How to Sketch a Fantasy Map
This written tutorial pairs with the Red Quills video tutorial How to Sketch a Fantasy Map, now on the YouTube page. You can watch it here.
You sit before a blank page, pencil in hand, staring at the mess of lines and eraser smudges left behind by a dozen failed attempts. You had a vision once—a world teeming with life, with ancient kingdom s and bustling trade routes, with mountains that divided empires and rivers that shaped civilizations. But every time you tried to draw it, doubt crept in. Was this the right shape? Would those mountains really go there? Should the rivers flow differently? Again and again, they crumpled the page and started over.
You weren't just making a map; you were building a world. And if the foundation was weak, how could the world feel real?
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Many aspiring fantasy cartographers find themselves trapped in an endless cycle of redrawing, unable to commit to a world shape that feels right. But the key to breaking free isn’t just about learning how to sketch coastlines or shade mountains. It’s about understanding why landmasses form the way they do, where cities naturally emerge, and how geography shapes the cultures that live there.
So, let’s take a step back from the page and talk about the foundations of fantasy mapmaking.
Hello, adventurers, and welcome back to the Red Quills! Today, we’re tackling the most intimidating part of fantasy cartography: starting the map. If you’ve ever stared at a blank page, overwhelmed by the infinite possibilities before you, wondering where to begin, then this is the video for you.
We’re talking about sketching—how to lay the groundwork for your fantasy world by determining the shape of continents, the relationship between coastlines, mountains, and rivers, and the necessary additions to make the map functional, such as borders, titles, and legends. Most importantly, we’ll explore how to make it all look natural and real. Because a world that looks right feels right.
We’ll also take a look at history—how maps evolved from medieval guesswork to the detailed, precise art form we know today, and what we can learn from the way ancient mapmakers filled in the blanks of their world with what they expected to find.
And, as always, you can download today’s map from our Patreon, where we provide free resources to help you build your world. If you want feedback on your own sketches, join our ever-growing community on Discord. And if you're looking for a custom fantasy map, I also take commissions—whether for a novel, a tabletop RPG, or your own worldbuilding project. Now, let’s dive in!
One of the first steps in creating a compelling fantasy map is deciding the shape of your world. The landmass shape sets the stage for everything—climate, cultures, trade routes, and conflict. Let’s look at a few famous maps, both historical and fictional, that can inspire different approaches:
1. The Pangea Approach – Early Earth & Middle-earth (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Some worlds start as single, massive continents—like Pangea, the supercontinent of Earth’s prehistoric past. While our world eventually split into the continents we know today, a similar structure can be used for a fantasy setting, where all civilizations originate from a single vast landmass. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, though not quite a supercontinent, follows a similar philosophy: its large, continuous landmass fosters sprawling civilizations, overland migrations, and deep historical connections between cultures. If you want a world shaped by ancient empires, great migrations, and overland conquests, a Pangea-like structure is a great option.
2. The Archipelago Approach – Japan & Earthsea (Ursula K. Le Guin)
On the other end of the spectrum, some worlds are made up of scattered islands instead of vast continents. Japan’s historical isolation and reliance on the sea for trade and warfare serve as an excellent real-world example of how an archipelago influences culture. In fiction, Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea is an iconic example of an archipelago world, where travel is dominated by ships, and islands each have distinct identities. Archipelago settings tend to emphasize seafaring cultures, decentralized power, and a focus on exploration, making them a great choice for adventure-heavy fantasy settings.
3. The Rift Continent – Africa & The Broken Empire (Mark Lawrence)
Some landmasses are shaped not by unity, but by division. Africa’s Great Rift Valley is an example of how tectonic activity can split a continent, creating deep lakes, mountain ranges, and drastic geographical shifts. Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire takes this idea and applies it to fantasy, depicting a world fractured by ancient cataclysms, where nations are isolated by rugged landscapes. A rift-style continent can make travel difficult, encourage regional diversity, and give rise to isolated kingdoms that develop unique cultures.
4. The Peninsular World – Europe & Westeros (George R.R. Martin)
Europe’s geography, with its many peninsulas, inlets, and natural borders, has shaped thousands of years of conflict and cultural evolution. George R.R. Martin’s Westeros takes a similar approach: a long, narrow landmass defined by natural barriers, leading to distinct regional cultures, political rivalries, and trade hubs. If you want a world filled with warring kingdoms, regional politics, and diverse environments within a single landmass, a peninsular structure is a strong choice.
5. The Ring Continent – The Indian Ocean & Halo’s Installation 04
Some worlds take on circular or enclosed shapes, forming natural barriers that impact trade and movement. The Indian Ocean, surrounded by Africa, Asia, and Australia, has historically been a hub of maritime trade, while the science-fiction world of Halo features artificial ringworlds that enclose entire ecosystems. A ring-shaped landmass can create unique geographic challenges, encouraging centralized civilizations and fostering highly specialized economies in different sections of the world.
Each of these world shapes encourages different styles of storytelling, from overland empires to seafaring nations. When designing your own fantasy world, think about the type of adventures you want to take place within it—your landmass should shape your story just as much as your characters do.
So, how do we begin sketching our own fantasy maps? Let’s break it down step by step.
Shaping the World
One of the first roadblocks for many fantasy mapmakers is deciding what the land actually looks like. Should you create a single massive continent? A sprawling archipelago? A world dominated by inland seas or cut through by towering mountain chains?
To answer that, consider the following:
- Tectonic Movement & Natural Formation: Real-world landmasses are shaped by plate tectonics. Continents drift, crash together, and tear apart. If you want your world to feel natural, think about where plates might collide, forming mountain ranges, or where they might split, creating rift valleys and deep seas.
- Climate & Biomes: The shape of a continent affects how wind and ocean currents move. A long, narrow continent will have different climate zones than a round one. If a landmass stretches across the equator, it might have lush jungles in the middle and frozen tundra at its poles.
- Historical Context: Is this world ancient, with well-worn landscapes, or young, with dramatic volcanic islands still forming? Is the landmass relatively stable, or is it still experiencing cataclysmic changes?
Sketching the shape is one thing, but understanding why it looks the way it does makes all the difference.
Building the Landscape
Once you have your landmass, you need to decide where to place its mountains, rivers, and other features. These elements define not just the geography but also the civilizations that will rise around them.
- Mountains & Highlands: These often form at tectonic boundaries. They act as natural barriers, splitting cultures apart and shaping trade routes. Kingdoms on one side of a mountain range may develop differently from those on the other.
- Rivers & Lakes: Rivers don’t split—they converge. They start in the mountains and flow toward the sea, shaping valleys and providing fresh water. Cities naturally form along rivers because they provide easy transportation, food, and irrigation for farming.
- Coastlines & Islands: These are shaped by erosion, tides, and plate activity. Large, calm bays make excellent harbors and lead to seafaring nations, while jagged cliffs and stormy coasts might make travel difficult and isolate regions from the rest of the world.
These elements all work together to create a landscape that feels like it evolved naturally over time.
Placing Kingdoms and Cultures
Once the physical landscape is in place, the next step is deciding where people live and how civilizations develop.
- Natural Boundaries & Borders: Geography often dictates where political boundaries form. Mountain ranges and rivers often serve as borders between kingdoms, while open plains might lead to contested territories and shifting frontiers.
- Trade & Travel Routes: Civilizations tend to form along major trade routes. Rivers act as highways, and coasts create bustling port cities. If your map has a massive desert, think about how people would cross it—by caravan, through oasis settlements, or via underground reservoirs?
- Resource Distribution: Where are the valuable resources? A kingdom with abundant farmland might be a dominant agricultural power, while a mountainous region rich in minerals could lead to a powerful mining empire.
These factors help shape not just the map but the history and cultures that arise from it.
From Map to Story
Once your geography and cultures are in place, you can start thinking about how to use your map as a storytelling tool. Let’s walk through an example:
- Choose a Landmass Shape: You decide your world is made up of one massive continent with a shattered island chain in the east, the remnants of an ancient volcanic explosion.
- Fill It with Cultures & Kingdoms: The inland desert is home to nomadic tribes, while the western coast is dominated by a naval empire. The central river valleys host rival city-states, constantly competing for dominance.
- Place Towns & Cities: A great capital rises where the major rivers converge, built on centuries of trade and conquest. A fortress sits high in the mountains, guarding a valuable pass. A hidden village thrives in the dense jungle, its people untouched by the outside world.
- Start the Adventures: With the world mapped out, stories begin to emerge. A merchant sets sail across the treacherous eastern sea to trade with the islanders. A prince seeks to reclaim his family's lost throne in the mountain citadel. A band of rebels plots revolution in the shadow of the capital's great walls.
By treating your map as a foundation for storytelling, you create not just a setting, but a living, breathing world.
And there you have it! The first sketch of your fantasy map is just the beginning of the journey. Like the great maps of history, it will evolve and change as you refine it. Start broad, let the world take shape, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes—because every great map starts with a single sketch.
I create sketches like this all the time for the maps that I make on this channel and for commissions: I honestly struggle to choose what to talk about on this topic, because there are so many tidbits and inputs that I’ve picked up over the years. I would like to sit down for a long-form livestream in the near future, answering questions and creating something in real time so that you can follow along. If that sounds interesting to you, let me know in the comments below, and let me know what you’re struggling with or what tips you want to share of your own!
If you found this helpful, check out the free map download on Patreon. Because this one is a commission, I have a map of the Northern Kingdoms and the war with Nilfgaard from the Witcher books available on Patreon this week, so you can check that out!
If you want to share your own sketches, join our Discord! And if you're looking for a custom fantasy map, I take commissions—check out the details in the description below. Next time, we’ll dive into inking techniques.
Until then, keep mapping, keep creating, and as always, happy worldbuilding!