The base grid was digitally draped over the hillshade layer, bringing out the 3-dimensional texture of the landscape as a shaded relief map.  To complement the illustrated realism, a color palette of light-grayscale was selected.  The lithography of the area is primarily of a layered metamorphic cap rock (micaceous schists), underlain by a limestone formation that outcrops progressively in down-valley traverse.  The notable hue of the composing rock is a dun blue-gray.  Thus, opting for the apparently bland but conventionally effective grayscale color schema imposed quite a natural essence onto the illustration, therefore creating necessary realism in communicating the visual qualities of the landscape to the observer.
Brief 4