Cartography by Alex Copeland
It occurred to me recently that some of you out there may have a vague knowledge that I work at an art magazine, but have no idea what that even means. I thought it might be fun for the Friend Public to get more of a glimpse into just what the hell I do with my time at TRIBAL ART - A Quarterly Journal of the Art, Culture, and History of Traditional Peoples and New World Civilizations.
www.tribalartmagazine.com
Well, I am pleased to say that, amidst days of acting as general office boy, associate editor, and miscellaneous website manager and information wrangler (below He Who Holds the Keris and She Who Holds the Pistol, which I suppose makes me He Who Holds the Fork), I am also the magazine's official cartographer! I've been honing my charter's craft over several seasons now, though there's never more than one or two maps included in each quarterly issue, and glee impulsed me to share some. These are all in Photoshop, by the way.
This is one of the earliest I made. It accompanied an article about a famous Tlingit war helmet, shaped like the head of a raven, that was worn in and commemorated an historic conflict between the Kiks.ádi tribe and Russian forces in the beginning of the nineteenth century. This has been the only map to have used the "old-tyme watercolor chart look."
The following three are the most recent examples, and my best work thus far.
This first one accompanied an article about the history of Christianity in Ethiopia. It's a pretty interesting subject, involving scores of massive, ancient churches hewn into living rock. (I still haven't read the article! It often happens that the people who work at the magazine are the ones who read it least.)
This map of Greenland is my overall favorite. It is to be included in the upcoming issue, embellishing an article about the Danish exploration of inhospitable Eastern Greenland in the late nineteenth century, fifty years after the arrival of missionaries to the western coast, where there was much merry idol-burning and mask-destroying fun.
This is the most recent map I've completed, also to be included in the upcoming issue. It illustrates an article about the kifwebe maskettes of the Songye and Luba cultures in central Congo. Masks are neat. Beware the ndoshi and his maleficent arts. Dispose of your nail and hair clippings carefully, or you may be foolishly arming an enemy warlock!
I've started doing this a little bit on a freelance basis, too. Right now I'm working on a set of maps for an Oceanic art dealer. And Patty and I have been talking about a website!
www.tribalartmagazine.com
Well, I am pleased to say that, amidst days of acting as general office boy, associate editor, and miscellaneous website manager and information wrangler (below He Who Holds the Keris and She Who Holds the Pistol, which I suppose makes me He Who Holds the Fork), I am also the magazine's official cartographer! I've been honing my charter's craft over several seasons now, though there's never more than one or two maps included in each quarterly issue, and glee impulsed me to share some. These are all in Photoshop, by the way.
This is one of the earliest I made. It accompanied an article about a famous Tlingit war helmet, shaped like the head of a raven, that was worn in and commemorated an historic conflict between the Kiks.ádi tribe and Russian forces in the beginning of the nineteenth century. This has been the only map to have used the "old-tyme watercolor chart look."
The following three are the most recent examples, and my best work thus far.
This first one accompanied an article about the history of Christianity in Ethiopia. It's a pretty interesting subject, involving scores of massive, ancient churches hewn into living rock. (I still haven't read the article! It often happens that the people who work at the magazine are the ones who read it least.)
This map of Greenland is my overall favorite. It is to be included in the upcoming issue, embellishing an article about the Danish exploration of inhospitable Eastern Greenland in the late nineteenth century, fifty years after the arrival of missionaries to the western coast, where there was much merry idol-burning and mask-destroying fun.
This is the most recent map I've completed, also to be included in the upcoming issue. It illustrates an article about the kifwebe maskettes of the Songye and Luba cultures in central Congo. Masks are neat. Beware the ndoshi and his maleficent arts. Dispose of your nail and hair clippings carefully, or you may be foolishly arming an enemy warlock!
I've started doing this a little bit on a freelance basis, too. Right now I'm working on a set of maps for an Oceanic art dealer. And Patty and I have been talking about a website!