Mapping - Assignment 4

Map of Amherst, NH - Editorial Illustration Assignment

I can hardly believe Lilla's course is nearly over. This session has been challenging but very rewarding. I'm THRILLED I took up a spot in Part B. I was nervous just before the class started up because I struggled with conceptualizing my finals for Part A, and I've got a big side project on my hands which I had to juggle into the mixture of drawing. Above everything else in the course, I really looked forward to this past week's assignment: Editorial.

I've been so focused the past couple years on Children's Book illustration, but I have a strong attraction to editorial work which I'm starting to re-investigate while I build up my Picture Book portfolio. This week's assignment was to design a map of our home town. So WELCOME to Amherst, New Hampshire:

Close-up of some of the colonial buildings from the historical district. And a Pine branch.

Amherst prides itself on it's rich colonial heritage, so I wanted to be sure that message was conveyed. When I think of my home, I think of the marshes/bogs/river/brooks, so I added those too. Though I live in this town (and have for some time,) I investigated a bit into the town history in search of inspiration. Architecture was main line through that rabbit hole, so I wanted a few sites noted on the page. Other inspirations include cross stitching/sampler patterns, apparel fabric designs of New England 1700's, and local vegetation.

Sketchbook - doodles of town buildings and colonial buildings.

So my final assessment of this specific assignment is: OH-MY-GAWD! OH-MY-GAWD!! I LOVE MAPS! I hope that feeling comes across :-)

~Samantha