Continuing our series of interviews with cartographers, this month we're talking to Alyssa Faden. She's known for her very in-depth and detailed city maps. We asked her 7 questions, as we will in each interview.
1) Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background... and 2) How did you get into mapping?
I'm originally from England and grew up in a city called "Chester;" an old Roman garrison town. I was a geek and a nerd before it was cool to be a geek and a nerd, and liken myself unto having a school life not to dissimilar from Carrie, but without any of the cool mental powers. I became embroiled with a group of guys who were heavily into wargaming - a surprisingly popular hobby in the U.K. - and through that a weekly attendance at a local wargaming club. It was there one evening, during a particularly laborious WWII game (one of those: 2 hrs per turn and an emphasis on snorting out facts about German tanks more than actually playing) when I became acutely aware of a table in the corner of the room that was having way more fun than everyone else combined. The line "You just killed my shadow with a +1 dagger!" particularly piqued my interest, and - unbeknownst to me - my foray into tabletop D&D was about to begin.
This was the early 80's and Dungeons & Dragons hadn't hit my school yet. It was perhaps inevitable that in being the first to actually learn the rules and to cajole a group together, that I'd end up being the Dungeon Master; something which I honestly value with all of my heart. The position at the head of the table nurtured my story telling, writing, passion in historical research, fantasy in general, boosted my confidence levels, and caused me to meet - and play with - many great, great lifelong friends.
It was also the start of my cartography. I was never one to use pre-written materials, and very quickly I am emulating the cartographers of that era and creating hex-based maps of my world and countries within it. But it was my city maps, where I would draw LS Lowry style with crazy little details, where I found my true passion and niche.
I was solely drawing maps for myself and friends and thought nothing of it. It was - quite literally - over twenty years later when I, somewhat humbly and with a great deal of reservation, shared some of these drawings on Facebook in a fantasy roleplaying group. The reception I received was, quite honestly, not expected; I'm not even sure what I was expecting, but people seemed to be genuinely blown away. And then I was asked to draw for other people - strangers, save for being online friends. And then for small publishing companies.
I quite literally fell into professional cartography by accident.
3) Do you create maps professionally, or for fun? If you've sold your work, how did you get started? Any fun/horror stories to share about commissioned work?
I tend to be the type of person who grows as a professional. - or as a human being - by looking at what went wrong and then trying to grow from it. So I would tend to drift towards the "horror stories" as an example of things gone wrong. But let's share something good and bad
The Bad:
I guess let me hit this from two different angles. First and foremost, I wish artists got paid more for their work. I've managed to get myself to a point where I charge what I charge, and if you can't afford my rates, well I wish you the very, very, very best, but I need to keep my time where there's a little more buck-per-hour. That said, when I look back at the beginning, and even occasionally today, it's surprising how little people will pay for an artists time; sometimes - quite literally - nothing.
I think this is a shame. I understand that there are a lot of amateur, or smaller, publishing houses, and a lot of people who want to get an adventure module or sourcebook out there - and in this modern world, that's very easy to do - and that most people really don't have the funds to pay contributors what they really deserve. But sometimes this is laughable; I'm talking 24"x18" full color country maps that take days upon days to complete ... and the potential customer has a budget less than $100.
So, I guess if I have anything to say on that front, it would be "know your worth, know your value, and choose when you want to give away your time judiciously."
Also, assume that any project could go pear-shaped at any time; get a good contract in place, get half payment up front, and ensure that you keep the customer in the design and creation process, getting sign-off at key milestones. My biggest "horror story" to date was drawing a city map for a professional publisher, keeping them in the loop as I sent across step-by-step iterative progress shots, only to have them announce that they didn't think it would work for their purposes at the end. I didn't have that contract, and I didn't get half up front, and the whole thing was just a waste of time eventually.
The Good:
A map I drew for the Tekumel Foundation and Jeff Dee. (a) Jeff Dee ... old school artist here; I was already ga-ga at being able to work with such a name. (B) the Tekumel Foundation; this was a chance to put something forward that would become part of the canon and their materials for life. I drew a city - poster sized - and ended up drawing it at an insane level of detail; I'm talking little crates in the dock area, rope on the tents in the market place. It was nuts. The final colored version blew even me away, and I'm the one that created it.
Aside form that, rubbing shoulder and creating maps for childhood heroes and "named companies" never gets old. I always remember when Timothy Brown from Dark Sun asked me to create 4 maps for his latest creation; I swear I fainted on the spot and am still ga-ga over him. He's a great guy, and being able to work for him, and then eventually meet him, just makes the whole cartography angle worth it in and of itself.
Nystul's Infinite Dungeon land map by Alyssa Faden
4) What kind of computer setup/equipment/software do you have? Any advice or tips for learners?
I hand-draw on a Cintiq 24" HD touch in Photoshop; it's a beautiful device, literally a monitor which you can lie-flat and draw on with a stylus. It has enabled me to take my game to a whole other level, because I can be adventurous. I used to draw with a fine ink pen on paper, and this worked great for many years, but the catch: if you make a mistake, you make a mistake. It's done. I didn't realize it, but this was holding me back creatively, as I wouldn't take chances. The Cintiq allows me to zoom in for stupid levels of detail, and then erase anything if I'm not happy with the result. And coloring is *SO* much easier.
I think there are a lot of stunning resources out there for beginners (including Jared Blando's cartography guide) so I think I'll leave that type of advice to what's already been heavily covered, but ... but I will say one thing: Don't give up. Watch what everyone else is doing. See and analyze what you like and what you want to emulate. And then copy it. Practice, refine your own style, and embrace it. And then keep on improving with every map you do. To this day I follow my own advice: I love looking at what other people are doing, I try to recognize what I like about their final pieces and approaches, and I try to keep an open mind on my own work and what I DON'T like. Every piece, every map, I try to think about how I'd make it better the next time.
Oh, and be mindful - and aware of - real-world geography and features. Just get the basics down for how rivers flow, what coastlines look like, and what looks un-natural. This applies to settlements and dungeons/building maps, too. I won't get into the subject too deeply as I think you could write many blog articles on the subject, but everything exists for a purpose and a reason. Even if there is a tree in the middle of a desert, there's a reason why it's there and - as a cartographer - you should know what that is.
The natural world shapes our environment; the mountain ranges, hills, rivers, lakes, forestry, coastlines.
Man founds settlements, and typically because of some reason: food, water, trade, defense ... there's always a reason, even behind the smallest of villages and hamlets.
The layout of a settlement is either organic - and grows from a nucleus of the first founding location - or is planned; or is a combination of both.
Even when drawing a dungeon, think "what's the purpose of this corridor? Someone, somewhere, had either slaves, money, or time to build this, and even if it was a mage with some form of terraforming spell, he consciously built this corridor ... why?"
Unless we're dealing with an old-school dungeon stomp, in which case all bets are off, of course :p
Tarragona - french army site plan 1811
5) What are your favourite kind of maps or favourite map makers from history?
I'm a bit of a history nut, particularly military history, so I think I'm going to point to this as the style I adore the most - Tarragona - french army site plan of 1811.
I also admire and study the works of Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres and Jacques-Nicolas Bellin.
6) What do you consider your best piece of work? How about your favourite, if different?
I have three favorites for different reasons.
The work I have done for Lesser Gnome Games
Zach is a true cartography nut and he completely gave me free ranch to create something beautiful; he wanted a poster sized piece and he wanted the best I could come up with, and said as much; it was a refreshing change as it was less about "function" and more about "creating art."
The Tekumel map for Jeff Dee, because it was the most detailed and largest city I have ever drawn and I had to work with materials that had already been created; I was moving into a canon world.
And, of course, Dragon Kings for Timothy Brown, because (a) TIMOTHY BROWN, and (b) how often do you get to drawn a hive system or a festering sore?
You know what? A couple of other personal favorites:
The Nystuls' Infinite Dungeon was never used - the project fell apart. The client asked for an island that looked like a god had fallen into the ocean. And some where the client asked for something reminiscent of Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Death and Taxes map by Alyssa Faden for Lesser Gnome Games
YMataar and Sokurah by Alyssa Faden
These and more progress and detail images can be found at Alyssa's FB page.