Greetings map people! ("map people" is newb for cartographers)

[Techpatriot]

My focus for joining this group is to understand what is out there in the way of producing fantasy maps. This would include all kinds of maps from dungeon to political. My medium of nerdification there is D&D 5th edition.

My first area of focus will be understanding mapping medium as it relates to some degree of authenticity and feel of the map (what a cartographer would use when we were still exploring Earth on the seas...you know, before photoshop). I'm seeing oodles of Photoshop out there, but hey this is a paper and pencil game is it not? Also, this kind of world creation thing is a hobby for me, and many little hobbies have spawned from it before, like painting minis, writing, deceiving my players into walking into my plot hooks . This is just a logical progression to into further avoiding adulthood.

Anyways, Hi

[Korash]

Well, This would be a great place to start. While a lot of of what we do deals with creating maps on a computer, the overall process is very applicable to hand drawn...just a different medium for simular results. Some would say that hand drawn requires more attention to detail (no Undo there), but I think it is just a question of learning the techniques for the medium of choice. And that takes practice and some Guidance....The tutorial section has the guidance for techniques, and the WIPs and Finished Maps sections have plenty of styles to try and emulate or inspire you towards the style of your own.

Have fun, and Welcome to The Guild, The Mappiest Place on the Web

[Techpatriot]

Thanks. I guess I'm going to start with isometric mountain ranges. I've been doing some research and I'm considering my early experiments be in a combination of waxed base color and clear wax for resists, and then washing...maybe watercolor pencils, watercolor and straigt technical inking on outlines etc. IDK 1 thing at a time....pencil and paper sketching isometric mountains.

[arsheesh]

Welcome to the Guild Techpatriot! There are actually a number of tutorials on hand-drawn style mapping here. While some of these are for digital mapping, many of the principles will still apply. Also, there are a handful of tutorials here specifically geared for traditional mediums (you'll have to search for them). Best of luck.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh