Ben Medrano, Fantasy Author

[Benjamin Medrano]

Well, mostly fantasy, anyway! I've also written superhero novels and a single science fantasy novel so far that came out in early March. If anyone cares, here's my Amazon page. Ah, I should add that I'm an indie author, self-publishing all my stuff.

While I've created some maps using Campaign Cartographer before, I'm not terribly good at it. I don't think I'm terrible, but I certainly don't think I'm very good. That being said, I've decided that I'd rather pay more attention to what I'm good at than spend the time to do mapmaking justice, so I decided to come here to look at commissioning some maps (particularly continent/world maps, since I'm particularly bad at those).

What else can I say... eh, that's it, really. I might take a little while to get the request I have in mind first together before posting anything. Glad to be here!

[wminish]

Hi Ben, welcome to the guild.

You've certainly come to the right place, you'll find many Cartographers here who can make maps for you. When you're ready to request you can either post in the mapmaking requests forum or reach out to an individual cartographer directly. If you are interested in hand-drawn maps using traditional materials I do commissions myself .

Have a good look around anyway and see what styles you are keen on, the finished maps forum is a good place to do this.

[Kellerica]

Hi Ben! There is a section specifically dedicated to commissions, which can be found here - so feel free to post that request anytime you're ready.

While I'm here though, I might as well offer my services, as I'm currently on the lookout for new commissions to take on! I'm experienced working with authors to help them visualise their worlds, and regional and world maps are my specialty. You can see my work on my website (which unfortunately is currently under some renovations so things are not quite as well in order as I'd like them to be, but plenty of my work there to view anyway), where you can also find my contact info. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you like what you see!

In any case, welcome to the Guild - you will certainly find the right artist for your project here.

[Benjamin Medrano]

Thank you both for the welcome!

Fortunately or not, I'd hunted down the mapmaking request forum a while ago, and just sort of... sat there for ages. I think it's been three years since I bookmarked the post giving best practices for requests, but I didn't have the money at first, then the time or energy to devote to putting a request together. Fortunately, the money part has changed, so now it's been mostly a question of energy.

wminish - You do some good work, even if I'm not sure if it's the right style for me! I've always been amazed at what people can draw by hand... I was alright back in high school, but I never got beyond somewhat mishapen pencil drawings.

Kellerica - Thank you for the links! And while your style probably wouldn't be appropriate for the first project I've got in mind (a GameLit world), I have two (three?) world maps that your color maps would probably do well on. I'll certainly keep you in mind!

[JoshStolarz]

Welcome to the Guild! Hopefully you can connect with a cartographer who will be able to help you out with a commission. I'm currently booked up myself, but I thought I'd say hello none the less

- Josh

[Benjamin Medrano]

Thank you for the welcome, Josh! I've had a few people contact me, and I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to find an excellent cartographer for my projects!

[Tiana]

(a GameLit world)

Do my ears hear... MMO game cyberpunky kind of art?!

Welcome to the guild. Do consider me when you get around to this, I love doing unusual genre non-fantasy mapping with lurid neon colors! I often get a lot of fantasy map commissions but I love to do a good cyberpunk-esque look with vibrant colors...

[KMAlexander]

Welcome! Good luck with your cartographer hunt.

[Benjamin Medrano]

Do my ears hear... MMO game cyberpunky kind of art?!

Welcome to the guild. Do consider me when you get around to this, I love doing unusual genre non-fantasy mapping with lurid neon colors! I often get a lot of fantasy map commissions but I love to do a good cyberpunk-esque look with vibrant colors...

Alas, I'm afraid not! That would likely be more appropriate for my Superhero series, or the Science Fantasy setting I just started last month (More like D&D with spaceships, but has some Shadowrun-esque aspects). The one in question is essentially a fantasy world with game rules. In this case, the god of chaos won a bet with the gods, and promptly transformed a few dozen (or hundred) hives of giant bees into bee-girls called the apis. It's... a little weird.

And thank you, KMAlexander!

[KMAlexander]

You bet. Always good to see other authors 'round these parts.

My best advice would be for you to peruse some of the talent in the various "Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy" sub-categories and reach out to people who you feel fit your vision. There's a ton of talent here. "Mapmaking Requests" is fine and often a good start, and many skilled folks will respond, but it's hard to find someone that'll fit a specific idea via volunteerism.