I have been a part of this forum for a few months and have never posted before. I have looked at a few of the tutorials as well as the challenges and thought of an idea. Why not combine both? There is no doubt that there are tons of very talented artists here, but how many are able to teach as well as do?

My thought here would be that someone who would not participate in the challenge would create a simple continent map (most likely in the style of a pen and paper map that you would hand draw up in say 10 minutes). The challengers would attempt to duplicate the map as close as possible in whatever style and tools they wish, but part of the judging would be based off of not only the final product, but how well documented the steps were to making the final product. My expectation is that with 8+ people participating, you would have a range of map styles and products which would be contributed to the Tutorial section.

Since the base map would be the same for everyone, this would allow each participant to show how they would interpret a specific feature (trees, mountains, deserts, etc) using their tool of choice. Perhaps one person would do an atlas style, another would do a wood carving style, another would do a pen/ink style, and another would do a stylistic, etc. The goal would be that anyone with access to the tools used would be able to duplicate the final effect reasonably close to the artists rendition.

If accepted, there should be some basic rules such as:
  • Common Size: All submissions must be x by y
  • The map must maintain the same relative size/shape as the original
  • Features such as mountain ranges, forests, deserts, rivers, etc, must maintain the same general scale and shape as the original


The idea is that anyone looking at the original and then the final product should know instantly that they are the same thing in different formats. Does anyone else think this is an idea that might work?

Joe