The Art of Place

A complete guide to drawing beautiful maps of your favourite locations
The ultimate accessible guide to map illustration with practical tips and projects - from drawing people, food and scenery to colour palettes and scale - from experienced illustrator Jessica Smith whose clients include Kate Spade, Stylist, Papersmiths and Uniqlo.

A map tells a story of place, people and culture. Learn how to draw your own beautiful maps to memorialise a childhood neighbourhood, capture an unforgettable holiday or dream about a bucket list destination.

Illustrator Jessica Smith guides you through basic drawing and painting techniques and tips and 20 practical exercises - from drawing people, to food to scenery - as you build the skills to draw compelling map illustrations that are full of life.


- Introduction to drawing and painting techniques
- How to research your location
- Finding cohesive colour palettes
- 20 tutorials on how to draw iconography for your maps including scenery, nature (trees, shells, animals, birds, flowers), landmarks (buildings, shops, homes, tourist attractions), people and food
- How to plan your map, whether a city, region or country
- Multiple map tutorials: region, country, city, neighbourhood

Whether you're new to drawing or looking for inspiration on what to draw next, map illustration is the perfect way to capture memories and dream about new ones.

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.