Legends

[jshoer]

I'm new to this forum, but not new to mapping! I posted this in my member intro thread, but perhaps it's really better off in the gallery. It's called "Legends:"

LegendsForPub.jpg

The map is hand-drawn with a dip pen and india ink on 14x17" Bristol. I then artificially aged it (by wadding it up and dunking it in a tray of coffee - let me tell you, that took some bravery to do!) and photographed it. I've tried to tweak the RAW photo to reproduce color as accurately as I could.

Whenever I show anyone this map, I always like to ask them if they can figure out how it works. The trick is all in the labels - you might notice that there are no proper place names, but instead there are several other connections between labels and lands. Events from the history of science, art, politics, and military campaigns mingle with the local mythologies, legends, and tales to mark associated locations in the world.

Unfortunately, calling attention to the labels also calls attention to the fact that I'm not a calligrapher!

Here are some other close-ups and dramatic shots:

IMG_7842.JPG IMG_7855.JPG IMG_7832.JPG

There's a higher-res version uploaded here. If you want a printout, I can put up the imagekind link, too.

Enjoy!