December 2018 Challenge: A Polar Map
"If I say 'December', what pops into your mind?"
Winter and snow, Christmas and my birthday, my grand parents old house and the smell of Christmas cookies. It would be too long (and probably boring too ^^) to explain all the memories, but December is always special to me.
My grandparents had this old globe in their house. Not a precious one, just a school globe I loved a lot : the countries in different colors, the mysterious lines from the poles... I loved to look at it, imagine all the people living on all the countries, thinking about all the mysteries there, and when December came, the mystery, of course : how can the red guy distribute all the presents to all the children in the world in just one night ? Magic is the answer, of course, as we all know once we're adult, but as a kid, with millions of questions in my mind, I loved to imagine his travel all around the world on the old globe of my grandparents' house
And here we are. One more December, and with that old globe which is now in my office came to my mind the idea of this map.
I was not sure if I would be able to find the time, and I'm sorry to show the map without a WIP this time. The fact is I finished it in 3 crazy sessions of work in the middle of the night, ending around 3am, too tired to post or even to remember how to write in English. Maybe it's why the map is in French this time.
This map is not exactly my usual style, 'cause as always, I tend to think challenges are here to explore new techniques and different concepts. In this specific case, I tried to restitute the feeling of old manuscripts and illuminations on real parchment, with the lovely blurr, the unique transparency... this kind of thing. And... experiments on calligraphy, knots, gold effects ('cause after the light effects of Tirasea, gold was my next challenge), parchment effect... random doodles, etc. There's a couple of things I would like to edit or change, but I challenged myself to finish the map in 15 hours and with the 23th as a deadline, and... guys... we're the 23th already (and I have so much to do tomorrow to prepare the house and the Christmas dinner I just want to cry) ^^
So here is a page of the Book of the Gnomes, roughtly 1530, treasured in the North Pole Monument and still in use for every Christmas Eve. If you're a gnome, you know why, uh ?
If you're curious...
... here is the translation of the title : "A Chart showing the Meridians, Gnomic Hours, South-Directions and General Positions, and following the moves and elevations throughout the Christmas Night".
... the map is largely inspired by Jaques Devaulx's 16th century work (one of the pages of his book is used in the background for the "other side of the page" effect, 'cause I was too lazy to draw something myself ^^).
... for start, I tried to use the fun Berghaus Star projection which would have been really perfect for the concept here, but I finally ended with the Peterman Star which worked better for what I had in mind. A star projection was obviously required here.
... the map is full of personal easter eggs related to my December memories : some Tolkien references, some reminder of birthday gifs I got and birthday travels I made, the directions I imagined for my own fantasy world, a reference to a dear friend I lost a couple of weeks ago, my grandparent's globe, the Christmas tree, my grandfather disguised in Santa Claus, the bredele we use to eat, my father's old bell, something from an old children book I loved... and... and... oh, so many other things everywhere.
### Winner ###
Finally, guys, I just have to wish you a Merry Christmas, hoping it will be quiet and bright, full of smiles, joy, magic, and new memories for next year's challenge
Last edited by ChickPea; 01-05-2019 at 10:53 AM. Reason: Added Winner tag
You captured your objective incredibly well here Beee.
It really does have that look. Even the ink/text has that slight offset feel you get with those old parchment pages.
It's a splendid and beautiful piece of work. Love those trees.
It feels very appropriate en Francais ;P C'est une tres bonne carte. Very fun and festive.
Merry Christmas Beee and Oni.
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Wow, for just 15 hours that is fantastic!
Oh Beee, this is absolutely beautiful! I'm in love!!
"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams"
Stunning, the parchment look is incredible! Will you share your manufacturing secret with us?
Merry Christmas to all of you!
Gorgeous! I love that you found time to add the North Pole's candy cane striped pole! (I have been to North Pole, Alaska and can verify that it exists.) The snowy mountains are fabulous. As you may have gathered, I adore mountains.
Merry Christmas and happy birthday!
Très belle carte, très poétique !
Fantastic work, Misty ! Thanks for sharing and, most of all, merry Christmas and happy birthday !
I run after this effect for a while. I actually managed to make it work for black on parchment, but it's harder for color and it's the first time I'm happy with the result. More experiences will be needed to push it further but it will be fun to do ^^Originally Posted by J.Edward
You captured your objective incredibly well here Beee.
It really does have that look. Even the ink/text has that slight offset feel you get with those old parchment pages.
It's a splendid and beautiful piece of work. Love those trees.
It feels very appropriate en Francais ;P C'est une tres bonne carte. Very fun and festive.
Merry Christmas Beee and Oni.
Hehe, I thought about you when drawing the trees, telling to myself they would be your style ^^
Thanks for the kind words, J. ! Oni and I hope you had a lovely Christmas
Thanks Tonquani ! December rush, and Christmas miracle were both involved here !
I'm so glad you love it, ChickPea !!Oh Beee, this is absolutely beautiful! I'm in love!!
Thanks Tenia ! Hope you had a fantastic Christmas too !Stunning, the parchment look is incredible! Will you share your manufacturing secret with us?
Merry Christmas to all of you!
For the secret, not yet, because I need to polish the method : it's currently a real mess with layers, and I'm pretty sure I can do it faster, easier and in a more logical way ^^
Hehe, thanks a lot, Jen !! I loved to draw the Pole Monument and the mountains, so I'm glad you love them too ! ^^Gorgeous! I love that you found time to add the North Pole's candy cane striped pole! (I have been to North Pole, Alaska and can verify that it exists.) The snowy mountains are fabulous. As you may have gathered, I adore mountains.
Merry Christmas and happy birthday!
Merci Jo !! J'espère que tu as passé un très bon Noël aussi !
I feel a First-WIP-win coming here
Incredibly well made, it manages to capture both the atmosphere of an illuminated manuscript and a christmas themed work, which didn't seem possible to me before
In fact, all i have to say about this is "POLE!"
...and unfortunately i can't rep this, otherwise it would have already happened.
Amazing map as always, I love where you have gone with this one! Unique but very fitting for the season.
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