# Community Participation > Mapping Challenge Archive >  April / May 2015 Lite Challenge:  Never Never Land

## Chick

I decided to try something I've wanted to do since I was a kid and watched the original broadcast of the Broadway musical "Peter Pan" starring Mary Martin as Peter -- map Never Never Land.

Much of this map will be based on the original books by J. M. Barrie, _The Little White Bird_, _Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens_, and _Peter Pan and Wendy_.  I have also added a few features from the Disney movie "Peter Pan", including Skull Island and Pixie Hollow, which did not exist in Barrie's works.  Some other things, such as Crocodile Creek, were implied in Barrie's works but made explicit by Disney.

I chose a style that hopefully will appeal to the children in all of us who never want to grow up!

### Latest WIP ###


Comments and suggestions always welcome!

Cheers,
Cornelia

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## industrygothica

Beautiful idea, and a great start to the map. Nothing really to say about it yet except it's looking good. I'm excited to see where you take it.


-IG

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## Meshon

Yep. I voted for this one. Wait, what? 

This is going to be epic! What an amazing start, and a really appealing topic. You should probably contact whoever owns the rights to Peter Pan because I think this might be an integral part of the next iteration of the story. As in, they are going to NEED your map. I won't buy the book if they don't use your map.

The colours are perfect.

cheers,
Meshon

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## ChickPea

Great start, and I definitely count myself amongst the adults who never really want to grow up!

I love this whole idea. I had half thought of suggesting something very similar as an idea for a future challenge. Basically, my idea was to take a fantasy map from a favourite book and rework it in some way (e.g. expand an area of the map, colour a B & W map, recreate an atlas style from a line art map etc.) I didn't actually go so far as suggesting it though, since 1) I wasn't sure if something similar had been done already, and 2) wasn't sure if there might be copyright issues, even though it's really just fan art. So, in light of that, I'm really happy to see someone take this idea and go with it. Although, I should ask ... is there an existing map of any kind from the Peter Pan books out there, or is this all your own thing, Chick? I have no clue!

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## Abu Lafia

Yes, this beautiful map totally appeals! I can only agree with the others, that its a great start. The border looks really wonderful but in my view the colours are a bit too similar to the ones on the landmass. I'll surely follow this WIP. Keep up the good work!

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## Chick

> Great start, and I definitely count myself amongst the adults who never really want to grow up!
> 
> I love this whole idea. ..... is there an existing map of any kind from the Peter Pan books out there, or is this all your own thing, Chick? I have no clue!


There are some maps out there in cyberspace, but this one is all mine.  I looked up some factual stuff about the original books and made a list of all the places in Barrie's works (leaving out a couple that were mostly irrelevant), then I looked at the Disney movie stuff and added a few from that.  Then I drew an island and laid it out with all those places.

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## Chick

Next step, mountains (and other various rocks), plus an indian village.

### Latest WIP ###


Please feel free to critique!  I do appreciate and listen and try to learn (and thanks to Abu Lafia for suggesting a more colorful border)!

Cheers,
Cornelia

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## industrygothica

I like the changes. I love the skull. Personally, I'm not feeling the new border though. The other one seemed a little smoother, imo. I wonder what would happen if you just added a slight color adjustment layer to the first border rather than redoing it completely? Again, just my opinion.

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## Bogie

Coming along nice Chick.  I like both borders.  I prefer the colored one, except that it has little edge artifacts (for lack of a better term) that distract my eye.

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## MstrWelf

Fantastic idea chick! I guess a lot of us will have only seen the movie(s) and not read the books so you might see yourself fighting against the pictures Disney Company ingrained in our brains (along with so many other cliches). Still, I try to stay open-minded and wait what you come up with.
One thing though I dare to criticize is the size of the mountain; either you surround it by some smaller hills or just reduce the height? Or it will just fit in nicely once you flesh your map out  :Wink: 
Good luck chick and I will watch your progress closely!

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## ChickPea

I like both the original border and the new coloured one. I can't decide which is best. I think I'd need to see more features on the map before I commit. If there are a lot of brightly coloured elements, then a neutral border might be better. Not sure yet.

Skull island is my new favourite thing! I also love the little mermaid.

Have to second the comment that the mountain is very dominant at the moment, but I'm waiting to see what appears in the surrounding area. I will say it's well drawn and looks good, so I'm looking forward to seeing what you do next.

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## Chick

Neverpeak Mountain is the huge mountain that is right in the middle of Neverland. According to _Peter Pan in Scarlet_, when a child is on top of Neverpeak Mountain, he or she can see over anyone and anything and can see beyond belief.  _Peter Pan in Scarlet_ is a novel by Geraldine McCaughrean. It is marketed as the "official sequel" to J. M. Barrie's Peter and Wendy (1911), authorised by Great Ormond Street Hospital, to whom Barrie granted all rights to the character and original writings in 1929.

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## Chick

I've added the Neverwood, but I'm not sure if I'll keep it exactly like this.  I can't decide if it's too dense, or perhaps too big, so comments welcome.

Is this border any better? 
@bogie .... I'm not sure what you were seeing as "artifacts" but I did some tweaking and also found some stray marks I cleaned up, so if you can still see whatever you saw before, I'd appreciate knowing where it is. 

On the other hand, I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to do Pixie Hollow or the Maze of Regrets .....

### Latest WIP ###


Cheers,
Cornelia

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## JefBT

This is getting better. I love your trees.

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## Bogie

The new Border is even better but I still see the same artifact, maybe a little less.
In this sample the bottom border is the original and has the cleanest edge on the top of the curve.  The newest border is the one on the top and it has some dark fuzzy effect at the top of the curve.  The middle Middle red border has the greatest amount of the effect.  This is very minor, but it seems to grab my visual fixation.



And I like the forest as it is.

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## Chick

> The new Border is even better but I still see the same artifact, maybe a little less.
> In this sample the bottom border is the original and has the cleanest edge on the top of the curve.  The newest border is the one on the top and it has some dark fuzzy effect at the top of the curve.  The middle Middle red border has the greatest amount of the effect.  This is very minor, but it seems to grab my visual fixation.
> And I like the forest as it is.


That seems to be an artifact of the compression.  I cannot see it at all in the PS size I'm working.  Here is a zoomed in piece at the high resolution and size as I see it:



This is reduced to half size, and it begins to show:



So I'm not sure I can do much about it for the size I need to use to post here.

Thank you for taking the trouble to show me what you meant!

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## Bogie

I think you are right about it being the compression issue.  There is  an easy fix for it though.  Don't compress so much.  The latest WIP you posted is 2.1 MB,  You can post up to about 4.3 MB so you can make the map bigger and use a lot less compression.

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## MstrWelf

Has anyone noticed that every tipi has a different pattern and the pretty blonde mermaid is basting in the sun on Marooners' Rock? Well done chick!

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## Chick

> Has anyone noticed that every tipi has a different pattern and the pretty blonde mermaid is basting in the sun on Marooners' Rock? Well done chick!


Thanks for noticing  :Smile:    I never know whether that much attention to detail at such a small level is worth the time.  :Smile:    Glad to know that someone actually looked at it  :Smile:

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## Chick

The deeper I dig into the Peter Pan story, the more I find out that it's not a single story.  It seems like a King Arthur tale where so many people have written their own versions of it, making up whatever they thought it needed, that the original story is lost in the tangle.

So I've decided to stick with the original story, and not use any of the later variations such as Disney invented, at least as much as possible.  This map now has the Barrie canon names, not the Disney ones.  The only exception is Fairyhome, which is my own name for where Queen Mab's palace is that Barrie didn't name.  

I have, however, decided to omit some of Barrie's locations that were pretty much irrelevant in the story, such as the hooked nosed lady's hut, the castle of the six elder brothers, and the town of gnome tailors, all mentioned but never visited in his stories.  I've also decided not to include the Maze of Regrets, which is considered canon, but never actually visited in Barrie's works, only in a subsequent book by another author.  I am keeping the Stars, since they were actual characters in Barrie's stories.

So, with that preamble, here is the latest version:

### Latest WIP ###


The biggest job I have left is figuring out how to represent Fairyhome.  According to Barrie, it was a gigantic tree, so I'll probably do something like that, if I can find a way to make it look fairyish  :Smile: 

Comments and suggestions always welcome!

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## ChickPea

Hehe, I love your jolly roger!  :Smile: 

Don't envy you trying to draw a tree palace. Maybe some illustrations of Tolkien's Lothlorien might give you some ideas?

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## Chick

> Hehe, I love your jolly roger!


Thanks!  It's probably the best picture I ever actually drew in my entire life (and even then I looked at a lot of pirate ship pictures for guidance)  :Smile:

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## Chick

Somewhere around here is a thread about how much you learn when researching for maps. I thought I knew a lot about Peter Pan and in the past month, researching for this map (started by looking for the correct names of places on the map), I have discovered that there is a huge amount of non-canon stuff around, mostly invented by Disney.

I wanted to use the real Peter Pan story, not the Disney-invented-for-the-movie stuff, and in the end, I have finally just gone all the way back to Barrie and re-read the full true Peter Pan stories again after 50 years.

This map is all Barrie, with a couple of names for Barrie's locations taken from his officially sanctioned successor, and one and only one name that I have invented (Fairyhome) simply because no one else had named it (except the stupid Pixie Hollow from Disney, which isn't even Fairy Hollow -- I suppose Disney didn't know the difference between Pixies and Fairies).

The main thing I discovered and hadn't remembered from when I read this as a child, is that fairies don't actually have a specific region of Neverland as home. Barrie specifically states that they make their nests in the tops of tall trees.

I also discovered that what I always believed was Never Never Land, was named Neverland by Barrie, so I have changed the title of my map accordingly.

So as closely as I can map the "real" original Neverland ......

### Latest WIP ###

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## Meshon

This is fantastic! Hooray for learning tons of stuff by making maps. I have a couple of suggestions, you can see what you think. I may well just be "suggesting" things that you're already planning on doing anyway. Here's some grains of salt to start with…  :Wink: 

I'd like to see a little more of the painted look you have for spots like Skull Island applied a bit to some of the other elements, like that fantastic Jolly Roger, as well as Wendy's House and the Neverbird Tree. Especially the tipis I think need a bit more love; a little shading to give them dimension, and some variation in the open or closed flaps might be good to see. Along that line I think it should probably be dark inside the tipis with the flaps tied open.

I got a big silly grin when I saw the sparkles in the trees. Fairies! Magic! This is a wonder-full map.

cheers,
Meshon

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## Chick

> This is fantastic! Hooray for learning tons of stuff by making maps. I have a couple of suggestions, you can see what you think. I may well just be "suggesting" things that you're already planning on doing anyway. Here's some grains of salt to start with 
> 
> I'd like to see a little more of the painted look you have for spots like Skull Island applied a bit to some of the other elements, like that fantastic Jolly Roger, as well as Wendy's House and the Neverbird Tree. Especially the tipis I think need a bit more love; a little shading to give them dimension, and some variation in the open or closed flaps might be good to see. Along that line I think it should probably be dark inside the tipis with the flaps tied open.
> 
> I got a big silly grin when I saw the sparkles in the trees. Fairies! Magic! This is a wonder-full map.
> 
> cheers,
> Meshon


Thank you, Meshon, it's always nice to hear someone likes my map  :Smile:

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## Chick

I decided to see what this looked like with some color on the land.  I'm really undecided, so I'd be happy to have opinions!

### Latest WIP ###

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## Sapiento

I really like it.
One thing I noticed: the Neverpeak mountain has a very thin outline, Skull Island and Marooner's Rock don't. Not really a great thing, but it's 'visible'.

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## Aren

The latest map seems to be the best and greatest!
Awesome Job, are you still adding to it though?

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## Chick

> I really like it.


Sapiento, from you, that is a wonderful compliment!




> One thing I noticed: the Neverpeak mountain has a very thin outline, Skull Island and Marooner's Rock don't. Not really a great thing, but it's 'visible'.


 Part of the problem is that the islands have a natural outline because they are against the water, an entirely different color and texture.  That wasn't true of Neverpeak, so I kept the outline.  Now that I've added some green to the background land, I'm trying to put enough shading on the Peak to be able to eliminate the line, and be able to distinguish it from the land behind.







> The latest map seems to be the best and greatest!
> Awesome Job, are you still adding to it though?


Thank you, Aren!  I've got all the main locations and names set.  Now it's more a matter of the look, colors, textures, glitches, and details such as Sapiento pointed out, that I need to clean up.

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## Chick

Redid the Neverpeak Mountain entirely, hope it's better this way.  Plus a few minor touches added.

### Latest WIP ###

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## MstrWelf

I do like the the twinkle stars and the 2nd version of Neverpeak Mountain but I'm not sure about the hinted hills except of course you want to work more on them? Well surprise me chick !  :Smile:

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## arsheesh

Great idea for a map.  My favorite element is Mermaid Lagoon.  Great job.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

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## Bogie

The border looks much better at this resolution.  There is a lot of good stuff here, but I think my favorite is the big stars....“Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning. ”

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## Sapiento

Much better!

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## Chick

> The border looks much better at this resolution.  There is a lot of good stuff here, but I think my favorite is the big stars....“Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning. ”


Just so you know, this is not a typo.  Barrie's Peter Pan said, "Second to the right, and then straight on till morning".

It was Disney that added "... star ..." to that phrase, and Bogie who corrected it properly to "... 'til ...".  :Smile: 




> She asked where he lived. 
>   "Second to the right," said Peter, "and then straight on till morning."


Barrie's stars were living characters who hung around above Neverland and spoke to the inhabitants.

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## Chick

> I do like the the twinkle stars and the 2nd version of Neverpeak Mountain but I'm not sure about the hinted hills except of course you want to work more on them? Well surprise me chick !


 Hmmm, the "hint" of hills was exactly what I was trying to achieve, so the good news is that I apparently did  :Smile: , and the bad news is that you don't like it that way  :Frown: 




> Great idea for a map.  My favorite element is Mermaid Lagoon.  Great job.
> 
>  Cheers,
> -Arsheesh


Thank you, Arsheesh!   Is it my beautiful artwork on the Lagoon and Marooner's Rock, or is it the pretty mermaid there?   :Smile:  :Smile:  :Smile: 




> The border looks much better at this resolution.  There is a lot of good stuff here, but I think my favorite is the big stars....Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning. 


Thanks Bogie, for the pointer to the border problem as I did tweak it some thanks to you.  

And I agree with you, that phrase is one that stuck in my head from the day I first saw the play broadcast by NBC when I was a child.

You can still see it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJFtCfHDFfw

The other thing I always loved was Peter trying to stick his shadow back on.




> Much better!


 Thank you, Sapiento, for pointing that out and forcing me to find a better way  :Smile:

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## Chick

I played around a little bit with some texture and added some more detail to the Neverpeak mountain.  I'm running out of things to tweak, so this is pretty close to done.

### Latest WIP ###

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## MstrWelf

Fantastic chick! Now they have a map to put in every book in the future.  :Razz:

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## Chick

> Fantastic chick! Now they have a map to put in every book in the future.


If only you were a true prophet  :Smile:

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## MstrWelf

> If only you were a true prophet


Be careful what you wish for!  :Wink:

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