Happy Customers
Just a few of many clients who used - and still use - my services as fantasy cartographer.
- Entertainment Weekly
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Frog God Games
- Splittermond
- Uhrwerk Verlag
- Riot Games
- Piltover
- AN-KUR RPG
- Alephtar Games
- Rogue Comet
- Wreck-Age
- Kat Ross, Author
- Robert J. Crane, novelist
- Noblemaster Games
- Dolmen Creative
- Victor Wendl, novelist
- 77 Worlds
- Pippa K., novelist
- Timandra Whitecastle, Novelist
- Mike Shelton, Author
- Wendigo Publishing & Consulting
- Katie M. Weiland, novelist
- Steamscapes
- Flagship Fiction
- Paul Leone, Novelist
- Edara: A Steampunk Renaissance
- William Speir, Novelist
- Tyche Books
- Sinxay
- Stefano Lanciotti, Writer
Here my work has been featured.
A fantasy cartographer is, like every other artist, always happy to see his art in some prominent location. Here are just a few examples of mediums, where my work as fantasy cartographer received wider attention.
WWW and TV
- The Middle East TV series 'Omar', aired on MBC, features in the opening credits a map which I made and was then turned into a 3D work by the digital artist of the TV show.
- An article on deviantART about fantasy maps.
- An article on boingboing on io9 about my medieval illustrations.
Gallery Shows
Terra Incognita at the former SoHo Gallery for Digital Art, now ARTHOUSE.NYC
A gallery show with several fantasy maps by different cartographers, covering a wide range of styles and ideas.
Mapping New York at the former SoHo Gallery for Digital Art, now ARTHOUSE.NYC
A gallery show with many different maps of New York by various cartographers, covering a wide range of styles and ideas: real world, fantasy, sci-fi or apocalypse scenarios.
Art Collections and Books
Several maps are available in the Map Room of the Cambridge University Library.
MAPPING AMERICA: EXPLORING THE CONTINENT by Fritz Kessler, published by Black Dog Publishing.
SURGE OF THE WINE-DARK SEA by Matt Finch, available as print or pdf (1,2).
References
Allie Porter, Underground Games
Robert's skill in bringing a fantasy realm to life is remarkable. We approached Robert on a tight timeline, and he more than exceeded expectations in delivery of the final product. His communication skills and ability to translate ideas into images made the map creation process fast, easy, and really exciting! Robert is a pleasure to work with, and we would highly recommend his services.
Tahsin Shamma - Designer of Thule
Robert is an extreme pleasure to work with. He has attention to detail, is responsive, and open to ideas. These are three exceptional qualities of any artist or cartographer. I plan on using his talents as much as I can to get a better view of the world I'm creating.
Krasimir Koichev - Riftforge Producer
Robert is one of the top three cartographer artists and I have been following closely his work over the last 2 years. His Hyperborea map was especially stunning and being a huge Conan fan, I decided I must find a project that we could work on together. The opportunity soon presented itself - a detailed map of Icecrest Bay for our online RPG, Riftforge.
Robert applied a very meticulous approach in translating the high-level concept of a frozen content into a series of 9 areas maps, all seamlessly integrated into a continent map. Each area has one or two unique geographic features (calderas, gorges, terraced hills, artificial lakes, etc) that require both artistic and technical mastery of cartography. I doubt anyone but a dedicated cartographer like Robert could have pulled off a fantasy map that is as diverse as Icecrest Bay but looks 100% natural.
I recommend him for any cartography project - no matter how big or complex - Robert should be your cartographer of choice!
Antonio Sá Neto - Redbox Editora
Working with Robert was very easy. Every day he sends you the details of the job and you can see the progress in real time. He is skilled and understands what you need.So you never have unpleasant surprises. I recommend Robert for your work and hope to work with him again.
Stregoneria RPG
Robert's cartography skills are nothing short of sublime. The work he has done for our Stregoneria RPG is even better than what we were hoping for. Efficient, talented and professional. Many Thanks.
Jason Varrone - Novelist
If you need a map, you need look no further than Robert Altbauer. Based on a referral from Robert J. Crane, I contacted Robert (Altbauer) about the possibility of creating a map for the series of fantasy fiction novels I am writing. He described the process as we traded e-mails, warning me about the process requiring lots of "back and forth" between the creator and the client. Fast forward one week later and my map is done, exceeding my expectations. This was the easiest part of the novel writing experience. I work in a customer service industry and would hire Robert to work in my field if I could, so cognizant is he of keeping his client's happy. I could write so much more about the experience, but I'll sum it up this way: If a map is needed, don't bother going elsewhere. Contact Robert and make it easy on yourself.
Greg A. Vaughan - Creative Director, Frog God Games
Robert makes some awesome maps. Some of the ones he did for the Slumbering Tsar series may be the coolest I have ever seen.
Chris Eldridge - Novelist
Robert is not only an excellent cartographer but a true artist. He totally met my expectations and then some. It's been a real pleasure. He worked quickly, was attentive to my needs, and was a consummate professional.
Jeff Quinn - Dolmen Creative
Robert was a joy to work with. We haven't ever made a campaign setting from scratch before, but he was up to the task and let us know if there was anything we were missing. We recommend Robert with our highest marks!
Christoph Aschwanden - CEO, Noble Master Games
Robert Altbauer has done a fantastic job creating several maps including a world map, large map of Europe as well as a fantasy map for our strategy game Age of Conquest. The maps have received the highest ratings of all the maps that are currently available within the game. We could not be happier getting Robert Altbauer on board helping us create a great player experience.
Wayne Kostencki - Vonschlick Productions
Robert did a great job. He took an ugly little map I had and turned it into what I envisioned it might become. He was professional with updates and suggestions along the way. He was open-minded to my changes and completed them willingly and in a timely manner. If I had another cartography job I would enthusiastically hire him again.
Shane McCarty
I'm thrilled with the result of Robert's work. I can't imagine anyone using his services being disappointed. Robert is diligent, patient, timely and talented. The process was a pleasure and the result is fantastic.
Paul Leone
Robert has done several map commissions for me, and they've all turned out wonderfully. He has great talent and is responsive and accommodating to requests and suggestions. He's a pleasure to work with, without a doubt.
Sébastien Pelletier - Avalanche RPG
I've been a BIG buyer of illustrations over the years : six illustrators and over 350 illustrations so far ; so, I'm quite used to the drill of working with artists. That said, we did have a couple of maps on the project, but really "unprofessional".
Our main concern was with the map of the "world" (which is more of the "region", in fact) and we wanted a professional artist to do it. I've contacted Robert for a commission and we came to a problem: there was so many ways to address this map's issue!!! How should we do this ? It turns out to be a contract of three maps of the same region : political, military and geographic. Quite unusual and quite a challenge in my opinion!!! Was it a success? The hell, yes!!! And I'd like to mention Robert's respect and immersion in the original content. Quite impressive.
Given that, we went to a city map. And a second. And a third and fourth. All in different styles; all spark of creativity !!! Robert really became a creator on this project; a creator of its own. Will I need more maps on this project ? Sure. And very different ones than what I have already. Will I hired Robert for those? No hesitation. Is he now entirely part our team? Certainly. Would I recommend him? Without a doubt.
I have found my "master mapper". Have you found yours?
Larry Sahw - Black Chicken Studios
Black Chicken Studios, Inc. had the opportunity to work with Robert Altbauer on our Academagia project in 2010. We found him to be not only a gifted artist and cartographer, but also willing to add more details, thought and features to the artwork in order to produce the very best map possible. He was detail oriented, very communicative and entirely reliable. In short: we were able to have a set of high quality maps made, in a short amount of time, with complete confidence in the final work.
Stephen Lewis - Novelist
When writing my first novel, I knew having a clean and suitable map would be necessary to draw readers further into the fantasy world. What I did not know was how convincing or exceptional the final product would be. Robert has forced me into the unenviable situation of having to write and create faster in order to utilize his talents again.
Chris Kelleher - Novelist
Robert was very responsive and fast about turning around revisions. He quickly turned a rough sketch into a realistic political map and gave me a very useful foundation for future work.
Ben Amsden - Novelist
I comissioned a fantasy map (County Kambos and Drakedale) from Robert and was extremely satisfied with both his process and the finished piece:
-He kept me abreast of every stage in the maps developement and was open and responsive to any adjustments or modifications along the way.
-He also came up with many great suggestions and wasn't afraid to stand by his opinion and argue its merits.
-He was dedicated to the project and completed it quickly.
Robert's artistic style is beautiful and he captured the feel of the world I was writting perfectly; I would recommend anyone who is looking to comission a map to look no further.
Robert J. Crane - Novelist
Robert was incredibly easy to work with, quick to respond to all my emails, and did a fantastic job for a very reasonable price and very quickly. He made something that I had been expecting to be very difficult into the easiest part of publishing my book, and I'm looking forward to having him design my next map.
Christopher Gunning
Working with Robert was an amazing experience. He is the consummate professional. I came to him with a vaguely-formed idea of what I wanted and together we worked to create completely realized world. Robert was routinely quick and responsive, even when I wasn't. He was also quite patient and understanding as I made change after change to the map - trying to get the feel right. Part of the joy of working with Robert is his ability to make common-sense changes that fulfilled my requests perfectly. I'd work with him again in a heartbeat (and hopefully will).
Creating worlds should be a blast - and working with Robert made it so. For the level of quality and professionalism, Robert's price cant be beat.
C. James Leone
The work that Robert performs is excellent. He's a talented cartographer that can take the quickest and crudest of sketches and turn it into what is not only a functional map, but a work of art. An excellent communicator, he made the process easy and demonstrated through his every action that he truly cares about making his customers happy. I couldn't recommend him enough.
Ryan Kelly - Remote Visions
Robert was great to work with. Very responsive (daily status updates) and the quality of work was excellent. The costs were also reasonable. In fact, I contracted Robert to work on additional illustrations which has helped provide a consistent experience across the game. I would not hesitate to hire Robert in the future.
Scott Brown
When I started the project with Robert, I had a very basic idea of the map. Robert, with a bit of patience, and a lot of skill helped to form and improve the idea far beyond what I originally expected. I could not be happier with the end results and hope to work with Robert again in the future.
Wendigo Publishing & Consulting, LLC.
Working with Robert at Fantasy-Map.Net was great! He was able to take our concepts and bring them to life, while showing us results and asking for feedback at each stage. We would recommend Robert for all your mapping needs, especially if you value timeliness, creativity, attention to detail, and friendliness.
Angelus V. Morningstar, Eidolon: The Electrodyne Opera
I contacted Robert because his artwork in cartography was simply the best. In my experiences of working with him I found him as enthused by the process of rendering maps as I was for creating my setting. To me this, was important as it was essential to chosing someone who had passion in creating worlds. Along each step of the process, Robert has advised me of progress and proactively ensured that I was aware of any delays. He also put up with a few last minute revisions, all to ensure that the map was the best.
Fox Mc Geever - Author
Robert’s map exceeded all expectations. His cartography skills gave a depth and intimacy to the world of The Parawerthan that I never thought existed. The process was stimulating, enlightening, professional and, above all, personal. It left me planning more worlds in order to see them laid out as maps.
David Bates
Robert didn't just draw me some maps, he helped build them from the ground up with me. It was fascinating to see how he gave life to a land from the foundations of its basic coastline and town locations, all the way to the finished product complete with hills, trees, rivers, mountains, and roads. His attention to detail is astounding, as well as his ability to adapt to varying degrees of styles, but what impressed me the most was how fast he returned revisions, quite often within 12-24 hours, and he kept doing it until it was perfect. Overall it was a pleasure to work with him, and I look forward to working with him again.
Matt Sibley
From the outset Robert was extremely good to work with. Highly proactive, with regular updates and discussions, I always felt that the project was being given a high level of attention and focus. My deadline was quite tight and he was able to meet this without issue, plus he clearly showed his experience through this efficiency. His portfolio showed off the vast array of styles that he has come to master and it meant that any discussions we had about how the map should look were always highly enlightening and quickly resolved. Although I was not after a highly mythological and fantastical city, basing mine on a realistic medieval urban environment, Robert's imagination still shone through. Combined with a clear demonstration of knowledge about the populations of the time he was able to produce a final result that I was extremely happy with.
Professional from the outset, flexible, imaginative and highly skilled I would easily recommend Robert for any further map requests, either from myself or someone I know.
Simon Forsyth
Robert is a fantastic cartographer. I gave him my rough design and he produced a fantastic map in double quick time. Robert grasped my concept straight away and exceeded my expectations. He was also quick with revisions and was totally professional throughout. It was a pleasure working with him.
Matt Johnson
Finding a cartographer personally was imperative for what I was doing so I was very fortunate to find Robert's site. His updates were quicker than I'd originally anticipated even without specifying a deadline and he employed initiative when necessary. Ultimately, with some patience on his end, the finished products met the standards I was looking for.
Mark Cavner
Working with Robert has been an absolute pleasure. Obviously he is extremely talented, but he is also professional, timely, and takes your vision and input and then creates a map that goes well beyond your own expectations. I couldn't be more pleased with the final product and look forward to working with Robert again.
William Speir
I first became aware of Robert Altbauer from his portfolio on deviantART.com. I was looking for fantasy map samples to help with my new novel, “The Kingstone of Airmid.” I was impressed with Robert’s work, and decided to contact him about doing a commission piece for the book. I provided a rough sample of what I wanted on the map based on the outline I had created for the book. In a very short period of time, Robert took my very amateurish draft and notes and transformed them into exactly what I wanted for my book! He created what I saw in my mind, but could not produce on paper or on my computer. I am extremely pleased with the work! Robert was easy to work with provided a great deal of guidance to help overcome problems with my original draft based on what was practical from a true cartographer’s perspective, giving the map not only the look I wanted, but also the credibility it needed. Rest assured, I will be using Robert for all of my map needs going forward. He is simply the best!
Ian Yamagata, Novelist
Robert is fast to respond to emails and is sure to point out problems on the map --if a client provides one-- so that the client can either correct it or allow him to alter it. He's fast and efficient and I would recommend him for anyone who wishes to have a map made for their novels and/or website. I look forward to working with him again.
Thorin Tabor, Tab Creations
Robert is an excellent cartographer whose work has been both timely and professional. It was a pleasure to work with him.
Stephen Sweeney
Robert is a wonderful artist, who has only gotten better since i last commissioned him. He communicates effectively, and is always keeping you updated on his work. I had him make a map for him several years ago, and recently commissioned him again. His work was great then,and it has improved to even greater levels! He shows to anyone who commissions him that he is a master at his art. I would not recommend anyone else to bring your vision to life then Robert. If you need a map done. Seek this man out.
Jeff Murchison
Robert was of great help in seeing our mapping project to completion. I would recommend him to anyone in need of professional cartography, and will definitely keep him in mind for any future endeavors.
W. C. Maher
Roberts’s artistic work and creative touch is nothing short of “top-notch" and his maps and renditions are like the icing on the cake for any fantasy writer. I used his talent for both my books, Ravenwood Risen and Firestorm in an effort to bring the written word to life through his artistic talent. Needless to say, I was not let down! Thank you Robert.