Sea Monsters - What Scale Should You Draw Them?
Do you want to draw some awesome sea monsters on your fantasy map, but aren’t sure what scale they should be? Should you go with a more realistic scale, or will they be too hard to see? Can you make them larger or will that throw off your whole map? But, is striving for “realism” negatively affecting the impact of your maps? Lets get into it!
Realistic Scale
Here is a quick sample map that shows a sea monster drawn to a more realistic scale. Whether the size is completely accurate is not the point. The main thing we are looking at here is that the Kraken is obviously smaller in scale than most of the nearby mountains.
While there is nothing wrong with this example, the sea monster is a bit hard to see and it doesn’t seem to be having its full impact.
Artistic License for Dramatic Effect
Now lets use a little artistic license and scale the sea beast up. You can see that just by doing this, it has a more dramatic effect.
Compare this example to the size of the mountains now though and you’ll see it’s almost the same size!
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Historical Examples
Interestingly enough, there is a lot of historical precedent for using this technique. In fact, many cartographers in the 1700s-1800s made the sea monsters and ships significantly larger than the mountains on their maps.
BUT…Do You Need to Do it This Way?
You’re the Artist
You can draw the creatures on your map whatever scale you want! The goal here is not to tell you what the “correct” scale is for the sea monsters on your fantasy maps. But to help you realize you have far more creative freedom to tell your story than you may think!
Sometimes the visual impact of something that is technically less realistic can still feel believable because of the story you’re map is telling.
Learn How to Draw a Kraken
If you want to learn how to put pen to paper and draw a sea monster on your fantasy maps, check out this tutorial!
I hope you found this little Map Tip helpful in your journey to map your story. If you want to support Map Effects and help other map makers, be sure to share this with someone who will find it helpful and pin it to save for later!
Happy Mapping!
- Josh
