THE LEARNING ARCHIVES
Whether you're creating maps for a novel, rpg, or just for fun, this collection of tutorials and map tips will help you create more professional and believable maps for your story!
How to Draw Kragspire Mountains
These sinister rock formations will loom ominously over your map, their impassable cliffs and sharp, jagged peaks casting long shadows across your world. Mountains are not just obstacles; they are characters in your tale, whispering of dangers unknown.
How to Draw Old-Growth Forests
Do you want to learn how to draw a dense, old growth forest on your fantasy map? From Fangorn in Middle Earth, or The Old Forest in Harry Potter, some of the most iconic locations are hidden beneath the trees.
How to Draw a Chasm
There are so many storytelling possibilities for your RPG adventure by including something like a mysterious chasm. Is it a natural feature? Was it created by someone in the ancient past with the power to make fissures in the rock itself? Is it the entrance to a portal or an underground city? The question is…how do you draw a chasm?
How to Draw a Cave Entrance
If you want to create interesting maps for your RPG adventure, including points of interest to encourage exploration is key. Discovering a cave entrance in the face of a cliff lends to a number of storytelling possibilities and encounters. But, how exactly do you draw something like that, especially if you’re using a top-down perspective? It’s certainly a challenge, but I want to walk you through the process and share some tricks so you can draw a cave like this on your next map. Let’s start mapping!
How to Draw a Banner
Learning how to draw banners is an essential part of creating an immersive fantasy map. You can use them to share the name of the region you’re mapping, or for individual cities, locations, or territories.
However, learning to draw banners can feel overwhelming if you’re not confident in your artistic skills. In this tutorial I want to walk you through how to draw a relatively simple banner anyone can draw, that still looks interesting and professional.
How to Draw a Dungeon Toilet
What do you do when you’re raiding an orc-infested dungeon and nature calls? Well, if the wizard who designed the dungeon wants to create a sanitary work environment, then hopefully he installed some toilets. If you want to be prepared, then in this tutorial I’ll walk you through every step to making a throne worthy of any goblin king.
How to Draw A Lighthouse Icon
Is there a dangerous stretch of coastline on your fantasy map, where ships must sail carefully lest they get caught upon the hidden stones below? Then adding a lighthouse may be the thing you need to warn weary travelers to keep their distance. In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through the steps so you can easily draw a lighthouse icon just like this on your map.
What Scale Should You Draw Trees & Forests?
Have you ever been tripped up by what size to draw the trees on your fantasy maps? Most of us have a desire for our maps to feel realistic, but sometimes this can be more of a hindrance than a help. In this Map Tip, I want to give you a little insight into what scale most map makers draw their trees, what is realistic, and then how much artistic license you have when drawing your maps.
Meandering Rivers - Why Rivers Curve in Flat Terrain?
Have you ever wondered whyy rivers meander all over the place on flat terrain? It makes sense for the terrain in the mountains to be diverting the river, but why does it do the same thing on a flat landscape?
How to Draw An Isometric Fortress
If you want an easy way to draw three-dimensional buildings and structures on your fantasy map, then using an isometric perspective is the method for you! The reason this technique is so achievable is that it really comes down to following a grid. As long as you do that, then you can draw all kinds of things like buildings, towers, or something as complex as a city.
Mastering Value for Pencil Shading
When it comes to art I feel like shading is one of those magical things. There’s just something about transforming a drawing on a flat piece of paper, to something that feels like it’s popping off the page. Just about every aspiring artist and cartographer I know wants to learn how to shade, but it also feels like one of the most intimidating things to learn. While there is certainly room for complexity, I think you can easily achieve more than satisfactory results with just some basic principles. Those simple principles are what I hope to equip you with today, so you can master value and can adding shading to your fantasy maps with ease.
How to Draw Stone Pillars
If you enjoy finding inspiration for your stories from real-world locations, then look no further than the stone pillars of Wulingyuan, China. These impressive monoliths are one of the most iconic locations in the world; with their unusual shape, covered with trees that somehow manage to grow hundreds of feet in the air like a natural hanging garden. In fact, the movie Avatar pulled inspiration from this location when creating the world of Pandora! But the real question is, how do you draw something like that on your fantasy map? In this tutorial, I’ll break down the process so you can add these iconic features to the world you’re crafting.
A Beginner Guide to Simple Shading on Your Fantasy Maps
Adding shading to your fantasy map brings a whole new level of depth and texture that can help your readers or players visualize the landscape you've created. But if you don’t consider yourself an “artist”, then the idea of shading might feel very overwhelming. Between what colors to use, light direction, and form, it can be difficult to know where to begin.
How to Draw Dungeon Walls - Rough Stone
There are so many ways to draw walls for a dungeon map, but if you want something that looks like it’s hand-made from uncut stone then this is the technique for you. This is great if you’re creating a map of a tomb or a cultic site for your next rpg campaign; anywhere you want a setting that feels ancient and lost to time. In this tutorial, I’ll break down the process so you can draw rough stone walls on your next dungeon map. Let’s get mapping!
How to Draw a Snowy River
How do you draw something like snow on your fantasy map? Fortunately, it is pretty simple if you know how to draw your line art and build your color palette. In this tutorial, you'll learn some simple steps to transform a typical river into a winter setting for your next story. This is a great way to level up your maps whether it's for an rpg like Pathfinder or your next novel. So let’s start mapping!
7 Ways to Create Depth on Your Fantasy Maps
Do all the features on your fantasy map look a bit…flat? If you want to quickly step up the quality of your maps for the book you’re writing, or your next rpg campaign, then learning how to add some depth to can go a long way.
Population Size for a Village, Town, or City - What’s Believable?
What is a realistic population size for a medieval or ancient fantasy setting? Should a city have a couple of million people? How about 500,000 or 20,000? Let’s delve in and give you some simple guidelines as well as a cheat sheet you can easily reference as you are writing your story and drawing your map!
How to Draw a Mountain Lake
It’s one thing to draw a lake in a nice open region, but how can you realistically draw it tucked into the mountains? In this map tip, we’ll look into how a lake forms, and then help you to learn how to draw one on your fantasy maps!
How to Draw a Volcanic Eruption
It’s one thing to draw a dormant volcano, but how about one that’s erupting? In the previous tutorial, we walked through How to Draw a Volcano on Your Fantasy Maps, but now let’s make it a bit more dynamic so it can be a real focal point for your worldbuilding.
How to Draw a Volcano
Volcanoes are one of the most dramatic features you could include on your fantasy maps, not only for their destructive power but also for their unique beauty. It’s not surprising many historical cultures viewed them as a place to commune or appease their deity. Adding a volcano to your maps can open up many storytelling possibilities, but how do you go about drawing one? In this tutorial, I will break down my process so you can start mapping!