Map Making

This page collates all my past posts regarding map making. Obviously cartography is one of my passions, so I try and share my knowledge as much as possible. I can explicitly remember the moment I first saw a hand drawn map – my brother had to draw one to go with a story he was writing in English. He taught me how to do it, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I even won a small prize in one of my own classes later on for best map in the class. Thanks Broo 😛

Up until I started publishing, all my maps were hand drawn. It has only been the last 2 years that I started dabbling in digital methods including Inkarnate and Wonderdraft. Both of these programs are great! For me, though, I’ve started using Procreate on my iPad to take my maps to the next level.

Video directory

• Maikaden map videos converting hand drawn to Procreate on iPad
  • Part 1: Importing trace image
  • Part 2: Borders and coastline
  • Part 3: Finish borders and fill in forest chunk
  • Part 4: Mountains and shading

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Click on the thumbnail to view the post. This section is a tad messy at the moment, but will be tidied up soon. I reiterate: this is a work in progress.

Maikaden Map Vids

Part One
In this video I am taking my hand drawn rough map and re-drawing it in Procreate. I have to make an individual map per kingdom on the continent. To do this, I import a photo of the rough map and trace over the coastlines / borders to ensure consistency, then redraw the map elements.
In part one, I start with rivers, borders, and a section that overlaps with the previous map.

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Part Two
In this part two, I complete the borders, coastline, and touch up the rivers and forest from part one.

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Part Three
In this part three, I complete the border gaps and the missing chunk of forest.

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Part Four
In part four, I work on the mountain ranges and talk about shading and layers. This is a useful video for seeing how to shade mountains.

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Last updated 24/8/2021