The Chart Room

I’ve been drawing ships on nautical charts for over a half century and I have used and accumulated a lot of charts.

The Chart Room
The Chart Room

I currently have over 2,100 original lithographed charts in my chart room. The inventory includes charts from around the world, printed in 9 languages with edition dates from the late 1800s to 2010. Most have been used and have the added character of course lines, hand-written notes and coffee stains. Some are stiff from having been covered in salt spray.

The United States stopped printing traditional lithographed charts in 2012 and the British Admiralty stopped in 2016. Paper charts have been replaced by GPS and digital technology. Today, charts are printed-on-demand using wide format digital printers. The paper has a water-resistant coating that is not suitable for fine line ink drawings.