Learning the art and science of hand drawn cartography

[VandelayIndustries]

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum, and very interested. I have a BA in geography, and am working on a MS in geography, but do not have much skill in cartography. I have recently become interested in hand drawn cartography. Where is the best place to go to learn about the art and science of manual cartography? I have done some, but not much digital cartography. With that being said, if anyone could help me get started in hand drawn cartography, I'd be very appreciative.

[ravells]

Hi Vandelay,

As to the art of manual cartography, check out the tutorials in the tutorial sections. The science (such as it is) is contemporaneous to the date the map was drawn and how much the cartographer has applied. To find out about that you are probably best served reading books about the history of maps. The Story of Maps by Brown would be a good start. We tend to draw mostly fantasy maps here, so although we borrow elements from old real life maps, generally there is not much real life science applied to the maps we draw. Some people apply tectonic and climatic principles to creating their worlds but most of us just draw stuff that looks cool

Welcome to the guild!