Hello.

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Every artist has a first sketch and every map has a first draft. The image above will be my first attempt for this site. We all like to think that art should be self explanatory, but for the sake of information I will comment a little.

What I wanted to do with this image is make a thing that looked as if it was made by an amateur. As with many map projects this one has a story behind it. The maker of the map is an illiterate cartographer. Illiterate. As time went by prominent immigrants were allowed to add their touches to the document.

The decision that I reached was to post this map in the discussion thread for a work-in-progress status. The reason why is that there is perhaps one more thing that I might like to add, but I feel that adding an Inkscape element would break the mood of rough and hand-drawn.

What tools did I use? A quintessential number two pencil, a scanner, and G.I.M.P. The amount of time that I spent was too long, ringing in at about five or six hours.

What did I learn? I learned that as much as I like gold legal pads and graph paper they are not the best mediums to impress with the sketches of the hand. I should have used tracing paper or computer paper with a projector's lamp under it. I spent more time using G.I.M.P. for digital washing techniques than I did drafting or assembling the image. Those with keen eyes should be able to note in the above image the point at which I became mentally fatigued with digital editing and began to rush.

I should not rush. At this moment I view the map as sufficiently complete. I may at some point later add that final notation.

Thank you for stopping by.