J.R.R. Tolkien did a number on me.

Being introduced to the beauty of what fantasy maps could be at 12 years old, I took the sweeping mountain ranges and iconic mapwork of Middle-Earth to heart - and ever since, I’ve been designing and drawing my own.

From meticulously planning and designing maps for games with friends, to getting huge sheets of butcher paper to ink out a fantasy world before paying a fortune (for a kid) to laminate them, maps have been at the core of my artistic journey. Pencil and paper was just the start; once I made the switch to Photoshop (where all my work takes place now), the options open to me in cartography expanded immensely, and I fell in love with the ease of the digital space.

To me, maps speak of the adventure in a story, and I’m reminded of the dreams of ancient explorers setting out into our vast and (at the time) unknown world. A map can make me feel a small part of that sense of adventure. I was even voted most likely to get stuck in an art museum looking at beautifully rendered maps from the annals of history as my group has long continued on to other pieces! I imagine my love of travel is in some small way inspired by the feeling of chasing my own adventure.

Thanks for stopping by - and if you want a map of your own, I’m your guy.

- El