Beautiful Portraits Drawn on Vintage Maps With Brilliant Crosshatching Technique

What does it mean to bring a city to life? This is the question that artist Ed Fairburn explores in his work. Through his carefully crosshatched human portraits drawn on top of sprawling maps, Fairburn's art encourages people to consider the complex relationship between how they are shaped by the places they call home.

The UK-based artist starts any creative endeavor by finding the perfect old map to repurpose. The focus of these maps can be topographic, roads, or cities—Fairburn utilizes all of them in his work. Rather than fighting against his canvas, he uses it to his advantage, allowing the predetermined lines and markings to help bring shape to his portraits. Though some of his work has him drawing over the map's features, his most visually arresting work are arguably the ones that allow the streets and waterways to determine his composition. His human figures hug the curves of the winding roads and rivers, using them as a guide for their positions or the angle of his subject's face.

Fairburn also uses roadways and other pathways on the map as borders to carefully fill the empty space within with hatches and crosshatches. Depending on how densely he packs his etchings, he's able to mimic light, shadow, and texture to his portraits. Topographic shapes become the shadow of someone's nose, a highway becomes a brow line, and a body of water separates the face from its surroundings, making it stand out in the vast blueness. Up-close it may just seem like an abstract, repetitive set of lines, but take a step back and you'll be wowed by his artistry.

As for the canvases themselves, Fairburn uses maps from all over the globe, including locations in the United States, Canada, and Europe. He tends to stay close to home, though, as much of his work focuses on locations around England and Scotland, including iconic landmarks. His unique art style has also caught the attention of entertainment producers, and Fairburn has been commissioned to create specialty movie posters for a variety of film and television productions, including the Indiana Jones and John Wick franchises.

To keep up with the artist's latest work, you can follow Fairburn on Instagram. If you are interested in owning one of his map portraits for yourself, you can check out the artist's online store.

UK-based artist Ed Fairburn is known for using maps as canvases for hand-drawn portraits.

By allowing himself to be inspired by the curves and shapes on the maps, Fairburn masterfully uses space to illustrate soulful faces.

Fairburn uses a mixture of topographic, road, and city maps for his work; and often opts for a crosshatching technique to complete his work.

Portrait Of Woman Drawn Over City Map

Portrait Of Woman Drawn Over City Map

Portrait Of Woman Drawn Over City Map

Depending on his choice of map, his artwork ranges from simple black pen drawings to beautiful etchings highlighted by colored rivers and roads.

Portrait Of Woman Drawn Over City Map

Portrait Of Woman Drawn Over Topographic Map

Ed Fairburn: Website | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok

My Modern Met granted permission to feature images by Ed Fairburn.

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Sarah Currier

Sarah Currier is a Contributing Writer at My Modern Met. Based in central Iowa, she is currently enrolled at Iowa State University and is working toward a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication with a minor in English. She loves all things creative, and when she’s not writing, you can find her immersed in the worlds of television, film, and literature.
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