Shawn Brown: Freelance Artist and Cartographer

by Chris Africa

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What would need to have happened to take us from today's Earth to the future Mars shown in freelance artist and cartographer Shawn Brown's "Mars 2172 C.E." (at right)?

That's the sort of question Brown hopes viewers will ask themselves when they come across this map in his cartography portfolio.

"I think that artistic maps should always hint at some type of story," he said, and a quick look at his collection shows that his are full of meaning and vision. "I made 'Mars 2172 C.E.' while the Spirit and Opportunity rovers were in transit to Mars. The map depicts a future that is quite optimistic. It shows a planetary system that has become commercially viable, serving as a jump-off point and source of raw materials for projects in the outer solar system."

Brown received a BS from Ball State University ('99) with a major in English and minors in creative writing and computer application, and after he graduated he taught junior high school English in Japan for three years. As with most passions, his interest in maps started much earlier -- as far back as elementary school, when he made maps for board games that he designed himself.

"My current interest in mapping began when I was in university. While doing research for an independent study, I ran across several old public domain maps of Britain. I had always planned on publishing my own role playing game book and I decided that I wanted the maps in my book to look just like those old metal-plate engravings," he said.

Busy with non-mapping activities at the time, he photocopied the maps and filed them away.

"A few years later, when I was teaching English in Japan, I began to study them, paying very close attention to the details," he said. "After mulling over the possibilities, I started to plan my own project using the old maps from 1607 as a point of reference and an example of style. When the project was finished, I had a highly detailed map spanning nine-pages which I'm still extremely happy with."

Map-makers who chart current locations and geographic features -- such as those who work for the U.S. Geological Survey -- have degrees in cartographic sciences or geography. There are far fewer creative cartographers like Brown, and they are more comparable to artists and illustrators.

His latent interest and considerable artistic skill blossomed into a hobby and eventually a full-time job. In the summer of 2003 he started creating maps for publishers, and he has since done work for Dragon Magazine, Pokémon USA, Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG), and Green Ronin Publishing among others.

While admitting that fantasy maps are "fun and usually offer a lot of freedom," he said his favorite projects are historical maps, which require research to do properly. "These kinds of maps have their own unique set of problems. I enjoy working through these projects and I get to learn a lot at the same time."

For more information about Shawn Brown or his services, view his personal web site and his biography on the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists web site. He also welcomes e-mail inquiries.

Chris Africa is a veteran writer and editor, with eight years' experience in Web site development. In November 2003, she founded Ultraverse e-zine of science fiction and fantasy. For more information about Chris Africa, browse her personal web site, Parola Scritta. Feel free to contact her at either of her e-mail addresses: baiewola@yahoo.com or editor@ultraverse.us

© Chris Africa

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