How to draw a fantasy map

Mountains are perhaps the most important natural feature you can draw on a map. They impact weather patterns, where rivers flow, and ultimately where cities and nations arise. In this tutorial, I will walk through one of my favorite methods to draw mountains on your fantasy maps for your rpg, or boo

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. Adding a volcano to your maps can open up many storytelling possibilities, but how do you go about drawing one?

There is probably nothing more iconic in cartography than the compass rose. In this tutorial you'll learn everything you need to draw a simple compass on your fantasy maps, and hopefully it will inspire and give you confidence to take it a step further.

I’ve realised I have a particular workflow for drawing coastlines in my maps. Here’s a quick walkthrough. Each step is done on a new layer in photoshop, and I use a 5px hard round brush in each case with size set to pressure. However, all of these steps can be done in Gimp – or … Continue reading "How to Draw Coastlines on a Fantasy Map"

Canyons are a striking feature of any landscape and can really be a focal point in the story you're telling. In this tutorial, you will learn how to draw canyons that bring a sense of depth to the landscape and make your fantasy map really stand out.

There are many ways you can draw mountains on a fantasy map, but this method will walk you through how to use a traditional stippling technique which brings a bit of a Victorian aesthetic to your modern fantasy cartography.

One of the first things you'll need to do when writing a fantasy novel is make a map of your world. Here are some tips for how to start drawing a map (even if you're not an artist), how your map influences your story, and how to make your map realistic and pretty!

If you enjoy finding inspiration for your stories from real-world locations, then look no further than the stone pillars of Wulingyuan, China. 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