Culinary Cartography

Here's a cover (above) and map I drew for this week's issue of Kansas City paper The Pitch. The article is a gourmet/local re-imagining of the Country Club Plaza -- currently known for it's chain restaurants, "Spanish" architecture, "Venetian" canal, and fountain full of weird rampaging horsemen -- by the paper's food critic. My starting point for the map:Google map I put together of the area in question:Some of the reference for replacement restaurants I gathered:Rough layouts:Pencil sketch:Lineart, vector background, watercolor wash:Finished map:Cover sketch:
Lineart, white water & clouds layer, watercolor wash:Alternate, more complex version, of the cover. I ended up losing the bacon, BBQ, lobster, wine glass and some other stuff, but it's probably for the better . Thanks Kansas City Pitch!