I loved the new adventure at every roll of the dice. I drew detailed dungeon and terrain maps complete with booby traps and evil characters lurking in the shadows. The only fantasy maps I ever made were deep in the bowels of my parent’s basement in a secret, behind-the-curtains Dungeons & Dragons room when I was thirteen or so.
He then announced he was moving into a new writing genre: fantasy. We soon exchanged books and started talking the trade of publishing. Kent Holloway, a publisher and author of mystery and horror novels. It wasn’t until I authored a set of mystery novels (with maps) that I started connecting with other authors on social media. But one genre of mapping that has always eluded my portfolio was the fantasy map. From college campus maps to tourism maps to road maps and even an estate map for a legendary heavy-metal guitarist I’ve told many visual stories. A well-designed map allows a person to be pulled into the picture like a magnet, navigating the landscape for the first time.Īs a prolific map illustrator, I’ve created both 2D flat maps and 3D birds-eye-view pictorial maps for many clients.
It’s why we always say the book was better than the movie. For authors, though, it acts as a tool to propel readers along in their own journey within a storyline.
We all know a map’s primary function is quite simply to keep you from getting lost. Book authors and publishers know the power of this personal experience by adding a map to complement a story or even making it a key element of the plot itself. A well-designed map allows a person to be pulled into the picture like a magnet, navigating the landscape for the first time. It’s about capturing that unique moment in time which makes a location worthy of visitation and exploration. Kent Holloway and I collaborated in the crafting of the Thana Pel fantasy map used in The Legend of Winterking.įiltering out noise in the world and telling a visually relevant story is the essence of mapmaking. It was an author’s first fantasy novel and my first fantasy map as a professional illustrator.
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