DUNCANPETRIE.COMMENU

I've always loved maps.

I've had maps on my walls since before I can remember: world maps, maps of places I've been, maps of places I want to go. They're like windows, windows you don't need curtains for.

I've spent more of my life than I care to admit looking at maps. There's always something new to see, and even familiar names feel like discoveries.

So, it was only natural that I create my own.

My first map, 2016.

It started with a world. After all, I needed something to map.

Over many years, this world grew, took shape, sprouted cities and legend and beasts of yore. Every year or two I'd start a new map. Each iteration had more detail, more names, more meat between the mountain ranges.

A world emerges, 2018.

I tried many different styles. For a while, I flirted with realism, but neither I nor my computer's fans could handle that many pixels.

Experimenting, 2019. Too much detail. 2019.

Eventually, I settled on a vibrant, stylized palette based on watercolor maps I'd seen in antique shops. I've been working on the current one for about two years now. Some months I work on it a lot, and some I barely touch it, but it's always there, ready for another weird name.

See the full map here: bigmapW2.jpg.