I can sum it up: It’s not much of one.
Way back in my younger days I was infatuated with ArcPlot (which was the plotting portion of ArcINFO). From there I moved to Arcview, ArcMap, and eventually here to QGIS. All of my work typically revolves around Data. I usually deliver data. I hardly ever deliver a map. In the few instances I’ve delivered a map it’s always lacked “soul” or something. They seem to have as much artistic feeling as a CSV file.
It’s been a little over a year since the hospital incident and I’ve been doing a lot of inward reflection. I usually call it “Belly Button Gazing”. What is working for me and what isn’t? What do I need to change? I used to make a lot of noise of “changing things” and “clients” and what not. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t. I don’t handle stress well anymore and I’ve even turned down some work that looked stressful. I’m involved in one job at the moment that is too stressful.
One thing that does make me happy that I don’t indulge in enough is cartography. I used to draw/doodle a lot. I should do that more and I don’t. The closest I get to sketching is OSM field work.
I was digging around on the internet over the weekend looking at maps and discovered a DEM themed like a giant pile of Cotton Candy. Soft blues and pinks and I liked it. I dug into QGIS and made the map below. Just a DEM with no labeling. I picked a county I don’t go to much. It does have a fun shape though.
I think I’m going to attempt a Map every month. Maybe I’ll participate in the 30 Day Map Challenge this year.
The cartographic Tools in QGIS aren’t bad at all. Right now I’m trying to decide to do the whole thing in QGIS or fall back to Inkscape for the finishing portion. I’m usually a “do it all in one package” but I want to make better looking maps. So I think I need to stretch out a bit. I have a tril map I need to redo and one I want to make of a local park.
