# Gallery > Cartographers Choice >  Torentine: Political Map - by a2area

## Ascension

Map (Click to enlarge)




Created in: Illustrator & Photoshop

*Review*

a2area burst onto the scene and blew us all away.  This particular map is so professional-looking that we just had to show it off properly.

a2area says:

Well I finally finished this one! The WIP thread for this is at http://www.cartographersguild.com/...ead.php?t=8142 but basically, the entire map is built in Adobe Illustrator (CS3) and then pasted into Photoshop in groupings of layers where I apply various filters and layer some subtle effects in to make it look more polished. I especially like the easy mask-ability of Photoshop. I made good use of graphic styles in Illustrator to get train tracks etc and I use some free fonts for some of the little icons. All of the coats of arms are built in Illustrator as well. The globe is taken from the original fractal file of the planet and then shaded.

This is the first in a project of about 4 (maybe more) atlas style maps which will focus on this fictional place. The next will either be a land use, resource, topography and relief map (all wrapped into one if I can manage it) or a large city map of the imperial capital surrounded by some smaller city insets.

Original Thread
To go to the original thread click here.

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## a2area

I would like to thank....  (-;

Isn't that the way. An award with my first map on the site. Now I have to live up to expectations....  Really, though.. thanks a whole lot for the acknowledgement.  It made my day! 

Brian (a2area)

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## mearrin69

Well deserved. If it wasn't clearly a fictional land I'd accuse you of scanning in a page from an atlas and trying to pass it off as your own!  :Smile:  Beautiful map and looking forward to more of the same. Repped.
M

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## Bohunk

Un-flippin' believable! Well done!

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## Ben

WOW! Looks right out of an Atlas!

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## Djekspek

Great map and well deseverd a2arena! This is pro-quality indeed!

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## Ramah

I wondered how long it would take this to become a choice map.  :Smile: 

Very well done. Great stuff.

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## Aenigma

I've always liked these.
Is there a world map of the planet as well? I'd love to see it  :Smile:

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## Coyotemax

Nicely done!  well deserved!

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## Sapiento

Well deserved. Great work.

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## terminal

Astounding work, literally looks like it was published in an Atlas. Hope you go on and map the rest of your fictional world.

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## wormspeaker

Now, I'm sure I saw this in an old volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica... or maybe not...

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## katoblepa

Just 3 letters: W-O-W !
(which is not the mmorpg.. ok.. silly joke  :Frown:  )

This is just beautiful, but I'm wondering: could it be possible to do something like that for a fantasy/steampunk map? 
I mean, this one looks very modern and real. And that's just cool. 
But what if I tried to use the same style for, let's say, a D&D map?

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## Vorhees

indeed absolutely amazing the level of information you have provided on the map , love it and repped , congrats on the award too.

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## Jaxilon

Yeah, this is incredible. It totally looks like it's from an atlas. Great job!

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## Azhrei

OMGICANTBELIEVETHISMAP!!!

That's very nice work, a2area.  I clicked on the little thumbnail piece in the OP and expected to get just a small section of a coastline, but what came up was a HUGE map of an entire continent with a ridiculous amount of detail!

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## stevenfrye

How do cartographers protect their work against copyright infringement?

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## RjBeals

jeez.. the time you must have spent on this is unbelievable. I'll just sit here and stare at it for a few hours ! 

You must be a graphic designer by trade - do you mind me asking what you do for a living?

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## redleg7

Awesome map!

Now all we need is an easy tutorial  :Smile:

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## El Bob

I'm really impressed by this -- certainly professional quality.

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## The Good Doctor

Really awesome work!   Totally impressed.

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## arsheesh

Dugh, ugh yeah... wow! ... color me impressed!

Cheers,

-Arsheesh

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## ragX

really awesome

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## ProFantasy

An excellent map. I've sent you a PM.

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## a2area

Thanks...  odd though, i didn't receive a PM?

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## ProFantasy

> Thanks...  odd though, i didn't receive a PM?


Please email simonwork@profantasy.com.

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## Guldaroth

Congratulations !

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## jwbjerk

Amazing map.  Just by looking at it (i haven't read any descriptions yet) i can see the history that made it.  The tiny bit of territory on the right, Torentine, must be some small Portugal-like nation with the sailing technology and skill to cross the gap to the other continent first.  The inhabitants to the continent on the left didn't have the technology, and/or organization and so they were mostly carved up by the conquistador-like Torentines.  The names and all major cities being coastal, the relative lack of development, and huge areas devoted to parks support this.  However a few of the groups were organized enough, diplomatic enough, or put up a good enough fight that  you have the two confederation of Anahuac states.  Or possible since they are in the center, they were just all that was left when they surrendered.

Other details are interesting, but more mysterious.  Who does the Refuge Atoll offer refuge too?

The only fault i see is your forgot the underline the key says belongs on the imperial capitol name on Torentine in the inset.

Ok, now i'm gonna go read the description and see if i'm right.

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## a2area

> Amazing map.  Just by looking at it (i haven't read any descriptions yet) i can see the history that made it.  The tiny bit of territory on the right, Torentine, must be some small Portugal-like nation with the sailing technology and skill to cross the gap to the other continent first.  The inhabitants to the continent on the left didn't have the technology, and/or organization and so they were mostly carved up by the conquistador-like Torentines.  The names and all major cities being coastal, the relative lack of development, and huge areas devoted to parks support this.  However a few of the groups were organized enough, diplomatic enough, or put up a good enough fight that  you have the two confederation of Anahuac states.  Or possible since they are in the center, they were just all that was left when they surrendered.
> 
> Other details are interesting, but more mysterious.  Who does the Refuge Atoll offer refuge too?
> 
> The only fault i see is your forgot the underline the key says belongs on the imperial capitol name on Torentine in the inset.
> 
> Ok, now i'm gonna go read the description and see if i'm right.


Yep.. you basically got it right on!  There was another power that came in from the west as well.. and Torentine came from the east and a war decided the current boundaries.  Fernandina was part of a Spanish-like empire that while they also came from the east like the Tor's, they started colonizing further to the southwest on the continent and moved northeast.  Fernandina was once a prosperous "Nordestal" province that broke away in its heyday.. enjoyed 60 years of progress the was overthrown by a fascist then communist regime.. Later, the daughter of the dead exiled Fernandinan King married the Emperor of Torentine which prompted an invasion to claim what was now rightfully his.   And yes, i did notice.. after the fact .. that i forgot to underline the darn capital.. haha.. all that work and i forget something like that!  (0:    

Anahuac is the remnant state of the so called "indigenous" people.. which originally consisted a couple small groups who came from a continent to the southeast about 1000 years before the other "western" nations began colonization.  Due to being driven out of their homeland they took to the sea and were either blown off course or seeking a "fabled land"

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## Syt

Just saw that this style will be in June's Annual over at ProFantasy. Greatly looking forward to it; the first atlas I owned as a kid (well, my dad owned it), had a very similar style and I love it.  :Smile:

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## kalvinlyle

It's really interesting seeing a fantasy map draw in such a modern style.  Very cool.

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## Cantoffie

Awsome... I like the modern Realisticness to it!

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## TheSilentOne

I wish I could get my first map to be as pro-looking as that. Great work

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## ProFantasy

This gorgeous map-making style is now available as CC3 map-making style in the Cartographer's Annual here.

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## Gidde

Congrats a2a!!

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## pinghenglin505

well done!!

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## Nathan

Just Amazing. Bravo !  :Laughing: 
It could easily fool somebody who is not fond in geography.

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## Ander

Whoa, this is really awesome, so professional... Well done!

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## PiriReis

This is an amazing job indeed, very good job.  

The only thing that I could not find was the scale of the map extent.  I only looked at it for a minute, and as a complete n00b here, I doubt you wanted some random d00d to QC your map.  Also I am judging it on Earth terms (size, planetary tilt, etc.), so it may not be even justified at all.  The only other thing that I noticed was the equator 0 had some curvature to it, and the grid north at the equator seemed to be angled, though without a scale its hard to determine the math of the grid.  There is also no datum in the legend, though this is not always necessary.  The legend also lacks a map projection, though it appears to use a standard UTM projection.  Other than that the only thing I would change is some of the locations of the annotation of the populated places and their masks.

It looks beautiful and is a great job.

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## Schley

Nice contemporary atlas style! Good work sir!

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## Larnira

Great map, love it

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## indigorising

AWESOME work.

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## vorropohaiah

now this is a map  :Smile:  great work. I've been meaning to start experimenting with illustrator. if these are the results i can get from it, i just might have to  :Smile:

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