Filling the "Blank" Areas of Your Map
You've drawn the mountains, forests, rivers, and placed the cities on your map…but then you realize there is still a lot of blank space left on the page. But, what can you add to fill those areas without the map feeling cluttered? This is a common issue when drawing maps but with a little creativity you can come up with some ways to fill those spaces and tie everything together.
If you think about the real world, there is no such thing as a landscape truly devoid of texture. Even a barren desert is made up of sandy dunes or weathered stone. A wide expanse of grassland will still be broken up by rocks that come above the surface, rolling hills, or a cluster of shrubs over a hidden water source. Drawing little things like this can go a long way in filling those blank spaces and even giving them an element of visual interest.
Here is a little list of some elements you could include:
- Tufts of grass
- Boulders & stones
- Small cliffs & ridges
- Scattered trees
- Stumps & fallen trees
- Bushes & desert scrub
- Subtle rolling hills
- Farm fields
- Roads & Paths
- Regional names to fill the space
GET YOUR FREE MAP FEATURE CHEAT SHEET
Stuck on what to draw next on your map? This cheat sheet provides 30 prompts with hand-illustrated examples to help you overcome creative block and get back to mapping! Conveniently formatted so you can easily print it out at home to keep handy while you map your world.
There are of course many other things you could draw depending on if it’s a desert, plains, or a tundra. But hopefully this list will help get your mind going so you can come up with some ideas of your own. Just determine what type of terrain you want in a particular area and think about what type of things you would find there. Then you can decide how you could represent some of those things on your map.
Honestly, have fun with it and ask yourself what you could draw in those blank areas to cause your viewer to want to go there and learn more. Those are the maps that capture our imagination and cause us to want to go on an adventure and learn the story behind the map.
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