Map of Martha's Vineyard Complete With Sea Monsters

Here is the completed map of Martha's Vineyard.

To commission a map of your own, just send an email to riversedge38@yahoo.com.

Here There Be Monsters!

Martha's Vineyard inked and ready for an antique wash and watercolor.

Easton, MA Map Commission

This is the map of Easton, MA that I did.  It is a little larger than the previous ones at 12" x 14".  I really enjoyed the challenge of adding the drawings of the buildings.

Duxbury, MA Map Commission

A Look At My Drawing Space

This is my work area where I create the maps.  I usually have the portable DVD going in the background with classic cartoons like Droopy, Woody Woodpecker and Popeye, or a cheesy old giant monster movie like Godzilla and Gamera.

 

My trusty Sakura Pigma Microns.

Cohasset, MA Map Commission

Borderland Disc Golf Course Commission

In the late 1970's my friend's and I played a form of Frisbee golf, now officially know as Disc Golf. We had no rules back then - we basically traipsed through the woods and picked out certain trees that you had to hit for the holes.

So, when I was approached to do a map of a disc golf course located in one of my local state parks, I couldn't say no.  I had no idea how big disc golf is.  There is even a Professional Disc Golf Association, a PDGA Tour and World Championships.  I may have to try this out!

Click here for more information about Borderland Disc Golf Course.

Dighton, MA Commission

This is my third map commission, Dighton, MA.

3 hours in.

4 and 1/2 hours.

After 6 hours work.

After an antique wash.

Total time spent to complete 9 hours.

So Why Maps and Where Did The Name River's Edge Come From?

My love of hand-drawn maps goes back more than 40 years.  I have very vivid memories of the summer of 1973 when I spent many sunny days reading ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy from the perfect reading spot…in the woods 15 feet up in a beech tree that overhung the bend in the river. I could see clear all the way down both directions of the river and was surrounded by a forest containing giant 200 year old white pine, oak, maple birch, sassafras and of course, my beloved beech. To me there wasn’t a better place to read Tolkien.

The very same spot over 40 years later. Sadly the tree I used to read in is gone.

Once I returned home, I was inspired to sit down and create elaborate maps of the places my mind had wandered as I was reading. I would carefully identify each village, river and forest and color the maps with the mediums available to me at that time—probably crayons and one of those Bic 4-color ballpoint pens.  I would even use our gas stove to burn the edges and make them look old. Those maps were long ago archived in some landfill, but to this day, anytime I see hand-drawn maps, they transport me to the locations the creator has depicted.

Second Map Commission - Newburyport, MA

This was the second commission I did.  I really enjoyed adding the lighthouse drawings to it.

4 hours in.

After 7 hours of work.

The completed map.  Total time to complete 10 hours.

First Map Commission - Norton, MA

This was the first map commission I did.  It is of Norton, MA.

Here you can see all the tools of the trade.