Collaborating for Extincta: City and Worldmaps by Karl V. and Thomas R.

[tainotim]

Hello everyone,

Earlier this autumn me and Thomas R. collaborated to create some maps for Victor Dixens new novel Extincta. I was charged with the city maps and Thomas created the world maps and the parchment textures. It was a great project, especially when it came to working on the same book as a fellow cartographer, and the maps came out great in print (see Thomas maps below!).

What do people here feel about collaborating with another artist? Have you found it functional/rewarding, or the opposite? For me in this case, since city maps is my speciality, I found the process great because it allowed me to focus on what I love most in mapping, while still being able to discuss things with Thomas. It made the process less “isolated” than it sometimes becomes when working on projects as a solo freelance artist.

[ThomasR]

Karl said it all It was pretty fun and challenging to work on a real world location (Svalbard drastically transformed by climate change) and to draw such a barren landscape. Victor had a clear view of what he wanted and was both thorough and challenging which helped produce better maps in my opinion. Having the opportunity to draw double page maps was a great bonus. On a side note, I was asked to draw torn parchment borders for Karl's maps and that was pretty intimidating and a bit disturbing to kind of "trash" such a beautiful work. What was challenging was also the deadline but pression makes for great maps so ... Karl was lovely and reassured me in the process. Working with such a talented and kind artist was both a pleasure and an honor. It's the second time (my first was with Daniël Hasenbos) I'm allowed to work alongside another artist and it's always a pleasure.

I had a lot of fun with the compass as you can imagine (especially the one with the skull) and was pushed out of my comfort zone with the icons on the Désolation map which is a good thing. I was also asked to do a version of both my maps with a parchment background for promotional purpose and I decided to go for a slightly different color than my usual to match the scorched earth theme, hope it worked.

Enough talk, here come the two maps with both versions :

- B&W

---------

- colored

---------

All four maps are © Thomas REY - 2019 - All rights reserved

If you fancy it, here's the author's website. The book is in French but some of his earlier works have already been translated in English and other languages.

I hope I'll encounter many other projects where I have to work with other artists and everything will go as smoothly as it did with Karl. Cheers mate !

Hope you enjoy the maps, folks

[Wingshaw]

Congratulations to both of you for this fantastic project! I think your styles complement each other very nicely here

What do people here feel about collaborating with another artist? Have you found it functional/rewarding, or the opposite? For me in this case, since city maps is my speciality, I found the process great because it allowed me to focus on what I love most in mapping, while still being able to discuss things with Thomas. It made the process less “isolated” than it sometimes becomes when working on projects as a solo freelance artist.

I haven't tried a collaboration before, but I really like the idea of it, and - clearly - the products can be marvellous. Hopefully I'll get a chance one day...

Also: Karl, is that some digital mapping I see from you? This is new, isn't it?

Wingshaw

[Larb]

Really nice, especially the city map.

[Arimel]

3 Fantastic maps (or 5)! Sounds like a fun project and all the pieces are wonderful and fit together well.

[arsheesh]

What a fun and well executed collaboration. I agree with Wingshaw, the artistic styles each of you bring to bear really compliment one another. The buildings in Tainotim's piece look great, the layout and designs of each map are solid, and I really dig those coin illustrations in Thomas's piece. Well done both of you.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[Ilanthar]

Splendid work, guys ! I also agree : you have styles that really works together. The result is complementary and harmonious.
I really like the frame & shading of the city, simple and elegant.
The diversity of icons and depiction of the land is great on the Svalbard maps. I have a preference for the colored version somehow (and the the coins idea is awesome !).

[- JO -]

Nice work, both of you !

It's nice to see that your two styles can "match" so well !
The writer is lucky to have such talents at the service of his story !

[ThomasR]

Congratulations to both of you for this fantastic project! I think your styles complement each other very nicely here

Thanks a lot George

Really nice, especially the city map.

Thanks Ashlynn

3 Fantastic maps (or 5)! Sounds like a fun project and all the pieces are wonderful and fit together well.

Thanks a lot Arimel, glad you think the whole set works well enough together.

What a fun and well executed collaboration. I agree with Wingshaw, the artistic styles each of you bring to bear really compliment one another. The buildings in Tainotim's piece look great, the layout and designs of each map are solid, and I really dig those coin illustrations in Thomas's piece. Well done both of you.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

Thanks a lot Tad The story of the coins is a strange one. The client hesitated between coins and shields. I leaned towards shields but he decided coins were a better route and more consistent with his world. And then, John posted this beauty ... on the same day ! I just hope I came up with a design different enough ...

Splendid work, guys ! I also agree : you have styles that really works together. The result is complementary and harmonious.
I really like the frame & shading of the city, simple and elegant.
The diversity of icons and depiction of the land is great on the Svalbard maps. I have a preference for the colored version somehow (and the the coins idea is awesome !).

Merci beaucoup Julien, I too have a preference for the warm parchment versions.

Nice work, both of you !

It's nice to see that your two styles can "match" so well !
The writer is lucky to have such talents at the service of his story !

Merci Joël I dunno if he's lucky but he seems happy with the view