Yet Another Cycling Forum

Random Musings => Gallery => OT Gallery => Topic started by: tom_e on 17 December, 2018, 09:58:27 pm

Title: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: tom_e on 17 December, 2018, 09:58:27 pm
This was one of those projects that seemed like a good idea when I started it.  You see, our spare bedroom needed painting.  And it just so happened the room is pretty much square, with two angled ceilings.  Almost quite half-sphere shaped, if one is inclined to look at it that way.  And previously I had ambitions to paint a world map on a big wall once we owned our own house.  As good ideas flow, 2+2 -> 10, yes?

So let me present, a little bit of Swavesey Hemisphere:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50590067051_0aaa78ea8b_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2k5tjpn)DSC_0033 (https://flic.kr/p/2k5tjpn) by Tom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/190996565@N03/), on Flickr

You might note at this point that the map is not immediately recognisable.  Why is that, for it is projected (moderately carefully) onto the hemisphere?  You see, the concept is that we are looking at the sphere but happen to be inside it, rather than outside.  So in the centre of the ceiling is Swavesey - directly overhead inbetween the two ceiling lights:

(http://tom-e.yacf.net/hemi/201812/DSC_0060.JPG) (http://tom-e.yacf.net/hemi/201812/DSC_0060.JPG)

And the rest of the world is painted on the whole of the ceiling & walls in the direction it is in reality.  So Africa is to the South of us.  Asia is to the East of us, and is thus painted on the part of the room to the East of Swavesey.  You are looking at a half a globe, but looking from the inside rather than the outside.  The boundary of the map at floor level is those bits of the world at 90 degrees from us here in Swavesey.  A sort of equator at 10,000km from us.  Only half of the real equator is on this map (though unmarked).

For a slightly more wide-field picture, I took this one as a composite after finishing the old world.  Couple of years ago.  So the arctic isn't done yet in this one:
(http://tom-e.yacf.net/hemi/old_world.jpg) (http://tom-e.yacf.net/hemi/old_world.jpg)

The arctic now looks more like below.  Year-round ice cover in solid white, summer ice in pretend icebergs.  Based on maxima and minima from 2015, when I was sketching out that bit.  North pole labelled, again in the correct direction for the actual North pole, and proportionate distance from us:

(http://tom-e.yacf.net/hemi/201812/DSC_0058.JPG) (http://tom-e.yacf.net/hemi/201812/DSC_0058.JPG)

Minimal key included below.  My decision to do the height-contouring was partly responsible for the whole damn project taking, um, five years or so to do in spare time.  But I kind of liked the effect once I'd got started, so it seemed a shame to stop.

(http://tom-e.yacf.net/hemi/201812/DSC_0036.JPG) (http://tom-e.yacf.net/hemi/201812/DSC_0036.JPG)

Obligatory mildly confusing compass rose at 0N, 0W:
(http://tom-e.yacf.net/hemi/201812/DSC_0065.JPG) (http://tom-e.yacf.net/hemi/201812/DSC_0065.JPG)

Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 17 December, 2018, 10:05:35 pm
That is nuttly crazily cool and wonderful and I want to stay in your spare room.  :thumbsup:

By the way, where is Swavesey?
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: tom_e on 17 December, 2018, 10:09:53 pm
Ah, village near Cambridge.  I don't normally give out location here, but figured since it's painted on the wall it seems a pity to blur it out!  Nothing special about it other than that is where the room is physically.

Is best experienced lying down on the bed in the middle of the room and looking up around the ceiling, yes.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: pcolbeck on 17 December, 2018, 10:12:32 pm
Most excellent !
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Kim on 17 December, 2018, 10:16:12 pm
POTD!
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Pingu on 17 December, 2018, 10:22:05 pm
 :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: PaulF on 17 December, 2018, 10:26:47 pm
Love it!
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: hatler on 17 December, 2018, 10:27:41 pm
Fantastic !!

I'd love to hear how an estate agent would describe this.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Kim on 17 December, 2018, 10:39:07 pm
I'd love to hear how an estate agent would describe this.

"Spacious fantasy - possibly Game of Thrones - map themed nth bedroom."

But more likely they'd take one look at it and recommend you paint over it in magnolia.  Philistines.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: sg37409 on 17 December, 2018, 10:50:47 pm
Brilliant !
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: nikki on 17 December, 2018, 11:20:26 pm
 :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Respect.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Deano on 17 December, 2018, 11:28:09 pm
That's wonderful, Tom.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Basil on 17 December, 2018, 11:28:59 pm
Wow.  Tom, you are my hero.  That is just wonderful.
I'm tempted. 

As a young stude (sorry, I was never an oaf), I painted my room as the sky at midnight on 21 Dec as seen from my bed.  Only rough and nothing like the attention you have paid to your work.
Well done.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Kim on 17 December, 2018, 11:32:15 pm
As a young stude (sorry, I was never an oaf), I painted my room as the sky at midnight on 21 Dec as seen from my bed.

That one's been on my long term to-do list in case I ever find myself owning a ceiling ever since the first time I worked with UV paint.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Basil on 17 December, 2018, 11:52:58 pm
As a young stude (sorry, I was never an oaf), I painted my room as the sky at midnight on 21 Dec as seen from my bed.

That one's been on my long term to-do list in case I ever find myself owning a ceiling ever since the first time I worked with UV paint.

Probably a lot easier today with all those apps and stuff these days.  Imagine the early '70s boy lying with a protactor on his nose, judging " ok, that's about 2 inches left and half an inch down from that mould patch".

Come on Kim.  I'm expecting something where a different lighting state reveals different seasons.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Kim on 17 December, 2018, 11:54:57 pm
With today's technology you could probably do something really unsporting like burying individually addressable LEDs just below the surface of the plasterboard.  Of course, that would probably mean dealing with the mould issue first.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: citoyen on 18 December, 2018, 07:41:30 am
Good work, tom. Love it.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: T42 on 18 December, 2018, 07:43:18 am
Fantastic!  I wish I had your determination.

When we moved in here the floor on the landing was bare chipboard.  I wanted to paint a plunging view of the hall on it but herself voted parquet.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: nicknack on 18 December, 2018, 07:49:23 am
Nerdtastic!
When I was somewhat younger (>50 years ago) I papered my bedroom walls with National Geographic maps. I'd have loved this. Well... still would.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Andrij on 18 December, 2018, 08:48:16 am
Wow!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Si S on 18 December, 2018, 08:55:56 am
Absolutely fantastic  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Jaded on 18 December, 2018, 09:00:18 am
Maptastic!
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: tom_e on 18 December, 2018, 09:58:36 am
But more likely they'd take one look at it and recommend you paint over it in magnolia.  Philistines.

I have a fear of this at some point also.  Fortunately, the thin black and blue acrylic edges are not flat, so the bugger will not die that easily.   ;D
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Beardy on 18 December, 2018, 10:25:11 am
With today's technology you could probably do something really unsporting like burying individually addressable LEDs just below the surface of the plasterboard.  Of course, that would probably mean dealing with the mould issue first.
It would be easier to buy a planetarium projector which would have the added bounds of you being able to do it now, and for you to take it with you if you need to move to another rented property
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Beardy on 18 December, 2018, 10:26:56 am
But more likely they'd take one look at it and recommend you paint over it in magnolia.  Philistines.

I have a fear of this at some point also.  Fortunately, the thin black and blue acrylic edges are not flat, so the bugger will not die that easily.   ;D
ah it not die for many many years. It’s superb.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Ham on 18 December, 2018, 01:15:40 pm
It is a wonder, you know you can do a 360 with your phone and google streetview?
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: tom_e on 18 December, 2018, 02:08:11 pm
It is a wonder, you know you can do a 360 with your phone and google streetview?

Yeah, I know I could do that, but by my reckoning it kind of defeats the point.  I've avoiding doing a composite pic of the whole thing for the same reason. 

It's a 3D version of a 3D world, to sidestep all the usual problems with flattening the globe out onto 2D.  Taking photos of it to create a scrollable 2D interface would just be a rubbish version of google maps.  You're meant to be inside it, looking around.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 18 December, 2018, 02:30:11 pm
You're meant to be inside it, looking around.
So where is Swavesey really?

It's in the very centre of the world.  :)
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Paul on 18 December, 2018, 02:33:55 pm
I love it.

You could continue the theme throughout the house. One room could be the inside of a human head, another the inside of an atom. Or the inside of a sandwich.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Jaded on 18 December, 2018, 05:08:01 pm
and one the view that an endoscope gets...  ;D
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: drossall on 18 December, 2018, 08:28:32 pm
Are you aware that there's quite a lot of water on your ceiling? (Just jealous)
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: tom_e on 18 December, 2018, 09:36:03 pm
Indeed.  Though I did learn partway through this that it is very close to what is sometimes called the land hemisphere - the half which has the highest percentage of land.  The opposing "water hemisphere" being largely the pacific.

(I looked it up after twigging that the amount of land I was having to paint didn't seem consistent with our planet being mostly water covered)
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Butterfly on 18 December, 2018, 10:32:46 pm
That is beautiful.

One of my employers had a wall that was completely covered in a 18th century John Rocque map of London. It was endlessly fascinating. Maps are the best thing.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Jurek on 19 December, 2018, 05:57:49 pm
Outstanding effort, tom_e  :thumbsup:

Without wanting to thread-thieve, I put this map up on my wall last Saturday:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4845/46327484761_6c3dbd99dc_c.jpg)
It is Western Arabia Terra.
On Mars.

A collaboration between Ordnance Survey and NASA, which has resulted in this limited edition print.
It is a thing of beauty.
On looking closer at the details, many have what look like names made up in a non-english language - maybe Finnish, or Icelandic.

But then, I recognised Becquerel and Curie and Sklodowska as the names associated with the first two people to have discovered evidence of radioactivity.

Searching further revealed that all of the Martian features appear to be named after persons who have made significant contributions to science (and science fiction) as we know it  - not necessarily directly connected with Mars.
But it is sufficiently interesting that I can envisage that working my way through all of the features will keep me absorbed until such time as my space ship has been fixed, and I can go home.

The one thing which surprises me is that OS don't do anything similar with the moon - I'm sure that it would sell well.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Paul on 19 December, 2018, 06:31:09 pm
Gods, my house is boring.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Ham on 19 December, 2018, 07:54:12 pm
Again, not in any way comparing to the OP's effort, we have a map on our wall where we stick pins to show where we have been, only it is pacific centred to remind us how insignificant we are

(https://www.worldmapsonline.com/images/murals/detailed_world_physical_mural_pacific_cen_sm.jpg)
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: ElyDave on 19 December, 2018, 07:54:37 pm
Swavesey as the centre of the universe!

Certainly beats my daub of a poppy field on the wall opposite the bath in my first house.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Basil on 19 December, 2018, 08:03:52 pm
I had a large map of the world on the wall of one of my flats which depicted the geography upside down. 
South to the top. (But all the writing the right way up.)
Made one realise how top heavy, land mass wise, our planet is.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: tom_e on 19 December, 2018, 08:14:44 pm
Does that Mars map not just give you the urge to visit places on it though?  Any suspicious paths or other features??

In favour of general cartography content. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Jurek on 19 December, 2018, 08:31:45 pm
Does that Mars map not just give you the urge to visit places on it though?  Any suspicious paths or other features??

In favour of general cartography content. :thumbsup:
Of course it does!
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: JennyB on 20 December, 2018, 08:55:10 am
Does that Mars map not just give you the urge to visit places on it though?  Any suspicious paths or other features??

In favour of general cartography content. :thumbsup:

Perfect for divising Perms you'll never ride.
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Jakob W on 01 January, 2019, 05:29:58 pm
Just found this via POTD - most excellent! I lived in Black Horse Lane in Swavesey for a couple of years; who knew the village contained such wonders?!
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: Ruthie on 03 January, 2019, 07:08:10 pm
Oh my, what a lovely thing!
Title: Re: Cartography in the Spare Bedroom
Post by: tom_e on 03 January, 2019, 08:53:13 pm
Just found this via POTD - most excellent! I lived in Black Horse Lane in Swavesey for a couple of years; who knew the village contained such wonders?!

I think it's great sometimes to look at the sheer number of homes in any village or town and wonder what's hidden away inside them.  Eccentrics galore, one hopes.  ;D