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Fantasy map tutorials - how to draw, make and create maps for worldbuilding

Here are all of the articles we've published on the topic of fantasy maps.

The Lord of the Map. The writer skilled in cartography is an explorer. They can spend hours fleshing out the design of their world. This is a crucial skill because it visually unites all of the other skills.

Fantasy map generator

Vancano's map generator is a Photoshop tool that will help you create a map of your imaginary world.

Fantasy map icons, brushes and other tools

If you’re looking for a little something to spice up your maps then I've collected a number of great map resources from around the web. Most are free but I’ve also included a couple of premium options when they’ve been great.

Introducing The Authors Guide To Drawing Maps

By Nate 'Vancano' Smith 2 Comments

Introducing The Authors Guide To Drawing Maps

This is a quick article to introduce The Authors Guide To Drawing Maps. The guide currently features 4 of the tutorials on drawing maps that can be found on The World Building School, however they are all presented on a single page so it’s now even easier to follow the tutorials and draw your own […]

Filed Under: 7 Skills, Fantasy map, Featured, Tutorials Tagged With: author, drawing, maps, tutorial, writing

How To Weather The Storm Of Prevailing Winds and Oceanic Currents

By Nate 'Vancano' Smith 1 Comment

How To Weather The Storm Of Prevailing Winds and Oceanic Currents

The worlds weather is driven by both the Earth’s rotation and the seasonal variation in solar energy that each hemisphere absorbs. However patterns do form in the weather and they will play an important role for your civilisations, characters lives and the stories you write. So the next step in building your world is to […]

Filed Under: 7 Skills, Fantasy map Tagged With: meteorology, ocean, wind, writing

Landscaping Your World Map

By Nate 'Vancano' Smith 5 Comments

Landscaping Your World Map

Continuing on from last week’s tutorial on Tectonic plates we’re looking at how the plates affect the landscape of your world and so the environment your characters will see and experience.  If you’re following the tutorial and drawing your own map then you will have the main islands drawn along with the tectonic plates of […]

Filed Under: Fantasy map, Tutorials Tagged With: maps, trenches, volcano

Adding Tectonic Plates To Your World Map

By Nate 'Vancano' Smith 8 Comments

Adding Tectonic Plates To Your World Map

Tectonic Plates are sections of a planet’s lithosphere (the crust and mantle of a planet) that your world continent will then sit upon. They are what separate the land from the molten lava below. Because the lava flows and moves under the surface due to different temperatures in the earth core they slowly move these […]

Filed Under: Fantasy map, Tutorials Tagged With: continents, maps, tectonic plates

World Building Geography by Brandon Sanderson

By Nate 'Vancano' Smith 1 Comment

Brandon Sanderson (the writer of Mistborn and the final 3 books of Robert Jordan’s “The Wheel Of Time” series) gives a lecture on basic geography for world building maps. He covers some very basic tips and fundamental mistakes that many n00b writers and world builders make when they first start out designing their maps. I […]

Filed Under: Fantasy map, Tutorials Tagged With: Brandon Sanderson, drawing, geology, video

How to draw land

By Nate 'Vancano' Smith 7 Comments

How to draw land

A simple illustration technique for representing landmass on a map. Also helps to create interesting organic coastlines.

Filed Under: Fantasy map, Tutorials Tagged With: maps, tutorial

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About Nate Smith

Nate is the founder of the Worldbuilding School. It's his goal to make worldbuilding easier for the many people who build their own imaginary world - whether it's for fun or profit. As part of this goal he uses his skills in Cartography to draw maps. Read More…

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This is where I hint at the projects, articles and reviews I’m working on:

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