Figure 1. Raisz style Landform map of Mount Saint Helens (note: my name got cut off during my scan in the bottom right)
As a first project in cartography class, we were asked to create a landform map based on the style of a famous cartographer named Erwin Raisz. His style is very artistic and provides the viewer a clear understanding of the types of landforms found in an area. To do this, a location with very characteristic landforms was selected and using google earth we mapped out the area in a view that could exaggerate the type of landform.
Raisz Landform Examples
The following are the examples and our source of inspiration to base our maps off of
My Drafts
I practiced Raisz’s techniques with a small ink pen, just so I could get the feel of what was expected
Once I felt comfortable with the style, I started to create a rough draft of the whole area with pencil
This piece took a really long time since I was determined to put as much detail into it as I could. The detail, I thought, looked good in pencil but when I changed to pen it began to be really messy.
I soon began to discover that less is more when it comes to detail in a Raisz style landform map, especially when working on an area that is already dense with different types of landforms. And so, in my final draft, I combined pen and pencil techniques. The pen was used for the outline of major features and the pencil was used to show dimension to those features. Also, instead of using symbols to represent the forests, water and under developed vegetation zones, making the map more cluttered, I used colour so that the map as a whole would be less confusing and easier for the eye to understand.
Final copy.
-Selina Marinc 2018
Cartography 