I want to do it like the cartographers of yore! Yes!
I am loathe to give up my Wacom and mouse. No.
Draw a map by hand!
We often change the mapping subject--castles, cities, kingdoms, trade routes, etc.--but we never talk about the medium. This is because different people use different tools and some folks don't have access to (Photoshop, for example, is cost prohibitive for most people).
One tool that we ALL have access to, however, is paper and pencils! I know for a fact we have some cartographers here who do art in the traditional way and are only just learning digital mediums. This would give them a chance to shine and really push the limits for some of us. Plus, I would really, really enjoy watching peoples' WIP posts!
So, what do you say we try doing some cartography the way it had been done for thousands of years--in physical media? Pencil, pen, ink, paint, dioromma, architectural model, origami, whatever you want! As long is it is a physical product you made with your own hand, it is acceptable. Just snap a photo or scan it and throw it up!
Last edited by RecklessEnthusiasm; 04-23-2011 at 05:47 PM.
I enjoy mapping by hand but I usually keep this for smaller locations and most of my cartographic work covers larger areas. A few years ago I managed to pick up a drafting table for $20 at a liquidation sale and had a blast detailing the ruins of a palatial city - some day I'll need to go back to that project
Good idea. I've been thinking about doing my current map on paper.
If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
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I usually doodle on paper to practice mapping by hand.
But, I can never seem to get tree's right.
Because my style is a hybrid of hand-drawn and digital creation, I always create hand-drawn work, its just I never consider it finished in that format, so I finish it digitally. I don't know if I could be satisfied with a hand-drawn only map. Its that I don't apply heavy shadowing with cross-hatching or what have you. I do the shading in Xara as digital drop shadows, stacked transparent layers. I got to have color and I don't want to color it by hand. I'm not a colored pencil guy and I hate to paint. I will vote in favor of this, but as stated, I prefer to finish the map I do digitally.
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This is a very interesting idea. I have drawn many maps by hand back in the day and for the most part really enjoyed it. It would certainly push me out of my "comfort zone" as I am in no way an artist.
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I am horrible at drawing just about anything by hand
Regards,
RK
nice idea. it wouldn't hurt to find a pencil after all these years.
Great idea. I can't draw for toffee but I'm up for it!
Would it need to be pencil and paper, or just physical art. Example: one could carve a map into wood.
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