Maps are Art?

For this project, we are supposed to create a drawing incorporating a map into it. To figure out what we are doing for out project, we needed to take an actual map and modify it. For the map that I modified, I took a map of Chicago, which is one of my favorite places to go, and I drew around it different things that remind me of Chicago, such as graffiti in the city, the bean, the navy pier, and the Sears tower, in order to get a feel of what it would be like to draw an image on top of the map, and what kind of an effect that would give the drawing. I discovered that because the map behind the image is very prominent, you need to make the image that you draw on top of the map even more prominent so that it stands out and is visible. But I really do like the way that it looks to have the map underneath the drawing. The reason I like the way it looks is because I believe that a map in itself is a drawing, so drawing the image on top of the map gives it a very interesting effect.

I was looking through images that other people have done that have to do with maps being art, and I came across an artist by the name of Matthew Cusick, who takes many, many maps and puts them together in a collage in order to create a certain image. Specifically, the faces that he creates are so intriguing. They are very realistic considering the fact that they were made out of maps. It inspired me to look at these drawings, so I am considering doing something like that for my final drawing, even though it will be very meticulous and take a very long time to do. I think it will be fun to do and if I am able to do it correctly it will turn out really cool.