Tucked away in the Met’s American Swords and Firearms gallery in downtown Manhattan, there’s a small powder horn on display. These hollowed-out bovine horns were common in the 18th century until they were eventually phased out by powder flasks. Carved into this particular horn is a crude but intricate map of the Province of New York around the middle of the 18th Century. That map, allegedly carved into the horn by its owner, Peter Myer, in 1759, serves as the basis for my latest free fantasy map brush set: Myer, which I am releasing today.

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A sample of the trees you’ll find in Myer

This set isn’t as detailed as brush sets in the past, nor is it as large—there’s not a lot of room on a powder horn, after all. But the scrimshaw has a hand-done quality that makes it perfect for fantasy. It evokes a rougher map made by a work-a-day commoner rather than an upper-crust cartographer with financial backing from royalty.

I found a few references to a Peter Myer in Revolutionary War records serving as an enlisted soldier in the levies under Colonel Lewis Dubois—that would have been around 1780. Is that our man? Potentially. But based on the date on this horn, he’d probably have been relatively old by that time. When this horn was carved, he clearly had loyalty to the British Empire and featured the royal arms prominently. Did those feelings change in seventeen years?

Powder Horn, dated 1759, American – More images at The Met

Interestingly, the Myer horn also seems to be the basis for other carved horns on the market today. While they aren’t exactly rare, these more modern reproductions (19th Cent./20th Cent.) are clearly based on the Myer powder horn. And, I’ve seen images shared by the Fort Montgomery State Historic Site of a similar powder horn owned by Peter Myer Jr. Perhaps map-themed horns were a family tradition?

Some of the forts, town, cities, and buildings within the set

It’s unknown if Myer was the actual carver of this horn or if the work was hired out to someone else. It’s not the most accurate of maps, and it probably served more as a chronicle of Myer’s travels rather than a precise depiction of the terrain. There’s very little in the way of landforms here; the majority of the focus here is on the forests, rivers, forts, and cities in the Province of New York in 1759. As such, it’s more accurate to label this a Settlement set, with the bonus of a whole lot of flora.

More trees and some of the decorative assets in the set

The way the trees are rendered, I could see this set working well in a swamp-heavy setting. Something about how the foliage is carved lends itself well to evoking a humid marshland. Inside Myer, you’ll find over 140 brushes, including:

87 Individual Trees9 Pairs of Trees4 Unique Trees3 Trees w/ Hills8 Forts6 Important Forts6 Walled Forts7 Buildings3 Unique Buildings5 Towns & Cities5 Ships5 Cartouches

The button below links to a ZIP file that contains an 646 KB Photoshop ABR brush set (it’ll also work with GIMP, Affinity Photo, and I’m told Procreate now). I also release the set as a pack of individual PNGs organized by folder, similar to how I organize the ABR file. This should make using these with tools like Wonderdraft much easier. No more extracting symbols from an enormous PNG.

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DOWNLOAD MYER

Download the Myer PNG Pack
(1.1 MB)

As with all of my previous brush sets, Myer is free for any use. I distribute my sets with a Creative Common, No Rights Reserved License (CC0), which means you can freely use this and any of my brushes in personal or commercial work and distribute adaptations. No attribution is required. Easy peasy!

Enjoy Myer? Feel free to show me what you created by emailing me. I love seeing how these brushes get used, and I’d be happy to share your work with my readers. Let me see what you make!

But wait, there’s more…Myer Scratch: A Free 18th-Century Scrimshaw Typeface

Alongside the launch of Myer, I’m happy to announce the launch of my first free typeface. Myer Scratch is extracted from the same horn as the Myer Brush set. It’s pretty raw, but with some post-processing, it can add that handcrafted feel to a map. If you were looking for “The old man in the tavern drew this map for us” vibes, you found the right font.

Not every glyph was accounted for—Q, V, X, and Z all were constructed from other letter forms on the powder horn. The numbers were also limited, so I had to do the same thing for 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8. As with the faked letters, I constructed them from other carvings so they maintain the feel of the set as a whole.

To keep that handcrafted quality, I have included numerous alternate glyphs; this allows you to vary the letters and keep the font looking more handcrafted, especially in words that repeat letters; subtle differences in how a glyph is rendered only add to that handcrafted mystique, which is a significant tenant of my #NoBadMaps project.

The button below links to a ZIP file that contains the Myer Scratch OFT file. Just install the font the way you would any other. Like my brush sets, Myer Scratch is free and distributed with a Creative Common, No Rights Reserved License (CC0), which means you can freely use it in personal or commercial work and distribute adaptations. No attribution is required.

DOWNLOAD MYER ScratchMyer in Use

Want to see how I’ve used this set? There are three versions: a colored example, a black-and-white rendition, and a decorated sample. Click on any of the images below to view them larger. Perhaps this will inspire you as you get started on your projects! The color version lacks color because after I began applying it, it felt like more of a distraction, so the only color you get is the paper texture.

2000×2500 (4.4 MB) 4000×5000 (3.7 MB) 1080×1350 (893 KB)

Sample Details: I hand-drew the river boundaries in Photoshop and used Ende for the edge. The font is Myer Scratch, which can be downloaded above. All the names come from New York State Artists. The paper texture is from True Grit Texture Supply’s Infinite Pulp, and they’re also where I got Atomica, which gives me ink-like effects for the text and the roads.

Support this Work

Brushes and tools released through the #NoBadMaps project will always be free and released under a public domain CC0 license. If you’d like to support the project and help me cover the cost of hosting, research, and tool-set development, I’ve put together three ways you can help, and all are detailed below.

Buy My Books→

I’m not just a map enthusiast. I’m also a novelist! The easiest way to support me (and get something in return) is by purchasing one of my cosmic horror urban fantasy novels.

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Buy Me a Coffee→

A simple and quick way to support the #NoBadMaps project is through a one-time donation of any amount via ko-fi. Your support helps keep this project going and is appreciated.

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Join my Patreon→

If you want to continually support the #NoBadMaps project through a reoccurring monthly contribution, consider joining my Patreon and get sneak peeks into what’s coming.

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More Map Brushes

This is just one of many brush sets and map tools I’ve released. You can find it and other free brushes covering a wide variety of historical styles on my Fantasy Map Brushes page. Every set is free, distributed under a CC0 license, and open for personal or commercial use. I’m sure you’ll be able to find something that works for your project. Click the button below to check them out!

view more Fantasy Map Brushes

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