Hand Drawn Color Maps

All images, c. Kevin SproulsOver the years, I've created many hand drawn color maps. This collection was produced using mixed media. The colors involve a mixture of watercolor, colored pencils and white gouache paint. My trademark pen and ink work, with which I made my mark at The Wall Street Journal, goes over the top of the coloring work.This India map was created for a newspaper article on travel. I gave it an antiquated feel in hand-lettering the region labels, and by applying traditional line work and topographic features.This is a small map featuring a tour that British Airways was promoting. I produced quite a few maps for them, with a focus on the African Continent. I relish the opportunity of hand drawing type.This was a huge project for me. A map of the world. It took many hours to create. I believe it was used in a brochure for American Airlines. The type was added by the agency in charge of the project. I remeber staying up all night and dropping the finished art off at the airport. It was a super-rush, and produced during the infancy of the internet. That meant, no scanning and sending a digital file -- Analog Days! I present a close-up in two halves, so you might have a better look...Finally, a map for an American Airlines ad. Here is the ad:And a detail of that ad to show the map art...Here again, the agency took care of type duties. I did everything else, including the aircraft sillhouettes. If you look closely, you can make out the abundant stipple work. I thought it would add appropriate texture to the land mass.I hope you've enjoyed this small group of my illustrated color maps. Doing the occasional map is a nice departure from the business of creating the WSJ hedcuts.