Calling all mapmakers

May 12, 2008 2:25 PM

Resources on amateur cartography? Help me make some maps.

I have been fairly interested in maps my whole life, and over the next few months i will be taking a series of trips that i would like to document with some hand-drawn maps. I am an avid journaler, and would like to incorporate some (hopefully well-done) maps. I have a pretty basic drawing background, and am comfortable sketching up things....but i have no idea how to go about gauging how to sort of draw a map from scratch.

Does anyone have any good websites, books or even practical advice while drawing basic maps?

Is there a cartographer in the house?!

posted by furnace.heart to media & arts (6 comments total)

Check out this episode of This American Life, including maps made by Denis Wood.
posted by mattbucher at 2:56 PM on May 12, 2008 [2 favorites]

Ooops, that third link should be this Amazon page for Denis Wood.
posted by mattbucher at 2:57 PM on May 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

How realistic versus artistic are you wanting to get? What I mean is are you looking to incorporate stuff like GPS data, just artistically render the experience, both? I make maps for a living (GIS/computer generated) but when I travel I always make a little hand-drawn sketch showing the days travels. These are certainly not works of art but they do clarify where I've been and what I did. If that's what you're are looking to do, I dont think you need any special training other than perhaps some basic orienteering and a knowledge of how, for example, topographic maps are read. Books on those subjects you can find at any bookstore. Good compasses can be found at decent sporting goods stores (like REI for example) or at mining/geological/surveying supply stores.

If you want to try and create really well done and 'to-scale' maps, well then you'll need some kind of measuring and cartographic devices not limited to; a decent compass, graph paper, ruler, GPS unit, a knowledge of coordinate and map systems, a computer, mapping software... well anyway it gets more complicated. If you want to go that direction, start familiarizing yourself with a hand-held GPS unit (Garmin has many varieties) and the requisite software and go from there. There are innumerable books and online resources to help you get started. A simple Google search will give you more info than you can process.

I would add finally that any cartographic endeavor begins from a really basic start: set or find a point (we call it the datum point) and from that all measurements are taken and you just expand out from there. It can be the beginning of a trailhead, the bus depot, the airport, doesnt matter. Then you just fill start filling in the data that allows you to flesh out the map. Whether these are as specific as GPS points or just perceptual like 'here I crossed a river' or 'here I flew over St. Louis'. Then the map starts to grow and its limits are only your dedication, your desire for accuracy or artistry, and your destination.

Happy travelling.
posted by elendil71 at 4:00 PM on May 12, 2008 [2 favorites]

The map project has an interesting collection of handdrawn maps. via mefite mcwetboy's excellent blog, the map room. Poke around there and I'm sure you'll find some other fascinating stuff.
posted by desjardins at 5:20 PM on May 12, 2008

You may (or may not) be interested in You Are Here. This is firmly on the "artistically rendering the experience" side of things, but might be good inspiration material.
posted by DarkForest at 6:45 PM on May 12, 2008

There is also this previous question.
posted by -harlequin- at 11:08 AM on May 13, 2008