Hand drawn maps

[Baron]

Why, I have some vodka right here... Oh no. Well, at least it was delicious!

[Caenwyr]

Isopropyl & denatured alcohol stinks awfully! Strong alcohol discolours the paint too much. So I use vodka (In Poland, it's cheap).

Yeah, I was wondering (my understanding of chemistry being... let's call it "limited") if alcohol didn't chemically interact with the different substances in paint. I mean, for all I know it could turn red into blue or black into transparent or whatever... and maybe it depends on the pigment used to get a certain colour too? I know you can get different blues by using vastly different substances, so these all would react differently with the alcohol, I would think. But once again, what do I know about chemistry! (the answer is: not very much) So I'm curious what it does to the different colours/pigments/...!

Why, I have some vodka right here... Oh no. Well, at least it was delicious!

I laughed!

[Impractical Cartographer]

So I'm curious what it does to the different colours/pigments/...!

I think you're mistaking alcohol for acid.



Vodka with blue watercolor still works. The colour is brightened up, but it is still blue.
It dries quickly. The paper is not deformed.



I'm also wondering if we shouldn't get into vodka production - eight colours of magic or something

[MistyBeee]

I already heard about mixed white alcohol + water used for watercolor in extreme temperatures : no-one wants to have a palette freezing while painting a snowy landscape. However, it sounds alcohol works well for the first layer, but not on the second one, as it tends to separate the pigments from the paper, making the "wet on dry" technique almost impossible. I assume it depends on paper and pigments thought ^^
There's a joke saying you're not a watercolorist before having a watercolor "naturally enhanced" with rain spots, and painting a coastal view with sea water. Definitely would add to this : "before you paint a map with vodka"

[Impractical Cartographer]

I'm not a watercolorist. I use watercolors to a very limited purposes to colour or shade something. I had a problem with the fact that even small amounts of water deformed my favorite paper. So I started experimenting. I thought: if the alcohol markers don't deform my paper, maybe I should try adding alcohol to the paints. And that's how it started

[Caenwyr]

I'm not a watercolorist. I use watercolors to a very limited purposes to colour or shade something. I had a problem with the fact that even small amounts of water deformed my favorite paper. So I started experimenting. I thought: if the alcohol markers don't deform my paper, maybe I should try adding alcohol to the paints. And that's how it started

It started like most alcohol themed experiments then: "what if I just try it and see what happens!"

[ThomasR]

My chemical two cents :

From what I know, bright colors are often what we call chemical complex : ions combined to other molecules (often water) to change the interaction of the substance with light. Swapping water for alcohol has a chance (risk ?) to alter the color. Using solvents like ammonia or acetone might have an altering effect too. One could easily play with a palette and see the results (but it's gonna be smelly). An issue : how would the paper react to acids and bases ? Also, alcohol, even if it's evaporating for the most part will remain in small doses and will eventually get oxidized into organic acids and that might change the color with time, air and light exposure or weaken the fabric of the paper.

Teacher Tom out

PS : on a personal note, I love all the ideas expressed here and might try some if I find the time

[J.Edward]

I need to try that.
Lots of good info in this thread

[jshoer]

Yes, this is a good discussion for me to file away for later...

I'm loving your tree work!

[Impractical Cartographer]

Little change of subject.

Labeling and layering in hand-drawn maps.
Perhaps many of you will consider it a trivial issue. But it was very difficult for me.
Then I learned the basics of calligraphy and... it was still difficult.
On digital maps, it was simple - the text was the last layer.
While drawing I had to completely reverse the arrangement of layers.



By trial and error method I discovered the correct order of drawing.
1. Towns icons and names.
2. Main labels - names of countries, geographical areas, mountains, etc.
3. Rivers.
4. Coastline.
5. Legend and description of the map.
6. And when it's all written down, I start drawing the rest. An additional reason is that most mistakes can be made with calligraphy - typos, misspelling, ink blobs - so when I start drawing I prefer get this risk of over with .
7. The roads at the end.





And how do you arrange layers on your maps? Can you give me a hint? Share your mistakes?