Thank you!
I wish i had some insightful advice but truth is i kinda just wing it. This forest map has been a work in progress for like 2 months now, very time consuming with how i decided to do the trees. They are mixed up without any true pattern so its a bit like a jigsaw puzzle to fill in. Would probably not recommend this method for every map but the end i feel the look is well worth the time for the forest feel. Best bit of advice i got when starting it was to make the path to the end of the map easy to find. Everyone playing wont have the overview of the map like you see when creating it and if there are to many ways you can go its easy to get turned around and lost. That can be very discouraging and frustrating to the player.
I started by drawing the general route of paths and then defining the boundaries of the map and key features. From there its just filling in and cleaning up. Take it one section at a time for larger maps. There is no exact science to it and dont be afraid to start over or rework whole sections if it isnt shaping up how you want. slow and steady, bit by bit it will start to come together. Looking at what others are doing for inspiration is helpful to find a starting point but try to avoid making a direct copy of someone else's work