The general process (Zelda – Tears of the Kingdom)

Each illustrated map starts with one simple question. “How would it look from the outside looking in?” Not all games really give good feedback for that so I used that void to fill in the gaps and details myself. I try to stay as close as possible to the information that’s available to me and presented by the games, but sometimes the in-game areas just don’t line up logically, so that’s where artistic liberty comes in. 

For example – sometimes elevators don’t line up, or I have to display multiple areas that are directly above each other and I have to resort to perspective trickery. I also have to doublecheck with the game themselves how they line up or where the important landmarks can be found to make the map recognizable. After making a big sketch on paper to get a general feel for the outlines I start on the different areas to fill them in. This is a process that varies a bit, depending on the structure of the game. Metroidvania-style games with lots of interconnected rooms can be done from area to area, while larger open worlds or single areas are usually an everything-at-once affair. After (digitally) pencilling, I start grayscaling the areas, and after that I select the appropriate colors. Finally I’ll add some details to fill in the parts of the canvas that are left blank for aesthetic purposes, and that’s it! 

It’s been a process of several weeks to months where I could distill my artistry and passion for the game in question into paper and get the result you see in the store. Take a look at the creation video of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – this is a 1-minute video of two months worth of work!