Pre-Modern Fantasy Cartography

[lucashaley]

Hey everyone --

I just finished a blog post on my thoughts about photorealistic fantasy maps. I'd appreciate any feedback!

Pre-Modern Fantasy Cartography

Thank you --

-Lucas

[Ilanthar]

Nice work Lucas. I like the general feeling of it. You should post directly the picture of the map instead of a link.
My only critic would be that the paper texture make the labels a bit hard to read in some places.

[Freodin]

Well, I for one don't think that the fact that the paper texture makes the lables a bit hard to read is a point that should be critizised. I think it fits the map, and the idea behind it, perfectly. It makes the whole thing "real".

And that is what it's about, isn't it?

We here make maps for our purposes. Ranging from simple maps for fun to style tests to illustrations for games or books to posters. Ranging from stunning pieces of art to simple and crude symbols drawn with a pencil.

But we mostly - by far - do that as modern people with modern views of the world, using our modern tools. This becomes especially obvious when we use some of our most powerful, most modern tools... computers.

This becomes, well, problematic (for some of us ) when people intent to make an "old map"... something that is meant to be part of the depicted world, but shows that it is instead part of our world. That it is just "make-belief". That it is not "real".
Digital maps with a paper texture or a canvas structure... and seamless patterns and bevel effects. Handdrawn maps with digital "handwritten" font labels.

I wouldn't stop anyone from doing that. Just as I wouldn't stop anyone from drawing the rivers on his map as he wants to.

But I think people should be aware of this very concept, this "problem". People might consider it, and it might improve some of their maps in ways they hadn't even thought of.