Hand-drawn maps are enjoying a renaissance as contemporary artists use their imagination, creativity and humour to breathe new life into the traditional craft of cartography. Here are 10 of the best
Wed 15 May 2013 15.07 BST First published on Wed 15 May 2013 15.07 BST
Jenni Sparks' New York map is a follow-up to an equally fun London version, which was loved by the public for its contemporary points of reference, such as Del Boy's three-wheeler in Peckham and the 24-hour bagel shop in Brick Lane. Her take on the Big Apple includes Bob Dylan's old stomping ground and the public library, marked with a Ghostbusters logo. Sparks sells her works at Evermade.com and is currently working on a Berlin version
A section of Wellingtons Travel's Grand Map of London, which took three years to create and is available in various souvenir forms at wellingtonstravel.com
Artist Liam Roberts, originally from Canada, created a map of his adopted south London neighbourhood, Brixton, in the form of a tree, with its pubs and cafes represented as fruits and nests. He says: "You’ll notice that north is 'down' and south is 'up' – partly because Brixton’s roads better resemble a branching, forking tree this way." It was first featured in Londonist's hand-drawn map series and later updated with some new watering holes. His maps are available to buy on folksy.com
Shane Watt's Shutterbug is a "mash-up map", inspired by a long-distance relationship. It includes features from Montesquiou in south-west France, Athens, Washington DC and Philadelphia, with street names relating to his ex. Watt, a "semifictional map-maker" from Montreal, says: "I started making fictional maps based on the places I had been when I was seven years old. My brother and I used to write our own Choose Your Own Adventure novels based on my maps." Watt says he enjoys hiding secrets in his maps. More at wayneshot.wix.com/shane-watt-maps
Caroline Harper's map of Dartmoor, Devon, was inspired by her family's move to the area. It depicts many of the region's geographical, cultural and mythological features, including Dartmoor prison, Chagstock music festival, Kitty Jay's grave and Widecome church. Harper, who only started drawing maps 18 months ago, has created others in a similar style for Welwyn Garden City, York and EastEnders' Walford, which she sells on her website: carolineharper.com
Mark Webber's Paris map demonstrates another long creative process, combining lengthy walks around the city with 800 hours of carving to produce this linocut map. More examples – including Amsterdam, London and New York – can be seen on his website: markandrewwebber.com
Taken from Becky Cooper's Mapping Manhattan, this tree-covered vision of the island was created by Markley Boyer, the illustrator for Mannahatta, a book that imagines how Henry Hudson saw New York when he first arrived in the harbour 400 years ago. Image courtesy of Abrams Image
While some contributors to Mapping Manhattan depicted their lost loves, one chose to mourn their many lost gloves. This map, by Patricia Marx, reads: "Have also lost wallets, earrings, a zipper pull, umbrellas, virginity, mind, and a copy of Proust's In Search of Lost Time Vol. 1. But there is only so much I can draw." Image courtesy of Abrams Image
Artist Ellis Nadler (eliahu.squarespace.com) created this map of Brazil for his Flickr group Maps from Memory. The group shows just how subjective and non-factual maps can be, with this entry being deliberately tongue in cheek. "I have never been to Brazil," he says. "I did it for a laugh."
This is just a small section of a giant map of Liverpool by cartographer and artist Stephen Walter stephenwalter.co.uk. He is best known for his spoof-historical map of London The Island and also a follow-up subterranean map. Image courtesy of TAG Fine Arts
