I believe that every cartographer has Middle-earth work. There are those who publish, some who hide or just forget them, depending on whether they may have finished at the beginning, end or top of their career.
I read Tolkien’s novel in the mid-90s and needless to say, I was impressed, most of all I liked the detailed elaboration of the world and of course the map attached to the book. I immediately started putting together a map and battle of my own on the Warcraft2 Map Builder application.
My next attempt was to copy the legendary Pauline Baynes map in line art style and I also gave it as a gift to my then girlfriend, who is now my wife. She was quite surprised, not counting the hand-drawn fantasy map, but she liked it overall. At the time, I didn’t plan to be a map drawer, I just thought how cool this legendary world would be framed on the wall.
This map of Pauline Baynes was even seen by Tolkien in the early 70's and since it was based on the writer's sketches and this can be the basis for all further work and at the same time laid the groundwork for the relationship between map drawers and fantasy writers. After this, writings were not published without thorough cartographic work.
My last attempt and the best so far is a map put together from vector icons and terrain objects. As you can see in this Qatlasmap webshop, my goal was to use these separate cut out images or vector graphics to make it easy for anyone to make a map of their own for a table game, gift or just a decor on the wall. Otherwise, this graphics package can be used on virtually any fantasy map featuring orcs, elves, dwarves, and other fairy-tale creatures, or if you just want a medieval map for yourself.
There are plenty of beautiful and spectacular Lord of the Rings maps but what you can find here in the Qatlasmap webshop, you can change the paper texture, repaint the water and rearrange the settlements, also make it unique.
The package also includes a high-resolution JPG document that can be printed and framed.
Qatlasmap wishes everyone a good adventure in Middle-earth, or in any exciting and unique worlds you tried to build.
