The Journal Diaries is a blog segment where we get a sneak peek into the journals, notebooks, organizers and diaries from creatives all ov...

What is a realistic population size for a medieval or ancient fantasy setting? Should a city have a couple of million people? How about 500,000 or 20,000? Let’s delve in and give you some simple guidelines as well as a cheat sheet you can easily reference as you are writing your story and drawing yo

I’ve been interested in nature for as long as I can remember. It’s always fascinated me. Nature is my therapy. It’s everywhere, it’s consistent, and it’s free.

One way to make your fantasy map more believable is to vary the size of the mountain ranges. Not all mountains in our world are the same height, and they shouldn’t be in your story either. If you are using the Ridgeline Mountain Method, then how you draw the initial ridgeline will play a large role

When we visited the SUPERNATURAL set back in Vancouver, we had an opportunity to tour the soundstages and visit the various behind the scenes departments that help make the show what it is. We've already taken you on a tour of the infamous Men of Letters bunker and now we're going to take you through

Rivers have to be the most common thing for new map makers to get wrong; and even seasoned cartographers may have some of these mistakes sneak up on them if they’re not careful. But, having an awareness of some of the most common issues that come up when it comes to river placement will go a long wa

The methods for drawing forests on your fantasy map are seemingly endless, ranging from the simple to the complex. In this tutorial, I will walk you through some easy steps to create an iconic forest, even if you don’t have much confidence in your drawing abilities. It all comes down to some simple

How do you make your rivers stand out so they’re more than just a squiggly line on your map? In this tutorial, you will learn how to draw rivers that have a sense of depth and look like they are actually part of the landscape.

Ready to enter the dense canopy of a tropical jungle where the air is so thick you can feel it, and there is a new danger under every leaf? In this tutorial I will walk you through some steps so you can learn how to draw a dense jungle on your fantasy maps!

There is something mysterious about a swirling vortex of water that seems to be draining into the depths of the ocean. This is why a whirlpool or maelstrom is a compelling feature to include on your fantasy maps as it opens up so many storytelling possibilities. In this tutorial I’ll walk you throug

Here we have shared some village names and town names. All the cool and creative fictional city names that we have shared are unique.

We’re all used to snapping pictures while on a trip, but a somewhat more unique keepsake that is seen less and less these days is the travel journal. This…