Hello Everybody!

I'm new to cartography and new to this forum. That makes me a Newbie-Newbie and gets you TWICE the newbie goodness in just one simple noob!

I'm a tabletop gamer and have always had a great love of game world maps. So when I started working on my own material recently, I just couldn't wait to start mapping everything I was writing about. Imagine my surprise at the discovery of how demanding making your own maps can be!

After going it alone for a while using various basic, usually free and online, software, I was starting to get frustrated. Thankfully, I ran into this GEM of a website and have been sorting through the amazing quantity of quality tutorials for several days. I figured if I was going to be lurking your forums so avidly, I should at least have the decency to JOIN.

I have a VERY basic understanding of GIMP, but figure that it is my best bet for getting started on this cartography thing without having to buy anything. That being said, if you have any other suggestions on where to start, or want to point me towards the best GIMP tutorial for a Newbie-Newbie like myself, please do so with my thanks.

I'm aware of the Quickstart Guide to Fantasy Mapping and Hand-Drawn Mapping (for the Artistically Challenged) as they've been mentioned in other introduction threads. I also have seen some of RobA's tutorials (which look AWESOME) but I'm afraid it will be above my current GIMP proficiency, as RobA warns about that.

Alright, time to go to work! Thanks for reading!