Hello! (again)
Greetings! I joined once upon a time, but unfortunately, didn't make time to remain active enough. I'm back once again and plan on being here daily.
The inspiration behind my name comes from my former job as a barista and my love for the hospitality of coffee-shop-culture. My current job is a hospitality specialist in a very busy restaurant. Seven years of experience interacting directly with my community has sparked a genuine love for meeting new people and learning their stories.
Although I'm new to art (better late than never, right?) I'm having a blast learning everything I can about staining papers with coffee, using coffee inspired names for some of my map locations, and even experimenting with coffee-based fountain pen ink. I'm slightly crazy. When it comes to maps themselves, I'm in love with the super weathered aesthetic and gritty/grungy line work. Steampunk is also a style that resonates deeply with my soul!
I practice as often as I can and create everything with a $0 budget. I daydream about one day earning some income from this venture so it can directly benefit my growing family and perhaps fund the acquisition of new tools. My wife and I have been married for six years and have two children (+1 on the way)!
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Josh Stolarz for inspiring me to begin my cartography/art journey and also to Dominque Strange for inviting me to this fantastic community that is The Cartographer's Guild. I look forward to getting to know you and seeing what you're working on!
Cheers! ☕
-Michael Java
Wow, that sounds like a very interesting approach to map-making! Got anything to share with us yet? I'm kind of curious now!
Welp, in any case, I'm glad you decided to come back to us, and I'll be even more glad should you become an active member of the gang. Welcome to the Guild! Don't hesitate to ask if there's anything you need.
I've got a small-but-growing presence on Instagram. If you're on there, I'd love to connect!Originally Posted by Kellerica
hey.. great to hear a bit of your story. I have been enjoying watching your skills improve in Instagram. I have 'theoretically' been here since 2016, but keep getting distracted by the rest of the world and rarely pop in, so it kind of seems wrong for me to say welcome :-)
Today you have inspired me to make an effort to pop in more regularly
Good luck on your mapping adventure
(PS. love the coffee staining idea - i use a de-saturated coffee stain overlay on most of my maps to add texture and interest... it just adds something real to it somehow)
Hey Michael! Nice to see you pop in here. Thank you for the shout out as well, I’m honored that I was able to play a role in you taking up mapping. Hope to see you around more
- Josh
Thanks Josh!Hey Michael! Nice to see you pop in here. Thank you for the shout out as well, I’m honored that I was able to play a role in you taking up mapping. Hope to see you around more
- Josh
Hi! Brand new member here - I love the idea of using coffee for maps! I've experimented a bit with coffee staining art (like this portrait of a dragon artificer NPC from my ongoing campaign) but haven't tried applying it to maps yet. Look forward to seeing more of your stuff.
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