BETWEEN WAR AND ABUNDANCE 221higher elevations. The color scheme mimics the
landscape: green forests, beige deserts, blue water,
and white snowcaps. Within that range, Shelton
subtly adjusted tone to depict depth or elevation.
Though the effect is understated and restrained,
there is tremendous nuance embedded in the
depiction of valleys, river drainage systems, and
mountain chains. The overall effect is a physiographic
landscape that appears—above all—natural and
coherent. The map approximates the land itself.
Yet tremendous effort was required to make
these “natural” maps. Dozens of geographers
and mapmakers generated the information on
climate, rainfall, landforms, and drainage. Shelton
used hundreds of aerial color photographs to help
organize this data, then began etching and painting
the charts—inch by inch—through a secret process.
The result was a visual masterpiece, where “the
mountains jump up” and the valleys appear
to descend.
Long before satellite imagery, Shelton’s maps
were so realistic that the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) used them to
identify photographs of the earth taken on early
space missions. By capturing the vantage point of
a pilot above the terrain, Shelton brought maps
ever closer to photographs. This combination of
an oblique perspective with a detailed rendering
of the terrain below was used to great effect in his
iconic maps of the Colorado ski country. Shelton,
like Richard Edes Harrison (pages 206 and 208),
used artistry to render the terrain, and in the
process changed the conventions that had governed
mapmaking for decades.