Hand-drawn map of Ambergris Caye Belize. Fine Art Giclee

Hand-Drawn Antique-Style Nautical Map of Ambergris Caye, Belize

The Old-World Style Cartography Art with Sailing Ships, Mermaids & Sea Monsters captures the spirit of Ambergris Caye, Belize.

These archival prints are perfect for travelers, divers, deepsea sports fishermen, collectors, and lovers of maritime history. The embellished antique-style is ideal for coastal decor & beach houses.

This ink drawing began my love of drawing charts, mermaids, and sea monsters.

At the time, I was living in Belize, and no maps of Ambergris Caye were available to the public. So, I talked with the local fishermen to obtain the names of the bays and small islands surrounding the caye. And for details, a commander in the RAF procured a satellite map of the area for me. Still, with this bird's-eye view, I used a bit of artistic license in the lagoon and mangrove areas up the west coast. The mangroves are a web of canals, not a solid shoreline, but they look solid from space. Channels were often cleared through the mangrove to harbor ships during storms and were once cut by pirates to hide their ships, and many are in use today for bird-watching and to catch a glimpse of the American Crocodiles.

A local historian appreciated my interest and provided information on the old merchant ships and schooners that plied the waters off the coast and a list of known shipwrecks. The two scrolls (center left) record historical events and a list of a few known shipwrecks along the reef. I was so into the history of the caye that I drew this map using a crow quill pen. Modern tech pens seemed taboo.

Pour a rum, sit back, and let this map transport you to idyllic days in Belize. Whether you're a seasoned visitor or an armchair traveler, it's a journey worth framing.

Technical Details:

Printed using quality Giclée process with archival pigmented inks and acid-free art paper or canvas. With proper care, they should look as good 100 years from now as they do today.
Prints on paper and rolled canvas prints are shipped in a sturdy reinforced cardboard "crush-proof" tube.
Stretched canvas prints ship flat.
The images above are watermarked to protect my work online. Your print will not have watermarks.
Rolled canvas prints are available for those who want to handle the stretching or framing themselves and for oversized custom prints.

Companion map is the 'Mundo Maya' with the mainland of Belize, with wildlife and the Mayan Ruins' locations marked with hieroglyphs - the next rabbit-hole I fell into.

From $178.95

Special Orders: Additional Sizes/Stretcher Bar Depth and Finish I've listed my most popular sizes, but larger prints and in-between custom sizes are available. If you need a specific size to fill a space perfectly, contact me for a quote. My stretched canvas prints are ready to hang. The image is on the front of the canvas, and the sides are painted black. I finish my original paintings this way. However, if you prefer the side of the stretcher bars to be white, I can adjust that for you in the order. Make a note of that at checkout. The price is the same. Stretcher bar options #1: If you plan to frame the stretched canvas, a .75" deep stretcher bars can be special-ordered to fit in the rabbit of the frame. Stretcher bar options #2: If you prefer a beefy profile, the 2.5" deep bars will do the trick. These are especially nice where you want a bold profile, visual balance, and added support for larger canvases. Contact me for a quote.

Paper: Canson® Infinity Arches® Aquarelle Rag 310 ARCHES® Aquarelle is recognised by artists as one of the most prestigious watercolour papers with a history that spans many centuries. ARCHES® master papermakers have been producing very high-quality fine art papers since 1492, and today ARCHES® is the only paper mill in France using a traditional cylinder mould process for all its papers, including ARCHES® Aquarelle Rag. Using the traditional watercolour base, the paper has an even natural grain and a felt-marked finish. ARCHES® Aquarelle Rag is manufactured using 100% cotton which contributes to the paper’s natural beauty and feel. The pure white base does not contain any optical brightening agents (OBAs). The unique inkjet receiving layer produces prints with superb colour rendition, deep blacks and pure whites offering photographers, artists and printmakers the opportunity to create images with superb tonal range, excellent highlights and mid-tones. ARCHES® Aquarelle Rag is a prestigious paper and offers artists, printmakers and photographers alike the ability to create digital fine art prints on an authentic ARCHES® paper for both limited and open edition work.

Canvas: Matte or Gloss. I prefer the matte canvas on my antique-style pieces like the maps and the Maya silk paintings as it gives the print a softer vintage feel. And I prefer a matte finish in any situation where direct sunlight or canned lights would cast too much of a glare across the painting/canvas. I use the gloss canvas on most of my oil painting prints as it looks like the original's damar varnish finish. The gloss canvas has a more sleek, modern look. The archival quality, color depth, and detail for matte and gloss are equal. If you prefer one over the other for your decor, please note it at checkout, and I will adjust your order. They are the same price. Technical details: Matte Canvas: This true-matte canvas is a well-textured 19 mil bright white, poly-cotton blend with a matte look and feel. With an eye-popping color gamut and dmax, coupled with critical archival certification, it sets a new standard of exceptionalism in fine art and photographic printmaking. Gloss Canvas: Crystalline gloss canvas by Breathing Color is a 360gsm aqueous canvas that will deliver industry-leading dmax and color gamut a step above every other glossy or matte inkjet canvas available today. The Crystalline line is OBA-free, making it one of the most archival gloss canvases available to date.

Size/Space/Tip Visualizing art filling a specific space on the wall can be tricky. An easy way to see if the size of the print you are considering fits your wall space is to cut a piece of poster board to size and tape it to the wall to see if it is what you need. If the print is on stretched canvas, it is ready to hang. However, a print on paper needs a frame, so you'll need to add inches to the width and height of the posterboard mockup to accommodate mating and framing. Example: A narrow one-inch wide frame with a standard 3-inch wide mat around the artwork would add 8 inches to the width and height. So a 15"x20" print would be 23"x28" when hung.

Savanna Redman

Hand-Drawn Antique-Style Nautical Map of Ambergris Caye, Belize