How I hand draw an illustrated map.

 Drawing a map of a city center can be an overwhelming task. There's so much to draw and and fit in, and how to plan it so that everything stays true geographically, it's difficult to know where to start. Here I'm going to share my process from start to finish and how to break it down in to manageable chunks. Even though I work in traditional paper and ink, these methods will still work for people working digitally.

The first thing to decide on is a place to draw. I chose Manchester, as it's a place that I lived for a few years, so I know it pretty well. Choosing a place that you know well and like will help for this.

The next thing to do is to work out where all of the roads that you want to include are. To do this is I use an OS map (ordnance survey map) of the place that I want to draw. There are lots of these on google images. The important thing is to find one that clearly shows all of the important roads that you want to include. 

OS map taken from Google images

Once you have you OS map you need to create a file in Photoshop the same size as the paper that you are going to draw your final map on. Resize your OS map to fit the Photoshop canvas and save your file.

Next you need to print off the map. If your printer can't print at a large enough size (like mine), you need to create some new Photoshop files at a size that you can print and place your saved map image in chunks so that when they are printed you can piece them together like a jigsaw.

Now you need to trace off all of the roads that you plan to have in your map. The more accurate you trace the roads at this point, the more accurate your finished map will be. If you don't have a lightbox to do this, then you can stick you OS map jigsaw on a window and place your paper over the top and use the natural sunlight to help you trace. Now that you have the roads down it's time to think of how to draw the buildings. To do this I use an isometric perspective. Draw an isometric grid over the top of your map.

Once you have your roads in place and your isometric grid over the top you can begin to add your buildings. At this point it's a good idea to have researched the place that you are mapping and are sure not to miss out any important building or areas that are culturally important. Open google maps and find the place that you are mapping. Choose a starting point, say a city block with a landmark building for reference. Have a good look at the area using the birds eye view and street view of google maps and draw the buildings in lightly in pencil. When you are happy you can go over in ink. Then you simply keep repeating this until you have drawn all of the buildings and landmarks that you wish to include in your map.        

 

Once I have finished this I add shading to the map. To do this I take some in and dilute it with water to make a greyish wash and apply it with a paintbrush. Always to be sure to consider which direction the light is coming from when you do this.

Once your map is fully shaded you can add colour. I prefer to use water colour, but but any method of colouring your map will work fine. Once you have added the colour, you're map is finished.

        Manchester map on a coffee mug

        Manchester map poster

        Nick Jones Linktree