Hello!

I joined (or re-joined, rather) the guild recently and wanted to introduce myself. I had been registered with the guild some time ago when the boards were still new, but I didn't get very far in looking around then and I tend to get distracted by other projects easily. (artists flaky? noooooooooo... couldn't be!! )

I've been gaming with dice and paper for almost 15 years now, and writing stories and dreaming up worlds as far back as I can remember. I still have several of my hand drawn crayola maps here somewhere... This quickly brought me into the world of cartography, and I have been making maps for games and stories a long time. Thanks to the advent of digital art programs, I was able to begin making maps that actually looked (albeit vaguely) professional!

My first real foray into digital mapping was with the Campaign Cartographer and its counterpart which came with the AD&D 2.0 CD. I haven't been able to discover a name for that counterpart (not exactly taxed myself trying either ) but I did make some very pretty maps with all its wonderful stamps. From time to time I would decide I wanted to make a really good looking map to get printed and would dig around on the internet in the hopes that I might find something matching or sending me in the direction of my vision. I was usually let down.

But recently I have been blessed with an abundance of resources that have aided me in my vision (photoshop is amazing!) as well as the wonderful recent rediscovery of the Cartographer's Guild! I've spent the last week-ish wandering through the forums and I'm absolutely impressed with how much information and intelligent discussion of cartography there is here, both real and fantasy! I've found a great deal of what I have been looking for in threads and tutorials and I look forward to being a part of this community, both as a cartographic enthusiast and as an artist!

I'm so very pleased to be here!

Pyro