cartography
Pocket protector required beyond this point.
I made these maps as part of a side-hustle that may still happen someday.
On the left is a dwarven forge – they’re using water power to turn gears that pump bellows for their forges. They’re also pre-heating metal in a huge bucket in the upper portion of this map. (To see a GIF of what happens when that goes awry, click here.)
I reimagined this map with other themes in the top section of this image – the left was taken over by spiders, and is lit by glowing purple crystals. The middle has been flooded with water, and the far right has been taken over by various glowing fungi.
Lower right and left is an upcoming map of a bazaar – open day (left) and night (right.)
illustration
A behind-the-scenes look at how I quickly created illustrations for a friend’s book of traps. As he described the reverse-gravity chest, I sketched a stick figure with the general idea – but iterated into the final piece with the help of a phone camera and posable model.
Lower left shows the process of creating a backpack – to the lower right, a final drawing of a snake pit.
more
I’ve been having a lot of fun making tools while I’ve been making art. The tower on the left is created mostly with a brush that lays bricks as fast as you can drag a stylus… The same principle applies to the rope, and the boardwalk.
The top right is meant to be a more simple map-making tool – similar to old school graph-paper “dungeon” maps. Except that I’m messing with layers and brushes here to make a single stroke create a hallway, while also darkening the passageway and grid vs the standard page color, adding a shadow, and a rough texture around the outside. (See a brief video here.)
The lower section of this image is truly just for fun. I have a character named Elder that is a “plasmoid” which is essentially an ooze. Nobody makes a great”ooze” mini… so I made one myself. An initial test of G.E. Silicone Seal and the surface of the mini looked promising, so… I went for it: purchased a normal humanoid mini, cut off the head and legs; and used Dremel tool to core out the insides. Primed it turquoise blue so that when I scraped back some green paint, the turquoise would remain. (Which is why the robe lining looks detailed and intricate.) Finally, added the aforementioned goop and a 4mm eyeball I purchased from Etsy. Very happy with the results!