Fantasy Continent Map Commission (GameLit World)

[Benjamin Medrano]

Project:
I'm an indie publisher, and this is the first map I've commissioned, but to help prove I'm serious about the budget you can find many of the art pieces I've commissioned Here. While I've used campaign cartographer before, I'm not very good with it, and would rather get a good continent map for future books from someone who knows what they're doing. (i.e. Not Me) Part of this is just so I don't have to make up everything when I expand beyond the current edges of the map.

Setting:
A Fantasy GameLit series named the Beesong Chronicles. If you're unfamiliar with the term, it's a universe where the laws are based around game mechanics, with characters fully aware of them. This is a fairly classic western fantasy setting on the whole, except that different regions can vary significantly from surrounding areas (such as a massive forest of tree-sized flowers and other plants existing alongside a normal forest and some plains, as an example). You can see some of that terrain in this art I commissioned for the series: https://www.deviantart.com/dominaart...Song-823740925

Design Concept:
A stylized color continent map, preferably with occasional isometric pictures to get the general theme across (An example I found on the forum of a similar style: https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=48973). I have a handful of areas depicted in the book or mentioned, which I will discribe in text (I have travel time between locations, but not distances). The continent would be approximately the size of North America in scale, with a large archipelago to the south with several significant landmasses.

The continent is split between two factions composed of dozens of smaller kingdoms and the like (this doesn't need to be fully depicted), known as the Kingdoms of Light to the west and the Kingdoms of Darkness to the east, with the latter having more territory overall. More 'wild' areas are in the eastern regions. A good of forests (or jungle-like areas) is a plus, as those are where the main character's species live.

Honestly, as long as the small area I detail is approximately right and the map has lots of places where adventures could happen, I'm willing to let the cartographer have essentially free rein on the details. A black and white version for use in the books would be nice, but isn't necessary.

Detailed Area:
The area is part of the Duchy of Dorma, the southern duchy of three that compose a kingdom named Astonia. The central area of the duchy is plains, turning into rocky hills directly to the north, then to mountains that extend east to west (the rest of the kingdom is north-west of the duchy). The north-east is rocky, with plenty of canyons to hinder travel, and a near-plateau that has a large magical forest of illusions called the Shimmerwood. The western and eastern sections of the duchy are heavily forested. The south section of the duchy is mostly mountains, with a large swamp on the north-east side of it that hinders travel to the south-east. In the south-west of the duchy is a large area known as the Flower Forest that's about a day across by foot. Just south of the Flower Forest is a town where the series started. This is an area of giant plants, insects, and so forth. To the south-east of the duchy is a large jungle that isn't claimed, people going south thread the area between the mountains and jungle.

West of the duchy is an area of plains/badlands that are infested with goblins (one of the biggest dangerous areas in the western continent). East of the duchy are the Kingdoms of Darkness, with a large river being the primary border. North is the rest of the kingdom, then an elven confederacy north of that. South is first the plains-like midlands (lots of farmland that has been conquered by either side, call them about 350 miles across north to south), then a 'mountain range' made up of the trunks of immense trees that left an entire area approximately two days across essentially composed of wood. Most of the trees are dead, but not all.

Now, the measurements I have all avoid dangerous areas (aside from the bits about the midlands). These are from Irador (a city at the center of the duchy) and traveling by foot: 7 days to the Flower Forest, 4 days to the edge of the south-west jungle (northern side), and about 3 days to the Shimmerwood.

As I said, as long as it's vaguely right on the map, I'm not going to stress on the details.

Quality & Size:
This is my first map commission, so I'm not certain what is ideal. I'd like something that would look good when viewed on the web at about half-resolution, preferably PNG file type.

Copyright:
Just copying this from the map readme because it makes the most sense to me. If you want to negotiate specifics, I'm willing to listen.

I will have the right to use the image for commercial purposes, the artist will have the right to exhibit the image as part of his portfolio but not to exploit it for commercial gain.

Deadline:
Very flexible. I expect to return to the series toward the end of 2021 at the earliest, so I have time. That said, sooner is better.

Payment:
I'm budgeting $800 USD for the map, and primarily use PayPal for transactions. I'm willing to pay 50% on approval of the sketch, and 50% on delivery of the final file(s).

Contact:
Benjamin Medrano
BenjaminPMedrano(at)gmail(dot)com
Suggested Subject Line: Beesong Chronicles Map

[Kellerica]

Hi again,

I hope you've considered this already, but just in case you haven't - if you like the map by Djekspek, it might be worth contacting him directly on his website. I'm fairly sure he does commission work!

I know you already said you don't think my style fits the project, so I won't bother sending my portfolio to you again, but if you change your mind you know where to find me

[Benjamin Medrano]

True! I should've thought of that, but was a bit frazzled and didn't think about it. Still, I'm going to go over everyone whose emailed me so far to figure out if anyone fits well before even considering that. I'd feel like I was bait-and-switching if I just reached out to him.

Thank you for the suggestion!

[Tiana]

I'd feel like I was bait-and-switching if I just reached out to him.

Thank you for the suggestion!

Not really. He may not even be available in your timeframe, and is exactly the style you want! Whenever someone shows up with a guild artist's work as an example of what they like, we tend to recommend you contact them first.

That said, apart from myself, I do have another recommendation. I recommend Josiah of Blackhawk Cartography for the style you want. https://www.blackhawkcartography.com/ Style's right on the nose.

[Benjamin Medrano]

Not really. He may not even be available in your timeframe, and is exactly the style you want! Whenever someone shows up with a guild artist's work as an example of what they like, we tend to recommend you contact them first.

That said, apart from myself, I do have another recommendation. I recommend Josiah of Blackhawk Cartography for the style you want. https://www.blackhawkcartography.com/ Style's right on the nose.

I think I misstated, slightly. I feel like I'd be bait-and-switching the people who've reached out to me already if I just reached out to someone else. It's one of the quirks about my personality, where once I put up a commission submission, unless I don't find anyone who fits my requirements, I don't look outside the list of people who applied. But your point about contacting the guild artist in question is well-taken. As I said in my request, this is my first map request, and the first one on this forum, so I definitely have a lot to learn.

Also, Josiah is definitely the style I was looking for! I'm fortunate that I have had several cartographers reach out to me already in appropriate styles.

...Might I add that I had no idea how much I should be looking at for maps? The only time I looked at it before, I contacted Thomas Rey, and I was ignorant enough that when he asked for size, I said an A2, which is huge. The price for something like that was out of my reach at the time, so... yeah. I'm blundering along, figuring things out.

[Benjamin Medrano]

I've chosen someone to produce my map, so thank you everyone who expressed interest! I'm likely to be commission a few more maps as I have time to focus on it (a few too many commissions going on concurrently, I'm afraid), but that's for later. Thank you all for the advice!