Hello from Cave Geek!

[CaveGeekArt]

Greetings fellow map lovers!

To be honest, there's a chance I've introduced myself a long time ago, but I'm not sure. The forum looks familiar, but I dont remember if I ever actually joined or not.

I'm a craftsman and artist, and though I haven't created my own original map since I was in my teens playing D&D, I enjoy replicating fantasy maps in my medium.
It all started 5 years ago when I wondered what a "Primitive map of Middle Earth" would look like, so I decided to make myself one. At the time I was a primitive skills instructor, and also tanned buckskin for a living.

I use pyrography and burn the maps onto traditional, brain-tanned, buckskin (an ancient, luxuriously soft, hand made leather). The burning shrivels the skin and makes the map 3-dimensional.
After it's burned, I sometimes paint the map, using natural earth pigments and primitive tools (bone, wood, feather). Sometimes I even go an extra step and use the fluid from deer eyes as a base for the paint.

These days, I do all sorts of images (not just maps), but maps remain my favorites. I've done Middle-earth, Westeros, Thror's Map, Skyrim, Codex Alera, Avatar, and more. I'm actually doing a map of Azeroth at the moment.
I do all my work live on twitch. In case anyone wants to join me: www.twitch.tv/cavegeekart

You can find videos and pictures of my work here:

Website: www.cave-geek.com
Instagram: @cavegeekart
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cavegeekart
Youtube: www.youtube.com/cavegeekart

Here are a few pictures of my favorites:

Middle Earth Hanging.jpg Skyrim.jpg Thror Fancy small.jpg Princess Bride Map small with logo.jpg Map of Westeros.jpg

[Bain]

That's amazing that you do that on leather m8t. That deserves a WOW! How long did it take you to do one map?

[Creativetides]

Wow it's always inspiring to see someone take on a project using different and unique methods.

[ChickPea]

Wow, these are fantastic!! It's always great to see people taking the art of mapmaking further and working with unusual mediums. Have some rep and thanks for sharing!

[Diamond]

Holy crap - those are great!

[Ninox]

That is some seriously impressive work.

[CaveGeekArt]

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Maps are so much fun, I'm always thinking about the next one.

As for how long it takes, most of the big ones take between 50-80 hours of work, depending on how involved they are.