Introduction


I started my on-line diary in the 1990's from my studio in the North of England. After a lapse of ten years, I resumed the enteries from my present studio on the Caribbean island of Dominica. From the far beginning, my intention was to give an insight into my working methods, and to share the triumphs, trials and tribulations of work-in-progress.

Now, by way of a change, these pages will focus on finished work, both recent and retrospective. As Dominica has recently been ranked as one of the least visited places on earth, it is one way of bringing the mountain to Mohammed.


Sunday, October 16, 2011

Alas, no decorative cartouche…

Since this morning, I’ve been working on the maps for the National Trail Guide.  The job was made all the more difficult because the map I was using for reference was to a different scale.  As I could not get it scanned and enlarged electronically until Tuesday, I set about doing it by hand the hard way – grid square by grid square. 

Maybe the French mapmaker, who made this map of the neighbouring island of Martinique in 1732, looked down on my labours with a wry smile.  After all, he had no electronic aids either.  The hand coloured copper plate engraving puts today’s computer generated maps to shame.  Alas, there will be no decorative cartouche or compass rose embellishments on my trail maps.

Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. I love maps. I don't really know why, but they fascinate me - especially Ordnance Survey maps with all of their contour lines and symbols!

    Unbelievable! The word verification for this comment is 'maphr'.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)