Artist: EH Shepard - Pooh's Wood Map

Preparatory sketch-map for endpapers of Winnie the Pooh.

"This is a preparatory drawing for the sketch-map reproduced on the endpapers of Winnie-the-Pooh and therefore one of the most celebrated locations in children's literature. Although the geography was not revised, several captions were evidently changed. 'Eeyores Gloomy Place' was originally 'Eeyores Pasture Land' and the 'Floody Place' was originally captioned 'Floods Might Happen Here'. Shepard also poses the question 'What sort of House is Kangas?' at the top of the map. The caption at the foot originally appeared as 'Drawn by Me helped by Mr Shepard' and shows a process of revision to 'Drawn by Me and Mr Shepard helped'. It was printed as 'Drawn by Me and Mr Shepard helpd'."

Artist: Pam Ayres - Sketches and Influences

This is a Shan map created in 1889 relating to a border dispute between Burma and China. This map was painted by an anonymous Shan artist in tempera on paper and it covers an area of 47 square miles along the Nam Mao (Burmese Shweli) River. There are about eighty villages and hamlets shown in green. The map text is in Chinese Shan, though Burmese notes have been added in pencil. I have been looking at this map since September 2009 in a book titled "The Map Book" by Peter Barber. I am obsessed with it.

This is the first sketch I did after looking at the Shan map. It put me in mind of Dr. Seuss and The Zax.