{"id":5661,"date":"2013-12-11T18:11:18","date_gmt":"2013-12-11T23:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2013\/12\/how-to-make-a-fantasy-map\/"},"modified":"2017-11-04T16:46:40","modified_gmt":"2017-11-04T20:46:40","slug":"how-to-make-a-fantasy-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2013\/12\/how-to-make-a-fantasy-map\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make a Fantasy Map"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Map<\/a><\/p>\n

So today Tor.com posted something<\/a> very much relevant to my interests: a piece by illustrator Isaac Stewart<\/a> that describes his process for creating a map for a fantasy novel<\/a>. In this case, The Emperor’s Blades<\/a><\/em> by Brian Staveley, who very helpfully provided a sketch from which Stewart could work.<\/p>\n

This is utterly fascinating for me, because a significant gap in my research into fantasy maps has been the process<\/em> of creating them. It’s sort of left me feeling like a wine taster that has no idea how wine is made. Stewart (who has also done work for Brandon Sanderson’s novels: his maps<\/a> for The Alloy of Law<\/a><\/em> have already caught my attention) takes us through every step, from inspiration through Photoshop.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year I published an article<\/a> pointing out that the main difference between historical and fantasy maps was information density: a real medieval map is full of detail, because cartographers don’t dare waste vellum; fantasy maps are relatively sparse\u2014largely, I suspected, because only so much detail can legibly fit on a map printed for a mass-market paperback. That was an educated guess on my part; it’s interesting to see it confirmed:<\/p>\n

A map meant to fit in a hardcover book (and subsequently a paperback) can’t be as detailed as a real-world map and still be legible. Even though I treat the map as a product of its fantasy world, it has to be understandable to modern audiences. Usually this means I can’t copy the exact style of my reference, but I can use it for inspiration.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ll be referring to Stewart’s post often, I think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So today Tor.com posted something very much relevant to my interests: a piece by illustrator Isaac Stewart that describes his process for creating a map for a fantasy novel. In this case, The Emperor’s Blades… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[87,31],"class_list":["post-5661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-maps-and-literature","tag-fantasy-map-design","tag-fantasy-maps","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1789040,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/07\/creating-a-fantasy-map-in-photoshop\/","url_meta":{"origin":5661,"position":0},"title":"Creating a Fantasy Map in Photoshop","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"25 July 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"Chris Spooner\u2019s step-by-step tutorial on how to create a fantasy map in Photoshop offers some insights on how to create the look and feel of a digitally generated fantasy map with Photoshop. Because its method of generating land masses is more or less random (it uses the cloud rendering tool\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Imaginary Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Imaginary Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/imaginary-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1785166,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/03\/callum-ogdens-fantasy-map-of-north-america\/","url_meta":{"origin":5661,"position":1},"title":"Callum Ogden’s Fantasy Map of North America","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 March 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"Last year Callum Ogden started making real-world maps in the style of fantasy maps; his most recent is this map of North America, which is very much in the post-Lord of the Rings-movies style of things.\u00a0In this Medium post he talks about the process of making it.","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/callum-ogden-north-america.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/callum-ogden-north-america.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/callum-ogden-north-america.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/callum-ogden-north-america.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/callum-ogden-north-america.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2500,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/08\/elantris-map-posters-available\/","url_meta":{"origin":5661,"position":2},"title":"Elantris Map Posters Available","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"2 August 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"A set of map posters from Brandon Sanderson's\u00a0Elantris is now available at the author's online store. The maps are by fantasy cartographer Isaac Stewart, range in size from 12\u00d718\u2033 to 18\u00d724\u2033 and cost $5 each or $15 for the set of three.","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"elantris-pack","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/elantris-pack.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/elantris-pack.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/elantris-pack.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/elantris-pack.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1396,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/03\/brian-staveley-on-fantasy-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":5661,"position":3},"title":"Brian Staveley on Fantasy Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"31 March 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"To mark the publication of\u00a0The Last Mortal Bond\u00a0(Amazon, iBooks), the final\u00a0volume in his Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne trilogy, Brian Staveley has penned this essay on the value of maps in fantasy fiction. Excerpts: A map is more than a two-dimensional catalogue of locations. First, and most importantly, it is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"stewart-annuran","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/stewart-annuran-1024x783.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/stewart-annuran-1024x783.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/stewart-annuran-1024x783.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/stewart-annuran-1024x783.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1789262,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/09\/dan-bell-the-ordnance-survey-and-fantasy-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":5661,"position":4},"title":"Dan Bell, the Ordnance Survey, and Fantasy Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"10 September 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"Dan Bell, whose \u201cTolkien-inspired\u201d maps of real-world places have been a thing for a while now, makes an appearance on the Ordnance Survey\u2019s blog to demonstrate\u00a0how he uses OS maps in his creative process. Previously: Dan Bell\u2019s \u2018Tolkien-Style\u2019 Maps of the Lake District; Maps Middle-earth Style: By Hand and by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1789658,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/11\/lord-of-maps-more-real-world-fantasy-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":5661,"position":5},"title":"Lord of Maps: More Real-World Fantasy Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 November 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"Here\u2019s another map artist who draws maps of real-world places in the style of fantasy maps: Isaac of Lord of Maps has around 30 maps\u2014mostly of U.S. states, but also a few countries and one city\u2014available for sale as prints of various sizes. Style-wise they\u2019re dead ringers for Christopher Tolkien\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/lord-of-maps-ky-1024x499.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/lord-of-maps-ky-1024x499.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/lord-of-maps-ky-1024x499.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/lord-of-maps-ky-1024x499.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5702,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5661\/revisions\/5702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}