Hi again!

I while ago I found a beautiful map by an illustrator named Chris Riddell, for Neil Gaiman's "The Sleeper and the Spindle". I really love the style. Exaggerated features, loads of detail, odd scale, insane skill. It inspired me to try something new. Until now, my regional maps have always been very Tolkienesque. Nothing wrong with that, but I wanted to learn something new.

I just started doodling on a large piece of paper. I had (and still have) this vague idea of using this style for a big project that's been lurking in the dark corners of my brain for a long time (a fantasy map of my Very Dull and Boring home town). My goal here was to just practice a new technique; I wasn't going to share it. I wasn't really happy with the way my attempts to draw pine forests (with countless upstrokes of a pen) were turning out, but after a while the doodles started to look like a map, and I kept adding stuff. Right now I'm thinking this could be a nice map on it's own, even though I planned hardly any of it, and the technique is inconsistent (you can see it change gradually if you follow my progression over the page ).

Tools: pencils & pens, A3 drawing paper, COFFEE.

Here's the thing so far. I started at the top, and worked clockwise towards the bottom. Yes, that's a coffee stain.

I hope you like it. Any advice and criticisms are much appreciated.

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