- Age
- 36
About AdventurePages
- Biography:
- Who I Am
I am the Adventure Pages artist simply known as Adam.
I'm a husband, father, computer programmer, game master, map and dungeon cartographer. I work in customer service, IT, and surveillance. I have been drawing game maps since I was about 10 years old; after playing Final Fantasy I started drawing maps for videogames. I kept on drawing and kept my drawings, adapting my style after reading old AD&D modules. I now draw maps for tabletop gaming. Now as an adult I've expanded to a point where I'd like to share my passion with the world.
The Adventure Pages name came from a need to use my initials professionally with a related theme, after many hours and many options later I settled on Adventure Pages after considering that each map is like a page in my lifes adventure.
What I draw
Maps for tabletop role playing and gaming sessions, battles, and encounters. I draw by hand with ink on paper, then I digitize my work to clean it up and make the players variant. I try to keep my maps as game neutral as possible so they can be seamlessly used for Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, and any of the other great tabletop games, respectively.
I try to keep my works within scale, not a specific scale which I do this so that anyone can scale it according to their encounter or sessions needs.
Why do I draw maps
It's fun. I draw maps because it gives me a place to escape to. As a game master myself I am always needing a new dungeon for my players to delve into which is why I draw my own. I learned to draw from NES and SNES era final fantasy games as well as from the old school game module maps. I've adapted my style from what I have seen from other dungeon cartographers. But in the end I draw maps simply because it makes me happy (and sane).
How I make a map
When the mood strikes me to draw a map I'll grab my pens, some blank paper, and an old heavily used and badly battered sheet of paper I printed bold grid lines on a long time ago. I place a single fresh sheet of paper directly above the bold grid paper, this is so that I can use the grid below as a guide for the paper I'm drawing on. Then go with it, 90% of the time I start with a door. I don't necessarily trace the grid but rather use it as a guide. As for circles well yes I'll use an object to get the shape right.
As the lines progress and my idea becomes envisioned I play around with inhabitant ideas considering who the original inhabitants were, who the new arrivals will be, who the existing inhabitants curently are, or if there are hostile neighbors and how they've influenced the map. When in doubt I roll using a chart, which chart is decided upon by a roll itself.
Sometimes I actually plan ahead and start with the inhabitants in mind first, usually with this method I start on graph paper with brainstormed ideas and doodles before I begin to ink the map. This is when I want to do a big project, one that involves multiple sheets of paper for one map, I start with graph paper, 4x4 or 5x5 depending on the scale I'm wanting. Then I do a large overview map on a single page, in a very rough state with notes, doodles, and scribbles. After that I then begin to flesh it all out 1 page at a time until complete using the old bold grid paper below a fresh sheet to keep everything aligned.
Once I have completely hand drawn the map I digitize it by scanning it into my PC, cleaning it up in GIMP, paint, Krita, or Corel Paintshop Pro, then saved as a PDF before it is released.
What I use
Currently I use whatever I have on hand to draw on and with. Yes I have an iPad but I prefer pen and paper.
Paper:
Free paper - Like hotel notepads
Cheap paper - Like resturant placemats
Graph Paper 1x1 per inch, 2x2 per inch, 4x4 per inch, and 5x5 per inch
Any blank white paper computer paper (such as copy paper 92 bright 20lbs works fine)
Pens:
...whatever I've got on hand in any color though black and blue are ideal. These are the "Pens" I use at the moment:
Any Liquid Ink Pens (not ballpoint ink)
INC R2 Rollerball 0.7mm Fine
INC Optimus Felt Tip 0.5mm Fine (becoming my favorite)
INC PenMark UltraFine (permanent marker)
BIC GripRoller
Sharpie Ultra Fine Point (permanent marker)
Pilot Precise V5 Rolling Ball 0.5mm Fine
Software:
Paint
GIMP
Krita
Corel Paintshop Pro
Autodesk Sketchbook
Ubuntu 16.04
Windows 10
Dungeons and Dragons is copyright WotC
Pathfinder is copyright Piazo
Call of Cthulhu is copyright Chaosium
If you have read my about bio I want to say thank you for your time. Here is a digital high five!
- Location:
- Ohio, USA
- Interests:
- 5e gaming, hand drawn maps, artificial intelligence, and being the best father and husband
- Occupation:
- IT Help Desk, Surveillance, Computer Programming, and Customer Service
- Software Used:
- Paint
GIMP
Krita
Corel Paintshop Pro
Autodesk Sketchbook
Ubuntu Studio 16.04
Windows 10
- Twitter Username:
- Adventure_Pages
________________________________________
Follow me on Twitter @Adventure_Pages
Support me on Patreon
"Be who you are and say what you feel,
because those who mind don't matter,
and those who matter don't mind." ~ Dr. Seuss
View AdventurePages's Blog
by
AdventurePages on 06-25-2019 at 08:35 PM
I'm excited to say I've launched my first adventure module which is around my map called the Isles of Sarlona. Since it is around 9 islands I included my merchant ships map and row boat maps/tiles as well as a dungeon to explore within one of the isles.
It is available exclusively on Patreon, but here is a teaser to hopefully get you interested.
https://www.cartographersguild.com/a...hmentid=116272
https://www.patreon.com/Adventurepages
Read More
by
AdventurePages on 05-17-2019 at 05:26 PM
I'm feeling generous so If you're wanting a commercial use license for any of my art just message me your request so we can work out the details.
by
AdventurePages on 04-26-2019 at 12:34 PM
I finished the Fort Pitt map I wanted and have made plans to enter it at the Art All Night event in Pittsburgh (thus why I went with Fort Pitt).
I'm super excited! Check out the photo of it I posted and let me know what you think. https://www.cartographersguild.com/a...6&d=1556295445
Thanks everyone!
by
AdventurePages on 04-16-2019 at 03:36 PM
Hello World! I've created a few albums to house the hand drawn pen and paper maps I post. Multiple albums to keep myself and my art organized. Most maps I post here are Works in Progress and not finals. Finalized maps I release exclusively to my Patrons.
Any and all comments are welcomed, even the criticizing ones too. Thanks!