Inspired by fictitious entry’s posts on maps and geomorphs and some of the maps done by Dyson Logos, I decided to try my hand at doing an RPG map.
Here it is:
There are lots of little mistakes, I should have left more space at the top to do the church more fully and I scaled the “portal” at the bottom much bigger then I intended and… But who cares really. Normally my art projects require several iterations, references pieces, building ideas, etc. I did this in one sitting. Pencil to pen, very little sketching or references. And that was fun. It’s great to be able to do just draw. My kids draw like that. My son will draw a line and I’ll ask him, “what are you drawing?”, “I don’t know yet”. Same with this map, I started with the church and worked down. It’s like a mini-story, dead-end here, secret passage that the cultists use there and so on.
Of course, not that map couldn’t be done up as a proper art project. You just have to look at someone like Fantastic Maps to see how beautiful maps can be.
I then saw this article about recently discovered 1,800 year old tunnels under a temple in Mexico. All I could think was, this would make a great idea for a dungeon map!
I like it, and I would like to see more stuff like this!
I identify with your “draw because it’s fun” statement - it only took me 40 years to learn that lesson.
It reminds me of a pair of Picasso quotes:
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
and
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”
@Patrick Benson You should check out Dyson Logos then and fictitious entry which inspired me to try.
I probably will do more of them. It’s more like doodling than drawing in a way for me.
@shaneknysh It took me a while too. I fell out of love with drawing as a teenager because I was unhappy with the results. It’s only now that I remember it’s the process of drawing that makes it wonderful. My kids remind me every time.
great map and superb mindset!
An excellent map! And Dyson really is one of the most prolific and talented map makers in the blog-o-sphere.
I look forward to more of your maps!