r/mapmaking

What would this Australia be like, specifically the eastern part? And wouldn't the great mountain plateau in the west act as a pump, drawing winds and rain from the ocean and increasing the monsoons' reach further south?

(Please excuse the god-awful map)

In my fantasy world, I have a continent with a large “pit” in the middle (detailed in the drawing). It’s a gradual slope that creates a large basin, and the bottom evens out and becomes flat when you get far enough down.

Because it’s a fantasy world, I’m a big believer in not focusing too much on topographical realism and just doing whatever looks/feels cool. However, I was curious if a feature like this could feasibly form naturally?

My first thought was a huge aquifer collapsing in that spot? Or, because it’s right next to a mountain range, a lot of water flows into the basin, so would it end up becoming a lake?

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!

See the evolution of this map here: https://www.reddit.com/r/mapmaking/s/9xH1ORKH3G

Created based on a smudge

Drawn roughly 2017-2020

EDIT: It seems the latter two images were too large for Reddit so they’ve been pixelated to shit. See the reformatted, legible version here: https://www.reddit.com/r/mapmaking/s/wc92ZQ2Jzr

I was like 40% done terraining my original Map until i realized that making the brush thickness to 3.0 and 2.5 feels way to big, so i have to do the hard option of restarting the map again. It sucks but atleast i can make finer detail if i change the thickness to 0.6 and 0.5, and because of that i can add smaller island now and do archipelago, i had a hard time trying to place these smaller island, but when i was looking at my based drawing, i see a lot of pencil graphite specks all around the drawing, so i just draw them over and called it an island. And the way these specks of graphite are located make them look like an actual archipelago, so thats worked out. Anyway if anyone want to give me some advised on how to improve, then i'll gladly accept it

As always any feedback / critique / tips / advice for drawing technique / style is more than welcome! (Not like geography advice, I more or less know what I’m doing with that)

Or feel free to ask me about the lore / geography / history of this region. See the whole “world” map here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/mapmaking/s/WhmcQbtsTE\](https://www.reddit.com/r/mapmaking/s/WhmcQbtsTE)

This is my first attempt at making a map. Honestly, everything is half-finished. I'm not sure how to represent coasts, mountains, forests, or especially farmland areas there are many styles...

​Regarding the map, I’d love to know what I did well and what I got wrong. I can still change things, but not too much. Also, what else could I add? My idea is to add quite a few more small islands.

​Does anyone have any idea how big this continent might be?

Chokma! Hey y'all, I've been experimenting with making representational maps for my fantasy world. It's an ancient American history-inspired world, so I thought it would be fun to approach maps in semi-historic styles that differ from the modern Western style of mapmaking.

In the first two slides, I have some examples of map traditions of the Americas.

The first is a tactile map from Greenland, which depicts the coastline using wood carvings.

The second is a (recreated?) post-contact Mexica-style map. Most pre-contact maps of the Aztec Empire were destroyed, so I've only ever seen this kind of recreation. I believe the oldest authentic ones were made by regional scribes at the behest of Spanish documentarians after colonization??? IDK I ripped this one off a blog way back.

The third is the Catawba Diplomacy Map, made by the Catawba tribe as a gift to the governor of South Carolina. Notice how the tribes are represented, focusing on depicting the diplomatic relationships and routes between groups rather than exactly detailing their geographic position. I've also always thought it was funny that they draw themselves as circles, and European settlements as grids.

The last two maps are my own, done in Photoshop. The first is a bone map meant to represent the major currents of a delta system. The second is a stone disk inscription, the central figure acting as a metaphorical map of the region's major waterways (each limb representing a major river or water feature)

What do y'all think of how these maps function and represent cultural values attached to maps? What are your favorite examples of unique map styles from around the globe?

Thought this be a good subreddit to ask. It’s fine on cork board and I will be cutting it out to hang in a room. Anything glaringly off before doing so? Apprentice your thoughts! Really neat stuff on r/mapmaking

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Nanna Continent

1. territorial map

2. political map

3. Road map