Greetings Earthlings, here is something a little different: a newly drawn and expanded map of my imaginary world, “The Bellows”. As many of you may, or may not know, all of my paintings take place in an imaginary land I have been referring to as “The Southwestern Bellows.” Like most artists, I work in series or groupings of paintings that are all unified by a theme or concept. This theme for me is always a short story that I write--the setting for which is this magickal world, the Bellows.
Since inception I had always known that the Southwestern Bellows was part of something larger. The original territory was dreamed up back when I was living in Portland, Oregon--my home city--and heavily influenced by Palm Springs California, where my father lived. The Southwestern Bellows is very much both inspired by Oregon and Californa.
After moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana four years ago, I had been really called to expand up the original map--to include lands inspired by the actual new world that I had found myself in and places that I have visited since moving here. And here it is, my expanded world.
Here is a brief back story of the Bellows: In the 1850’s--and even earlier according to some scholars--an alien people called the Zeta Reticulans, or the “Grays” abducted thousands of pioneers who were journeying along the Oregon Trail and transplanted them in this strange and new land. Many people believe this new land is in fact a new planet and the descendent of these pioneers are part of a human breakaway civilization--a preindustrial world created by the Zeta Reticulans for some unknown purpose.
A portal to the Bellows can be found at the sight of a tourist attraction called the “Oregon Mystery Spot”, or the “Oregon Vortex” in Gold Hill, just north of Ashland, Oregon. Other Portals exist as well.
There is more. Much more, but I will just leave it there for this blog post.
I had so much fun drawing this map. If you have never drawn a map before I highly recommend it! I feel like I just opened myself up to a thousand potential story ideas. Also, I used Procreate for this project. I almost never draw digitally, but I will admit that it was really enjoyable, almost like playing a videogame where you get to make art. Oil painting and sketchbooking is my main thing, but I could see using Procreate for tee-shirt designs and maybe even a tarot deck.
Have you ever drawn a map for an imaginary world before? Do I need to start playing D&D? Let me know in the comments!!