#robert-lythe — Public Fediverse posts

Mercator Settlement: A Free 16th Century Settlement Brush Set for Fantasy Maps

Buckle up mapmakers, it’s history time! Between 1567 and 1570, surveyor Robert Lythe worked in Ireland on behalf of the British government to assess how best to garrison and colonize their latest conquest. Much of that work was never widely distributed in his time; but those surveys would later go on to influence a great many cartographers, including the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator.

Mercator is famous for a great many things, particularly his globes, but also his maps and atlases. He’s also the guy who invented the now infamous Mercator projection. Handy for shipping when created, it has since become derided for its distortion despite its widespread adoption. But that could be an article of its own, and there’s plenty of people who have written those already, and we got fantasy maps to make.

Hey look, it’s Gerardus Mercator!

Today’s set comes from Mercator’s famous 1595 Atlas. It was published posthumously by his son Rumold not too long after his death. From there, the copper plates were acquired by Jodocus Hondius, who further reprinted Mercator’s maps, further popularizing the man. The source for this latest brush set is one of those early Hondius reprints, and is the first in my Mercator Collection. It’s time to meet Mercator Settlement.

All my Map Tools will always be free. Want to help support this work?
Click here to learn how.

Some of the settlement symbols.

So how doesn’t Lythe come into play here? Well, there’s an odd little map is tucked away inside that 1595 Atlas, and later reprinted “with privilege,” as Hondius liked to say. It’s a map of Carlow County, Ireland (at the time called Catherlagh Baronia), detailing the hills, trees, gallows, and villages along the River Barrow. Lythe’s survey’s most likely influenced its creation, as his work would have been accessible by Mercator.

As best I can tell, Mercator didn’t create maps of any of the other counties in Ireland, so I’m not sure why Carlow was specifically chosen. (Maybe a commission?) He tended to focus his work on larger-scale projects, mapping whole countries or continents, and not on intimate regional maps. So it’s an odd inclusion and stands out among his other published works. But the signs and symbols are perfect for fantasy maps.

Some of the flora brushes from the set.

I was immediately drawn to Mercator’s approach to the towns and villages. I’ve always liked it when cartographers from the 16th and 17th centuries drew detailed depictions of settlements rather than just round dots or repeating the same symbol over and over. That tends to works rather well for fantasy maps. But there’s more here than just his drawing of habitation. While I am officially classifying this as a settlement set, it’s robust enough to go beyond that. There are lush forests, hilly mountains, and even a rare earthwork structure that once served as the border between Carlow and Kilkenny. (Fun little fact: this is the first time I have been able to source every object from the original manuscript.)

Just a small number of the landforms in the set. I love how clean they look.

Because I was able to extract so much from the original manuscript, Mercator Settlement has over 230 brushes, including:

• 12 Small Towns
• 88 Towns
• 15 Large Towns
• 2 Cities
• 17 Unique Settlements
• 15 Individual Trees

• 13 Small Forests
• 18 Forests
• 33 Single Hills
• 21 Multiple Hills
• 2 Unique Hills
• 2 Map Component Cartouches

The button below links to a ZIP file that contains a 2.3 MB Photoshop ABR brush set (it’ll also work with GIMP, Affinity Photo, and I’m told Procreate now). I also release the set as a pack of individual PNGs organized by folder, similar to how I organize the ABR file. This should make using these with tools like Wonderdraft much easier. No more extracting symbols from an enormous PNG.

Like this set? Click here to learn how you can support this project.

download Mercator Settlement

Download the Mercator Settlement PNG Pack
(4.2 MB)

As with all of my previous brush sets, Mercator Settlement is free for any use. I distribute my sets with a Creative Commons, No Rights Reserved License (CC0), which means you can freely use this and any of my brushes in personal or commercial work and distribute adaptations. No attribution is required. Easy peasy!

Enjoy Mercator Settlement? Feel free to show me what you created by emailing me. I love seeing how these brushes get used, and I’d be happy to share your work with my readers. Let me see what you make!

Mercator Settlement in Use

Want to see how I’ve used this set? There are three versions: a colored example, a black-and-white rendition, and a decorated sample. Click on any of the images below to view them larger. Perhaps this will inspire you as you get started on your projects!

4000×5000 (8.7 MB) 4000×5000 (6.6 MB) 1080×1350 (1.7 MB)

Sample Details: I hand-drew the landmasses in Photoshop using True Grit Texture Supply’s Monomania. The font is Thanatos Variable from Herzberg Design, which can be licensed from them or via Adobe Fonts. The water texture is from a currently unreleased set based on Mercator’s work. It’s still in development but I’ll release it when I feel like it’s right. Still a bit finicky now. All the names are surnames that come from famous biologists. The paper texture is from True Grit’s Infinite Pulp. True Grit is also where I got Atomica, which gives me ink-like effects for the text and colors, and I used their recent release Aqua Studio to get the watercolor effect. I didn’t mean this to be a True Grit ad at this point, but what can I say, I’m a fan and I like their stuff!

Support this Work

Brushes and tools released through the #NoBadMaps project will always be free and released under a public domain CC0 license. If you’d like to support the project and help me cover the cost of hosting, research, and tool-set development, I’ve put together three ways you can help, and all are detailed below.

Buy My Books→

I’m not just a map enthusiast. I’m also a novelist! The easiest way to support me (and get something in return) is by purchasing one of my cosmic horror urban fantasy novels.

❦

Buy Me a Coffee→

A simple and quick way to support the #NoBadMaps project is through a one-time donation of any amount via ko-fi. Your support helps keep this project going and is appreciated.

❦

Join my Patreon→

If you want to continually support the #NoBadMaps project through a reoccurring monthly contribution, consider joining my Patreon and get sneak peeks into what’s coming.

❦

More Map Brushes

This is just one of many brush sets and map tools I’ve released. You can find it and other free brushes covering a wide variety of historical styles on my Fantasy Map Brushes page. Every set is free, distributed under a CC0 license, and open for personal or commercial use. I’m sure you’ll be able to find something that works for your project. Click the button below to check them out!

view more Fantasy Map Brushes

Want to stay in touch with me? Sign up for Dead Drop, my rare and elusive newsletter. Subscribers get news, previews, and notices on my books before anyone else delivered directly to their inbox. I work hard to ensure it’s not spammy and contains interesting and relevant information. Sign Up Today →

#adobe #art #brushes #carlowCounty #cartography #design #fantasy #free #gerardusMercator #history #illustration #ireland #jodocusHondius #mapMaking #maps #nobadmaps #photoshop #robertLythe #rumoldMercator #settlements

Mercator Settlement: A Free 16th Century Settlement Brush Set for Fantasy Maps

Buckle up mapmakers, it’s history time! Between 1567 and 1570, surveyor Robert Lythe worked in Ireland on behalf of the British government to assess how best to garrison and colonize their latest conquest. Much of that work was never widely distributed in his time; but those surveys would later go on to influence a great many cartographers, including the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator.

Mercator is famous for a great many things, particularly his globes, but also his maps and atlases. He’s also the guy who invented the now infamous Mercator projection. Handy for shipping when created, it has since become derided for its distortion despite its widespread adoption. But that could be an article of its own, and there’s plenty of people who have written those already, and we got fantasy maps to make.

Hey look, it’s Gerardus Mercator!

Today’s set comes from Mercator’s famous 1595 Atlas. It was published posthumously by his son Rumold not too long after his death. From there, the copper plates were acquired by Jodocus Hondius, who further reprinted Mercator’s maps, further popularizing the man. The source for this latest brush set is one of those early Hondius reprints, and is the first in my Mercator Collection. It’s time to meet Mercator Settlement.

All my Map Tools will always be free. Want to help support this work?
Click here to learn how.

Some of the settlement symbols.

So how doesn’t Lythe come into play here? Well, there’s an odd little map is tucked away inside that 1595 Atlas, and later reprinted “with privilege,” as Hondius liked to say. It’s a map of Carlow County, Ireland (at the time called Catherlagh Baronia), detailing the hills, trees, gallows, and villages along the River Barrow. Lythe’s survey’s most likely influenced its creation, as his work would have been accessible by Mercator.

As best I can tell, Mercator didn’t create maps of any of the other counties in Ireland, so I’m not sure why Carlow was specifically chosen. (Maybe a commission?) He tended to focus his work on larger-scale projects, mapping whole countries or continents, and not on intimate regional maps. So it’s an odd inclusion and stands out among his other published works. But the signs and symbols are perfect for fantasy maps.

Some of the flora brushes from the set.

I was immediately drawn to Mercator’s approach to the towns and villages. I’ve always liked it when cartographers from the 16th and 17th centuries drew detailed depictions of settlements rather than just round dots or repeating the same symbol over and over. That tends to works rather well for fantasy maps. But there’s more here than just his drawing of habitation. While I am officially classifying this as a settlement set, it’s robust enough to go beyond that. There are lush forests, hilly mountains, and even a rare earthwork structure that once served as the border between Carlow and Kilkenny. (Fun little fact: this is the first time I have been able to source every object from the original manuscript.)

Just a small number of the landforms in the set. I love how clean they look.

Because I was able to extract so much from the original manuscript, Mercator Settlement has over 230 brushes, including:

• 12 Small Towns
• 88 Towns
• 15 Large Towns
• 2 Cities
• 17 Unique Settlements
• 15 Individual Trees

• 13 Small Forests
• 18 Forests
• 33 Single Hills
• 21 Multiple Hills
• 2 Unique Hills
• 2 Map Component Cartouches

The button below links to a ZIP file that contains a 2.3 MB Photoshop ABR brush set (it’ll also work with GIMP, Affinity Photo, and I’m told Procreate now). I also release the set as a pack of individual PNGs organized by folder, similar to how I organize the ABR file. This should make using these with tools like Wonderdraft much easier. No more extracting symbols from an enormous PNG.

Like this set? Click here to learn how you can support this project.

download Mercator Settlement

Download the Mercator Settlement PNG Pack
(4.2 MB)

As with all of my previous brush sets, Mercator Settlement is free for any use. I distribute my sets with a Creative Commons, No Rights Reserved License (CC0), which means you can freely use this and any of my brushes in personal or commercial work and distribute adaptations. No attribution is required. Easy peasy!

Enjoy Mercator Settlement? Feel free to show me what you created by emailing me. I love seeing how these brushes get used, and I’d be happy to share your work with my readers. Let me see what you make!

Mercator Settlement in Use

Want to see how I’ve used this set? There are three versions: a colored example, a black-and-white rendition, and a decorated sample. Click on any of the images below to view them larger. Perhaps this will inspire you as you get started on your projects!

4000×5000 (8.7 MB) 4000×5000 (6.6 MB) 1080×1350 (1.7 MB)

Sample Details: I hand-drew the landmasses in Photoshop using True Grit Texture Supply’s Monomania. The font is Thanatos Variable from Herzberg Design, which can be licensed from them or via Adobe Fonts. The water texture is from a currently unreleased set based on Mercator’s work. It’s still in development but I’ll release it when I feel like it’s right. Still a bit finicky now. All the names are surnames that come from famous biologists. The paper texture is from True Grit’s Infinite Pulp. True Grit is also where I got Atomica, which gives me ink-like effects for the text and colors, and I used their recent release Aqua Studio to get the watercolor effect. I didn’t mean this to be a True Grit ad at this point, but what can I say, I’m a fan and I like their stuff!

Support this Work

Brushes and tools released through the #NoBadMaps project will always be free and released under a public domain CC0 license. If you’d like to support the project and help me cover the cost of hosting, research, and tool-set development, I’ve put together three ways you can help, and all are detailed below.

Buy My Books→

I’m not just a map enthusiast. I’m also a novelist! The easiest way to support me (and get something in return) is by purchasing one of my cosmic horror urban fantasy novels.

❦

Buy Me a Coffee→

A simple and quick way to support the #NoBadMaps project is through a one-time donation of any amount via ko-fi. Your support helps keep this project going and is appreciated.

❦

Join my Patreon→

If you want to continually support the #NoBadMaps project through a reoccurring monthly contribution, consider joining my Patreon and get sneak peeks into what’s coming.

❦

More Map Brushes

This is just one of many brush sets and map tools I’ve released. You can find it and other free brushes covering a wide variety of historical styles on my Fantasy Map Brushes page. Every set is free, distributed under a CC0 license, and open for personal or commercial use. I’m sure you’ll be able to find something that works for your project. Click the button below to check them out!

view more Fantasy Map Brushes

Want to stay in touch with me? Sign up for Dead Drop, my rare and elusive newsletter. Subscribers get news, previews, and notices on my books before anyone else delivered directly to their inbox. I work hard to ensure it’s not spammy and contains interesting and relevant information. Sign Up Today →

#adobe #art #brushes #carlowCounty #cartography #design #fantasy #free #gerardusMercator #history #illustration #ireland #jodocusHondius #mapMaking #maps #nobadmaps #photoshop #robertLythe #rumoldMercator #settlements