Luke Bash

Although French Polynesia isn't an independent country, Bora Bora is beautiful enough to get a tile. This was a quick tile with a minimal palette. This is my 50th tile from different countries/regions, and finished just before the end of the year.

I remember a friend telling me about a beautiful lake with stunning reflections. (An interested conversation because they were Chinese and there is a similar place in China called Qinghai.) I found a good image of the lake, dried and showing the salt flats. With a lot of time and a limited color palette, the final tile is complete. Enjoy.

New Zealand is famous for beautiful landscapes. That being said, I struggled to find something iconic for New Zealand. I tried a couple different overlays, including a koru fern and a kiwi bird, but didn't fit. I ended up just using the beautiful mountains of Milford Sound. I was tempted to add fern to the foreground, but it was unnecessary. Enjoy.

Choosing Tower bridge is an easy choice for the UK. There are many perspectives to use and the resultant image with shadows came out well. I struggled with the background. I decided against using blue skies, like so many other tiles. I couldn't do a night scene without changing all the lighting and removing those nice shadows. I looked into using a lighter or stylized version of the UK flag, but it just didn't look right. So, I looked around for the official measurements and colors of the flag to recreate, resulting with this background. But after that was finished, I needed one last thing; a slight black trim around the bridge to highlight it a bit. Side note: I finished this tile a while ago and just forgot to post here.

I traveled to Tofo Bay, Mozambique years ago and really enjoyed it. I wanted to try a tile for it, but my memories were of the snorkeling with whale sharks and beautiful beaches. I used a couple images combined to complete this. The resultant tile isn't iconic for Mozambique, but it does represent many different countries and I like the tile. I have another tile for the Sahara desert that wasn't a single country, so I am keeping this one.

I am struggling with a nighttime tile. I looked into a northern lights style, especially since I had a few Scandinavian countries left. I found a great picture in Iceland with the famous Gullfoss Waterfall. But after completing the ground, I struggled with making the aurora look good. So, I decided to keep the falls and change it to a daytime scene. I like the falls and will have to find a better scene for nighttime. This gets me to 47 tiles, just 3 short of my goal. However, I have been slowing down because I can't find/decided on the right image for the next countries.

Although New Caledonia isn't an independent country, I saw pictures of the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre and knew I wanted to do it. I just needed to right angle. Instead of adding all the detail on this one, I liked the more abstract version. This is the final result.

I had travel to Penang Malaysia many years ago and since my primary goal was to cover the countries I had traveled to, this one was on the list. I couldn't find the right picture of Penang. Also, when people think of Malaysia, they think of Kuala Lumpur and the Petronas Towers. I just needed the right picture of the them. I kept searching for one and recently found one I like, which was this perspective. I used mostly different shades of grey, but the one tower in the middle needed color. That, and the dark blue evening sky. Although it's technically after dusk, it's not a real night sky that I have yet to do successfully, yet.

After going through lists of countries and picture searches, I found Bhutan. It's not that I haven't heard of it nor that I don't know this picture, but it was just, forgotten. Once I saw the picture, I knew I could do it and I had to do it. Adding this to my list, I am getting closer to my goal of 50 tiles. With the revisions, it hasn't been fast, but always getting closer.

Like the previous post, I am redoing a country tile for something better. The old Thailand tile was a combination of the temple in Chiang Mai and a lantern festival. Although it was a good idea, i wasn't happy with the execution. I have struggled with making a night tile. Looking through more pictures, I found this picture and decided to try it and I am happier with it's result.

I know my first Netherlands tile was similar to the Pepsi logo (still even after the update.) That being said, I always look for something better. Looking around at travel posters, I came across this gem. It fit my style completely, so recreating it was necessary. A couple vectors and a few layers and you get the final result. Enjoy.

A beautiful hotel, just off the coast and very iconic for UAE. I needed the right view with sand and blue skies. There is a lot of detail  with lines, but not with colors. This is just simple repetition and a some time.

I made the Jakarta tile very early on but I knew it wasn't the final tile. I kept looking for another image from around the islands of Indonesia. In some tourism pictures I found a good image of Bali. It seems to have many colors and over complicated, but there is a lot of repetition, both in shape and in colors (expect the sky). I'm not sure if it screams Indonesia, but I like it.

This is another location that is a no-brainer, but choosing the image was the difficult task. I tried a couple ruins with tree roots, but couldn't get the detail and tree right. When I saw this image, I knew it was it. It's not quite a reversed image in the reflection, not to mention the color difference. I'm still tempted by the ruins idea, but I'll keep this until then.

This is one of those tiles that I just wanted to do, not caring that its associated to one specific country. The Sahara is too simple and beautiful that I couldn't skip this one. There isn't much to say about design or colors, so instead, just enjoy!

It was surprising to me that I hadn't done this tile before. I found this location on one of those famous place lists that I mentioned previously. I was scrolling through and found this, one of the most obvious tiles to make. It's not hard to find a good perspective to work from. It's not a complicated tile, especially compared to Moscow. And the result, nice, simple and beautiful.

This is another place I have never been, but friends have. You might consider this a jealousy tile. I tried to simplify the color palatte. I struggled to get the cliff foreground on the left to look different, hence the different colors. After doing different temples around the world on other tiles, Petra is a nice simple design. Enjoy.

Uluru doesn't take many colors, just good lines, The foliage around it was trickier that the rock itself. And for the sky, I wanted to forgo any clouds, sunsets or any other gradients; simple is best.

In looking for my next tile, I started searching the wonders of the world, new and old. I searched the World Heritage Sites and top 100 lists. It was great for reminding myself of more obvious tiles to do. This one (and many of the following) came form that search. The Moais of Easter Island are already iconic. They have simple shapes and be conveyed through limit palettes. Just perfect for these tiles. So, here it is. Enjoy!

The Ruins of the Parthenon was an easy choice. I was looking for a view that stayed away from the blocks around the Temple of Athena, but I really like this angle. I think the tile is better for it.

Sometimes, it's not the image you struggle with, but the slight shade tones to perfect. I had decided to not use gradients, and this is technically not, but doing this is much more tedious. I like the result, but part of me wonders if this is too close to using gradients. On a side note, I have challenged myself to recreate some of the US National Park hex tile as a fun way to challenge myself and learn to use just black and white.

I traveled to South Korea last year and really enjoyed it. Coming from Beijing, the people and food is definitely different. However, when deciding on an image for the tile, I struggled to find a good building that didn't look Chinese or Japanese. Finally I found this one with good lightning.

The name Timbuktu means the middle of nowhere. Its a name that stuck with me and so I needed to search the internet to find out why. The old mosques in the area have a unique style and I knew I needed to make a tile. With only a few colors and a lot of time, the final result looks very realistic.

I was very tempted to make a tile of Cappadocia, especially during their balloon festival. I was worried that it would look iconic and clearly Turkish. So, I\instead I looked around the Istanbul for some options; Hagia Sophia, Grand Bazaar, Basilica Cistern. I decided on a sunset view of the Blue Mosque. The final result is much more Turkish.

Sometimes its not about knowing what to do, but rather how to do it. Egypt has an easy choice and I just needed the right angle. I wanted both the pyramid and the sphinx in the same frame. After that, the rest is just adding detail and choosing the color palette. So, here it is:

When thinking of Moscow, there is one cathedral I think of. Unfortunately, its not a simple design and a quick tile. After one simplified attempt, I decided to to go into more details and take more time. It was tedious, but a good final result.

With Brazil, I decided to try a more stylistic approach. I thought I could use the statue and beaches with many tiles. I used squares and quarter circles to get this: I was unhappy with the result and decided to ditch this method and go back to what I had done previously. It uses the same scene, same color palette but a more natural brush stroke. Still unhappy, I look for other sources and color palettes and I simplified down to this (my current version): Better, but I think I still need to tweak this one more. I leave it here for now.

When starting Mexico, I wanted to combine the pre-Colombian culture with modern Mexico. I had an idea to have an aztec warrior with a dia de los muertos style skull. When I finished it and started working on the rest of the tile, it was more distraction than complementing. I really like the skull, but it had to go. The bacground, that became to focus of the tile, was a pyramid of Chichen Itza. With no warrior, I spent more time on the shadows down the front. It is a simple design, but iconic. Enjoy.

I attempted Hong Kong long before. I wanted to showcase the skyline at night. I picked my buildings to focus on and diligently added a lot of detail. I used some gradients for the glow. (This was before I decided against gradients on tiles.) I was still using the trim and adding the location name. The end result was this: Immediately I was unhappy with it but I couldn't figure out what to do. I looked for good pictures of the advertisements hanging across the streets like what you would find in Yau Ma Tei or Mong Kok but couldn't settle on one. Finally, I looked at the skyline picture with the Star Ferry in the foreground. This is when I found what I wanted. With a little detail and shadows, I ended up with this:

The Vatican is small, that much is obvious, I needed a good view of the country and I had tried inside St Peter's Cathedral. I was unhappy with the result. I dismissed the Sistine Chapel as it is too complicated and well beyond my skill level. I like the view from the Cupola extending out into the square, but it looks into the rest of Rome. I decided to go with that and just keep the rest of Rome grey. I wrote the name of the country across the top. This is my final result: Looking at it now, I realize that all the statue on the front of the cathedral are missing... oops. It seems like I'll need to revisit this one again.

Here is another tile for a place I have never been, but somewhere a friend traveled to and I am insanely jealous. Like the shading of the Arc de Triomphe, this scene has a lot of detail based on shadows. The base colors are quite simple, but the shadow transform the picture. I didn't originally want to do all the detail, but I decided to do everything I saw. It was slow and a pain, but the result is fantastic and I am ecstatic about. Enjoy!

I think of Canada as a great natural wonder. I used the beautiful mountains with a little bit of snow and reflection from Lake Banff. I also copied the white frame style of Japan, this time with a maple leaf. I tried it with a red tint to the leaf, but it didn't work. Here is the end result:

I decided to stay away from Phuket and Koh Samui for showing Thailand. Although beautiful, they don't showcase Thai culture. There are many sites in Bangkok to use, but I like the temple in Chiang Mai. I decided to also show the floating lanterns at night. I am not sure if this is the final version, but I have very few evening/night scenes.

I searched around Germany for a good location. I know there are beautiful castles and natural parks, but I saw Brandenburg Gate and decided to use it. I didn't think of using the 3 colors of the flag until much later. It's a simple and strong image with this color scheme.

Belgium; a land of airy waffles, decadent chocolate and a wide variety of beer. But when it comes to famous sites, I struggled with finding a site that other people could identify. I know that the Expo '58 Atomium isn't that famous, but it is iconic and a fun challenge. I'm pleased to get convincing chrome spheres with just 3 colors. Both the building and the tile are a simple construction, just needed to be done carefully. Enjoy!

Matterhorn is an obvious choice, an iconic monument of Switzerland. I wanted a perspective with some snow, but not too much. I found one with a nice reflection. Like natural reflections, the reverse image isn't perfect, which would have been much easier. It was a fun tile to make and I'm happy with the result.

It's easy to find pictures of Taipei 101. But I decided to use skyline techniques from the Lesotho mountains. I used the sunset colors style like Zaragosa. I only needed a highlight color for the sunny side of the building to make it complete. Enjoy!

Not much to say on this one. Italy has many sites, but the Colosseum is an obvious choice. It was just a matter of finding the right perspective.

In a continuation of doing tiles for others, Myanmar came up in conversation. A land full of numerous temples across the land, I found a source image that had some, but not too many. 2-3 shades of each color are enough to depict the scene. As I have never been here either, I can't comment on how well it represents the country. But at least it works for me and the one who traveled here.

I have been making tiles for places I had visited before this. Spain is on my list but I have never been. Family have traveled there so I decided to make a tile for someone other than me. It was much harder to choose an iconic scene to do. I'm happy with doing a less famous location. Enjoy.

When it came time to think about a tile for the US, I could think of many different scenes to use, from National Parks to famous monuments, but in the end, I decided to try a famous site in San Diego, Hotel del Coronado. It probably isn't recognizable by Americans around the country and I might have to do another, more generic, tile. However, I am please with the result. 

My only travels in Zimbabwe or Zambia, many years ago, was just to see Victoria Falls. It was a spectacular sight and something I wanted to recreate. The falls are based on a photo, but the foreground was not. I also used the same style as my South African tile. this time with a a few more gradients. The end result is as follows:

I traveled to Denmark a few years ago and loved Copenhagen. I stay near a beautiful area called Nyhavn.  I visited wonderful places around  the country and thought of depicting its famous viking history, but  I knew that the colorful buildings of Nyhavn would translate well into a tile. I decided to keep the crowds as a silhouette and a single ship. 

I had an idea for Ireland, showing the beautiful Cliffs of Moher, done with celtic knotting. This project took me a lot of time and consideration, searching through different knots and images. In the end, it took many iterations on each of the levels to come up with successful knots. I ended up with changing from the natural color scheme to the Irish flag, but I am sure few can figure out the scene the knots present. Here is the final tile:

France is full of iconic of places and it was easy to choose the Arc de Triomphe. But there is a lot of beautiful, but difficult detail on it and I wanted to capture all of it. I used my experience with layers, shadows and differing transparency levels to get this final result: The most rewarding part of the tile was slowly adding the shadowed reliefs. I kept adding details while zoomed in, only focusing on the outline of each shadow without seeing the full picture. The completed result was beyond my expectation.

Since the South African flag is so colorful, I decided to use it's layout and palette. Though full of beautiful places, like the Drakensburg Escarpment from the Lesotho tile, and animals, I decided to depict Table Mountain. Here it is:

Edit: This post became out of order when it was updated. It should be the 3rd post on 26 Aug. As my third tile, I had dreams of depicting the Great Wall of China rolling over the mountains. I struggled with the layers and over lapping colors and the end result was less than desired. This wasn't good enough and I knew it. I needed to hone my skills and vision. Living in Beijing, I decided to use the famous Temple of Heaven instead.  Better, but I don't need the words and the image was missing something. Finally I came up with: As you can see, added a frame on the 3rd tier and some shadows while removing the border and words. Now its something I can be proud of.