paper recommendations for handdrawn maps?

[Colin Logan]

I'm getting the sneaking suspicion that I should stop now and consider starting over on proper parchment/paper. what type of paper do you recommend for what is to be a vintage navigational style world map that is approximately 3' x 3' and hand inked/painted?

[Gidde]

3' by 3' is hard to come by. The largest paper I've found for mapping is 22" by 30" watercolor paper.

[waldronate]

If you're looking for really big paper, you can get kraft paper for wrapping things in up to 48" wide rolls. If you have a pack/ship place in town, they might be willing to sell you a big square of stuff for very little (these stores may also have better quality papers than raw kraft, as well). Kraft paper gets you lots of nice bleed effects, but a lot of folks think that it's ugly and it doesn't take a lot of fine detail. There are various wrapping papers that have blank backsides that you can use if you want smooth paper. https://www.amazon.com/Bee-Paper-816.../dp/B0027AAL46 shows that you can get good quality drawing paper for not too much cash.

Ultimately, the paper that you need will depend largely on the way that you intend to mark it. Pencil, marker, charcoal, and pen-dipped-in-blood all have very different drawing and erasure characteristics: each works best on different papers. I do admit that I'm more of the "draw it on the computer and print it later" school (nice white printer papers can also be had in a roll with very wide widths, but they can be pricey).

[Colin Logan]

Thank you. The latter of those inking methods is certainly intriguing but this might be too large to do without donations and let me tell you that ain't an easy sell. I guess I'm so tactile when it comes to art that software is always a final phase for reproduction thing to me. However, I am becoming more and more interested in using some projection programs to see my maps in those terms.

for this project I plan on using ink pens and washes so there will be a lot of detail work but the over all feel ( hopefully ) will be rustic so bleeding will be welcome in moderation.

Thanks again!

[Eri]

I have asked previously for paper at some of those poster/plan printing shops considering they print at larger sizes and they do sell the paper at larger sizes, but for the same price as the printed version. The largest I've seen that way is A0 - (841mm x 1189mm)