Hand drawn maps

[jshoer]

Ok. I am calm. I'm breathing deeply.



Ctrl + Z and Undo command not working.


And now, seriously. How do you deal with these situations? I always want to yell and curse.

If you wanted to make a map like a person living in the world who actually drew and refers to that map in their adventures...maybe somebody accidentally spilled ink on a well-used map!

[Impractical Cartographer]

If you wanted to make a map like a person living in the world who actually drew and refers to that map in their adventures...maybe somebody accidentally spilled ink on a well-used map!

Or leave it unfinished, with a mysterious bloodstain and let the players complete this map themselves in the epic quest

### Latest WIP ###


There may be faster and more efficient ways to draw maps. But none gives me as much satisfaction as an old-fashioned nib and a bottle of ink.
And what is your motivation for drawing? Relax, regular work or something else?

[Edward Maps]

Ok. I am calm. I'm breathing deeply.



Ctrl + Z and Undo command not working.


And now, seriously. How do you deal with these situations? I always want to yell and curse.

Dude Haha run with it! More “blood spatters” makes me think “wow, this map has a story”!

[MistyBeee]

Arghf...
Usually leaving the room and go out for a walk : fresh air helps. Once back in the office, ideally the day after, trying to fake it never happened and I have to start the map/drawing for the first time
Good luck ! ^^

[Tiana]

Glue and a paper patch? That's why I work digitally, though... undo! undo!

[Arimel]

Ouch! One of the problems of working on paper. Despite its delights the pain can be overwhelming. I have had a pen burst on me before (never draw in an airplane with a fineliner is the lesson I learned).

Going back to one of your questions on the first page, you were looking for people giving tutorials etc. on traditional mapping or hand drawing. You probably have heard of WASD20 or Questing Beast on Youtube but in case you have not they have several series on how to draw maps and is how I got interested in this hobby. I think you may be beyond their abilities though. Your maps are amazing!

[Falconius]

Burn it! Burn it with fire!

What I've done before is cut out that section of paper (I make sure to keep things square because it makes things much easier) and replace it with the matching paper being sure to match the grain direction (if the paper has one). To do this I laid the paper face down on a work section with the hole cut out of it and put the new patch in the area then glue on backing strips over the seams and let dry. You should end up with an even surface and then you just have to redo the work.

Alternatively you could find some way to incorporate it into your map. That mistake has some aesthetic appeal.

[JoshStolarz]

You know I think your work is amazing, and I think you have a distinct style which is awesome. I can always identify your maps when they pop up on my Instagram. As to your question I honestly spent a lot of time tracing the work of others that I really admired in order to figure out how they were drawing certain elements. Most of the time there aren't tutorials for exactly what I'm looking for so I usually just have to figure it out. Copying for the purpose of learning is one of the most valuable things you can do in my opinion.

[rdanhenry]

Surely, those are the fabled Stained Lands, where the gods themselves did battle and shed their blood!

[Impractical Cartographer]

Referring to the red ink spill incident.
I went for a walk, took a day off and...



I changed my pens for a nibs Besides, I got offended by the red ink, so I decided not to use it for now.

And the most difficult thing in hand-draw seems to me to be the right choice of the materials. Sometimes the ink does not soak into the paper and smears all over the sheet. I'm replacing the paper and I'm changing the ink. Then sometimes the eraser erases the ink. So I'm changing the erazer (or ink).
Then, when everything goes well, alcoholic markers melt the ink. And so on.

I already have a whole list of things that shouldn't be combined when drawing.