# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Pen and Paper / Traditional Methods >  Neyasha's Cartographic Sketchbook

## Neyasha

As I've written in this thread I had a hard time getting back into mapmaking. I struggle with perfectionism and tend to overthink everything. I'd like to have more fun again and I'm hoping for a little bit more lightheartedness.
So when I saw Adfor's sketchbook I was really inspired to start something similar. Years ago I got a sketchbook as a birthday present, but I never used it - so I already have the perfect book for my little maps. I also want to try different techniques and materials.



Here is my first sketch of a (for now) nameless village. I wanted to try some other colours than coloured pencils and as I don't have watercolours I used gouache. Gouache might be a bit too opaque - I had to be careful not to overlay the ink, but I had a lot of fun while working with it, so mission accomplished, I guess.

----------


## tilt

Looking really good, and nice coloring too  :Smile:  keep sketching  :Smile:

----------


## Adfor

It's splendid! The colors all work very well together.

You certainly work much fast than me, I'm thrilled that you've already tackled a whole village.  :Very Happy: 

IR

----------


## KaiAeon

It looks wonderful. It draws you in.

----------


## ThomasR

It is absolutely lovely ! Way to go Neyasha !

----------


## Arimel

This looks really good to me! I like the way you have represented the farmland.

----------


## Neyasha

Thanks for your comments! I'm glad you like the map.

The next one is a kind of villa rustica in Cumea, the Rome of my fantasy world ("wea" is the word for villa in Cumean). In the right bottom corner you see a hefat field - hefat is a purple plant that is used for oil production.
I think I will redo this map on a larger scale. I already made some notes for adjustments and improvements.

----------


## Simkin

Really good maps Neyasha, those are more than simple sketches to me.

----------


## Neyasha

Thanks a lot, Simkin!
Yes, i have some quick sketches in the book as well and the maps I've shown here took a bit more time, so I guess they are somewhere between sketches and full-fledged maps.

----------


## Neyasha

After a long break here is another sketch: Rikelta is a lake-side village of pile dwellings. I struggled a bit with the colouring as I'm not experienced with watercolours and the paper of my sketchbook is not really suited for watercolour. But I had a lot of fun with this map and like to redo it on a better (and larger) paper. I guess an isometric view would be nice, but I've never done that - so I'm quite intimidated.

----------


## Simkin

Really nice work. I think bigger it will be really amazing.

----------


## Marcolino

All your maps have a nice colour, great maps.

----------

