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readsewknit's review against another edition
5.0
This book is delightful. Each page is visually appealing as they introduce children to map making. Traditional supplies are covered, then the book is broken up into sections by various map makers. Each one shares their favorite mediums and offers hints and suggestions to inspire children to make their own maps. We see the artists share some of their own creations step by step, then conclude with the final product.
I am creative in some ways, but drawing skipped my gene pool; my sisters gained that natural talent from my mother and grandmother. All the same, as Hennie Haworth opened her section, she shared how to draw a tree, and I thought, "Hey, I could do that!"
One note, though -- while these artists share great suggestions and offer a lot of pictorial ideas, there is some expectation of previously established drawing ability, with this book just to guide you with how to focus that skill to create an engaging map scene (one more example from Haworth's section: she starts with a sketch of a building, then goes into helpful detail as to how she would overlap colors and use pencils and pens for additional texture, but she expects you to know how to draw and just gain insight into how to shade and detail your existing drawing).
For children with digital resources, Hill uses his section to walk through the steps he takes in Photoshop and Illustrator to create his maps.
Plus, this book makes a point that maps can include more than just streets -- one artist has a visual recipe and a pictorial heavy page on how to change a bike tire. Another drew her profile with intricate details on the various parts of her brain based on what they control (short-term memory, etc). They also remind children that it's fine to play with perspective and distance and shrink things closer together to keep the visual interest.
Each section is engaging, with interesting details and helpful tips and closes with a gallery of that artist's work. This book would draw people to flip through it, and if I left it on our table with drawing supplies nearby, I have no doubt either of my girls would get pulled in and want to create a map of their own.
I am creative in some ways, but drawing skipped my gene pool; my sisters gained that natural talent from my mother and grandmother. All the same, as Hennie Haworth opened her section, she shared how to draw a tree, and I thought, "Hey, I could do that!"
One note, though -- while these artists share great suggestions and offer a lot of pictorial ideas, there is some expectation of previously established drawing ability, with this book just to guide you with how to focus that skill to create an engaging map scene (one more example from Haworth's section: she starts with a sketch of a building, then goes into helpful detail as to how she would overlap colors and use pencils and pens for additional texture, but she expects you to know how to draw and just gain insight into how to shade and detail your existing drawing).
For children with digital resources, Hill uses his section to walk through the steps he takes in Photoshop and Illustrator to create his maps.
Plus, this book makes a point that maps can include more than just streets -- one artist has a visual recipe and a pictorial heavy page on how to change a bike tire. Another drew her profile with intricate details on the various parts of her brain based on what they control (short-term memory, etc). They also remind children that it's fine to play with perspective and distance and shrink things closer together to keep the visual interest.
Each section is engaging, with interesting details and helpful tips and closes with a gallery of that artist's work. This book would draw people to flip through it, and if I left it on our table with drawing supplies nearby, I have no doubt either of my girls would get pulled in and want to create a map of their own.
quirkycatsfatstacks's review against another edition
4.0
I received a copy of The Art of Map Illustration in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know much about mapmaking, but I was really curious and wanted to try and learn at least a little bit about the subject. The Art of Map Illustration is a perfect novel for getting your toes wet, so to speak.
For being an introductory sort of book it was surprisingly comprehensive, pulling in artists using multiple methods and styles. Four artists are included, and each one focused on different elements, ways to render the artwork, and what they felt was most important.
Hennie Haworth showed us some of his hand drawn maps and the techniques he used. He also covered the basics of map making (like what you’d see on a map besides the most obvious bits).
Stuart Hill makes his maps digitally, and he gave us a pretty good understanding of what was involved for that process. He had a lot of fun examples that helped to show the difference in results for hand drawn versus digitally drawn.
James Gulliver Hancock appeared to use more of a blend between digital and hand drawn. His work has a digitized look to it while not being quite as ‘clean’ as being fully digitally rendered. I actually really enjoyed the end results for his work in particular. He also had fun doing more unique works, like the solar system and things of that nature.
And last there’s Sarah King. Her work is hand drawn, but she does things in a completely different way from Hennie Haworth. Her pieces had more details in the drawings – the lines almost becoming a texture in themselves.
This was a really fun introduction for map making. I had failed to realize how much went into maps besides just the map itself, but this novel opened my eyes to that fact. I really enjoyed each artist’s unique style for creating their maps, and having a good example of different styles helped me to understand the major points they were trying to get across.
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know much about mapmaking, but I was really curious and wanted to try and learn at least a little bit about the subject. The Art of Map Illustration is a perfect novel for getting your toes wet, so to speak.
For being an introductory sort of book it was surprisingly comprehensive, pulling in artists using multiple methods and styles. Four artists are included, and each one focused on different elements, ways to render the artwork, and what they felt was most important.
Hennie Haworth showed us some of his hand drawn maps and the techniques he used. He also covered the basics of map making (like what you’d see on a map besides the most obvious bits).
Stuart Hill makes his maps digitally, and he gave us a pretty good understanding of what was involved for that process. He had a lot of fun examples that helped to show the difference in results for hand drawn versus digitally drawn.
James Gulliver Hancock appeared to use more of a blend between digital and hand drawn. His work has a digitized look to it while not being quite as ‘clean’ as being fully digitally rendered. I actually really enjoyed the end results for his work in particular. He also had fun doing more unique works, like the solar system and things of that nature.
And last there’s Sarah King. Her work is hand drawn, but she does things in a completely different way from Hennie Haworth. Her pieces had more details in the drawings – the lines almost becoming a texture in themselves.
This was a really fun introduction for map making. I had failed to realize how much went into maps besides just the map itself, but this novel opened my eyes to that fact. I really enjoyed each artist’s unique style for creating their maps, and having a good example of different styles helped me to understand the major points they were trying to get across.
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
etruria's review against another edition
3.0
This book highlights four well known map-making artists. Learn about their techniques using different media, including pen and ink, watercolor, mixed media and digital tools. The maps are beautiful and unique, and while I love all things cartography, I was looking for a bit more about map-making in general, and perhaps more than work from 4 artists. I think an artist or graphic designer currently working with maps would appreciate this book very much.
Thank you Netgalley and Walter Foster Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.
Thank you Netgalley and Walter Foster Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.
emesskay's review against another edition
2.0
I got this book because I have a kid who is really interested in maps, and I thought this book would show different style of map drawing. I was disappointed because it was really one style - those kinds of illustrated maps one usually picks up as a souvenir when on vacation.
The book does show these types of maps from different artists, and discusses what software you can use to create these kinds of maps.
So if you are into that thing, it would be a good resource, but if you were hoping to learn how to draw regular kinds of maps, this is not the book for you.
The book does show these types of maps from different artists, and discusses what software you can use to create these kinds of maps.
So if you are into that thing, it would be a good resource, but if you were hoping to learn how to draw regular kinds of maps, this is not the book for you.
peonyblue's review against another edition
4.0
I love maps. All kinds of maps. New ones, old ones...any kind. And I like to MAKE maps by hand, though I'm not particularly good at it.
So when I saw this book was coming out, I preordered it based on the subtitle and description, which sort of implied that this was more about cartography and mapmaking by hand.
For what it is, it's a beautiful book, and I learned quite a bit about illustrator/photoshop techniques. However, the handmade aspect of the thing is pretty thin. If you're not working with one of those two Adobe programs, you may not get a whole lot out of the book, in fact. There's a little bit on hand lettering from the artist at the end, but even the bits about hand-drawing the points of interest end up with those drawings being scanned and manipulated digitally.
I still love the book, and it has a place on my shelves, but I do think its name is misleading, as is the description.
So when I saw this book was coming out, I preordered it based on the subtitle and description, which sort of implied that this was more about cartography and mapmaking by hand.
For what it is, it's a beautiful book, and I learned quite a bit about illustrator/photoshop techniques. However, the handmade aspect of the thing is pretty thin. If you're not working with one of those two Adobe programs, you may not get a whole lot out of the book, in fact. There's a little bit on hand lettering from the artist at the end, but even the bits about hand-drawing the points of interest end up with those drawings being scanned and manipulated digitally.
I still love the book, and it has a place on my shelves, but I do think its name is misleading, as is the description.
faegirl's review against another edition
5.0
I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book was a feast for the eyes! It is always interesting to give a number of artists the same topic and see how they each interpret it. I very much enjoyed the step by step instructions that were given when working with different media, but also that they were not judgmental and offered a number of variations. Definitely a worthwhile read.
This book was a feast for the eyes! It is always interesting to give a number of artists the same topic and see how they each interpret it. I very much enjoyed the step by step instructions that were given when working with different media, but also that they were not judgmental and offered a number of variations. Definitely a worthwhile read.
clwojick's review against another edition
5.0
This was such a creative and inspiring book! I wish I had read it before my trip to New York. I have always loved the idea of bringing a journal with you everywhere you go when traveling to a new city, so that you can jot down small things you've done, conversations you overheard, and interesting things you've seen. The idea of creating maps, of these locations, and adding in small drawing of buildings, attractions, parks, etc is immensely exciting to me. Personally, i'm not a very good drawer... but i could still see something like this being a life long keepsake. The book came with simple instructions, and great ideas. I couldn't get enough of it. I will be purchasing this for a more artistic friend of mine, who is going backpacking across Europe for her honeymoon.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I truly appreciate it!
A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I truly appreciate it!
clwojick's review
5.0
This was such a creative and inspiring book! I wish I had read it before my trip to New York. I have always loved the idea of bringing a journal with you everywhere you go when traveling to a new city, so that you can jot down small things you've done, conversations you overheard, and interesting things you've seen. The idea of creating maps, of these locations, and adding in small drawing of buildings, attractions, parks, etc is immensely exciting to me. Personally, i'm not a very good drawer... but i could still see something like this being a life long keepsake. The book came with simple instructions, and great ideas. I couldn't get enough of it. I will be purchasing this for a more artistic friend of mine, who is going backpacking across Europe for her honeymoon.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I truly appreciate it!
A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I truly appreciate it!
julesg's review
5.0
This book surprised me in many ways. It has information on hand-drawn/illustrated maps and on digitally made maps. There are how-tos and a lot of information on which materials to use. What really grabbed my attention - and made me sharpen my pencils - were the wonderful pictures of artistic maps. I wanted to try it out myself. I might add some maps to my future travel diaries.
I'm considering making this book a coffee table book, just because of the pictures.
I'm considering making this book a coffee table book, just because of the pictures.