"Hand-drawn" modern city map

[Lachrymal]

I would like to have a map of a city that is featured in my novel. I am aware that city maps require quite a bit of detail and therefore cost more. I’m not actually sure how much more, but I can budget up to $1000 for this map (via Paypal or Dwolla). Further, there is the possibility I will need to commission other maps (up to 2-3 more) in the next year or so as this series progresses (one or two of them would be smaller city maps, and one would probably be more like a fantasy realm map that includes this city and 2 others).

The current map is something that one of my novel’s characters draws over a span of years, and it’s supposed to take up an entire wall, but I would like to talk to a knowledgeable person about how to reduce the scale/detail to something that could be viewed comfortably on a computer screen without making the viewer's eyes cross.

It’s a modern city, but a very unusual one (the novel is an urban fantasy, and the city is a purgatory of sorts). It is vast (maybe 500x500 “blocks”--50x50miles-- though I don’t want it to be a square grid), but almost purely residential (no hospitals or utilities, for example). There is a central downtown section with very tall skyscrapers, and I imagine the blocks would be smaller near the center of the city and less "filled in" or developed around the edges.

For the most part, I think it can be mostly streets (without names/labels), but I’d like to have approximately 4-5 major buildings/landmarks drawn in and labeled (in Yiddish; I will have to provide the text), possibly at a slightly larger scale that draws the eye to them. There will be maybe 8-10 other locations that can be labeled very simply but don’t need to be bigger than the other blocks.

I have a (pathetic) MS paint file where I have laid out where the major landmarks are located, but the rest of the city should be a semi-chaotic mass of streets that looks like it has grown from the center outwards. It’s not a planned city, but rather one that has “grown” like an organism and gets bigger as the years go by. The city is walled, with a set of gates at the southern edge, but it might be okay to have the edges of the map be faded or torn in some places so the boundaries are not entirely clear.

The map itself needs to look like it’s hand-drawn, like in ink or pencil, possibly with a few places crossed out or redrawn, possibly some sections more faded or changed than others. It shouldn’t look like a work of art, more like the work of a precise individual who uses the map for practical purposes. It would be neat if the background texture could look like plain parchment or heavy paper, and if the edges are curled or, as described above, faded or torn in some spots. It should look like an enormous map someone’s tacked on the wall.

Time Constraints
The novel comes out in the fall, but this map will only be featured on the website, which I hope will be up sometime in May. It would be fantastic to have this map ready to go by that time. However, this whole novel publication thing has a billion moving parts, so I’m certainly willing to negotiate a timetable with someone who is capable of doing this kind of work.

Copyright
I think, just to be on the safe side, I’d like to have the right to use the image for commercial purposes, the artist will have the right to exhibit the image as part of his/her portfolio but not to exploit it for commercial gain.

I've lurked on this site for awhile, and it's obvious to me there are many very knowledgeable individuals here, so if anyone also wants to advise me regarding the reasonableness of this project, that would be welcomed, as I'm not completely sure this is the kind of map folks here do. I'm open to hearing advice or suggestions or clarifying questions!

If anyone is interested, I can be contacted at sarah (dot) e (dot) fine (at) gmail.com. I'd like to see finished samples of work or a portfolio and to discuss the timetable and other details of the project, including the budget/rates. I am happy to pay part of the commission up front.

[Lukc]

This looks fascinating and I may have something to show ... expect an ee-mail. It's like an e-mail, only higher pitched.

[ravells]

Can we mark this as taken? I think it would be impossible for anyone to resist Lukc's cartographical charms!

[Lukc]

I haven't got feedback yet, but it seems it will be either me or one other city-mapper