trees having died due to the saturated, oxygen-poor soil. Only tolerant species such as ash, willow, silver/red maple, and sycamore will survive in such an environment.
Here's a picture I took a couple weeks ago at a wetland reserve down the road. It's a true swamp, of the sort typical to the midwest. Far from being dead, it has exceptionally diverse flora and fauna. Hope it's helpful.
http://tinyurl.com/fpxje
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Date: 2006-07-01 05:40 am (UTC)