# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Pen and Paper / Traditional Methods >  Frozen tundra that isn't boring?

## friendlypyro

Hey all! I'm working on a commission right now and I'm completely stumped on how to make the Frozen North area look... not so boring. It's a cold, icy land with a single landmark, and I really don't want to leave the rest as blank space. Searching online has led me to feel that others may also be struggling, as I haven't found any frozen lands that look interesting. I know that reality makes the options here a bit limited.

I work with dip pens and calligraphy inks of different colors, in case that sways anyone's response.

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## waldronate

Tundra IS pretty boring. It's a desert.

Depending on the style of the map, you might be able to add some decorative elements such as natives in the traditional dress or characteristic animals. That and a few waterways or mountains is that you'd see.

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## Azélor

In winter probably but in summer (what most people would call spring) the options are less limited.
The vegetation is similar to a steppe.

There are plenty of plants : shurbs, garss, flowers although most remain small.
and Animal herds/migratory animals. 

But the most important is water. Water is everywhere in the arctic. Above and below ground. 
Lakes form at the surface because the frozen ground prevent the water from flowing. 
Other lakes were formed long ago during past ice ages when the ice retreated. 
The scars of these ice ages are still very visible today in the rocks and the jagged coastlines in Norway for example.
And below ground, the freezing cycle can create some pretty strange patterns:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_lens
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermokarst
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palsa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:P...e-rings_hg.jpg

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## friendlypyro

Beautifully informative, thank you so much!

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## Tiana

Snow is anything but boring! Drifts, rainbow sparkles of completely scintillating patterns, rocky peaks and half-buried trees, the scars of what lies beneath create interesting shapes and shadows. It's subtle yes, but not boring.

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## waldronate

Sparkly, happy stuff is snow. Tundra is seasonally frozen marsh overlying permafrost. Nasty, sticky, mosquito-ridden hell in summer and nasty, solid, windswept hell in winter. Each with a beauty all their own, of course. And finding that beauty can be really hard if you haven't seen it yourself.
But no trees and not a huge amount of topography.

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## SMV

I think that's the trick sometimes. Getting someone to look at the most grungy, miserable-looking spot on the map and say "I wonder what's there!"  :Smile:

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## Jaxilon

I am reminded of a line from the show "Idiot Abroad" and if you follow this link and listen for about 10 seconds Carl says it right off the bat, LOL.

I guess we each sort of work out what works for the map we are creating at the time. At least this is true of me.

I like the way I indicated tundra here but it might not work for a polar ice cap. I do think it indicates bleak and dreary which was what I was going for. (Disregard the ocean as that's not the final - speaking of which I really need to finish this map.)


Basically, I used a grunge brush and pounded paint into it to get the colorations I wanted and obviously this isn't quite the absolute frozen wasteland of white, similar to what the guy in the link was looking at. Haha.

It will depend on the level of detail your map contains as to what you can or can't include. 

I did it this way in another map but in this one the map was HUGE:


So, I guess all I'm really saying is use what indicates it best in comparison with the rest of your map. Sometimes it is enough to just create a big white landmass. And remember, Google Earth can be your friend in these instances as well.

edit: And only now does it sink in that you are referring to traditional methods. Well, I still would try the way I've described but I'd have to test some things on a seperate page before committing. If you are working in strictly ink of one color you will have to play around with line width and perhaps indicating cracked ice in some areas. I agree though it'll be challenging to make it NOT seem rather bland and blank - which does go back to the link in the video again, Haha.

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