SHAMBALA map / making of / inspiration / etc

This is a map I created over the months leading up to this years ever magical, ever wonderful, Shambala festival.
The map was NOT intended for navigating around the site - it was more intended as a decorative, fun, promotional illustration of all the fantastic things that Shambala has to offer. The map however was printed in the first page of the festival programme - and this probably led to quite a few people trying to use it to find their way around, and probably getting very lost - not many things were in the right spot! (I was basically just given a list of venues to include, and then more or less place them wherever I wanted.)
But then again, maybe that was the idea - the best times at festivals are often the ones where you end up somewhere you never expected to find...
It was LONG and challenging process making the map, but it was also a lot of fun, and extremely satisying when I finally finished and got to see and share the end result.
ps. Where's Wally tip: There's a secret portrait of me and my boy hidden in the map - can you spot us?

If you would like to order a print of the map, you can do so at my Etsy shop, by clicking here.

If you would like to order a print at a custom made size (it could be as big or small as you like), email me at annahiggie@gmail.com

Look closer...

WORK IN PROGRESS ON THE FINAL:

Basically, I drew every element separately, and then knitted it all together and added colour in Photoshopo. This meant I could move everything around and play with different colours, sizes, and compositions along the way.
I felt that if I'd tried to do everything on one piece of paper, it would have been a lot harder to change things, and it would also have been very difficult for me to scan well. Here are some examples of individual elements that eventually all got married all together into one big final piece:

INITIAL SKETCHES

3rd sketch (last one before going to final image):

2nd Sketch:

Initial 1st sketch:

INSPIRATION!!!

Here are some other maps made for festivals that I had a look at when researching the map and figuring out how the hell I was going to tackle this project (having never made a map before in my life - quite a daunting task at first):

Glastonbury by day and night:

This years Green Man map (my personal fave, I love this aesthetic):

Bestival:

The Southbank Center Festival of the World:

OTHER MAPS I LIKE:

Here's a small selection of other maps I looked at and liked when researching for the map:

INSPIRATION FROM OTHER ARTISTS...

The incredible Marc Boutavant, one of my favourite illustrators, was a big inspiration when it came to creating the characters in the map, which is something I haven't done very much before.
I was also looking at characters created by Moomins creator Tove Jansson (and the treehouse - see below - is pretty much copied from a treehouse in one of my all time favourite books, Who Will Comfort Toffle - a must have for children of all ages, and adults too)
A lot of inspiration in terms of general composition and character design also came from fellow Jamaica Street superstar illustrator Bjorn Rune-Lie (who was a big inspiration when it came to drawing the stylised trees in the forest as well, I must admit):