This is a site with free drawing lessons. It goes on a bit deeper than what the name suggests.

http://drawabox.com/ 

Primal - cheers, that's a nice link 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po2BPfbfKCc 

http://imgur.com/gallery/S92Bz 

Fantastic location, I just wish the pictures were higher res :( http://abandonedplaces.livejournal.com/2685516.html?thread=31955276 

http://imgur.com/r/roomporn 

found this instead:
http://www.3dartistonline.com/users/26286/thm1024/1454945272_generators.jpg ( http://www.3dartistonline.com/image/35097/power_generator ) 

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/livin-on-the-edge-the-precarious-architecture-of-7-european-cliff-cities

"The Precarious Architecture of 7 European Cliff Cities" 

http://imgur.com/gallery/CASVR 

He has some Doom monster sketches and pictures of (physical) models on his feed.

https://twitter.com/GPunchatz

Among other things, he designed the original Spider Mastermind. This is his WIP for 2016 remake he is making for "the pure joy of revisiting DOOM !"

https://twitter.com/GPunchatz/status/703953743495110657 

So, if you jump over on the mapping help thread, you can see that I have been asking lots of questions. In the end, I made a map. But, it's not very good. So, if someone could reference me some basic but good quake DM maps, that would be super helpful.
Ty. 

since it's remade in every arena shooter ever and is regarded as one of the greatest dm maps ever constructed : aerowalk!

Some other very good ones : ZTN series, dapak, plpak.

There are many more, but I don't really play Quake multiplayer so I've forgotten most of the names ;P 

The main goal I want to earn from this is learn overall level design, but I want the maps to be fairly simple so that I can understand how they work. If I ever become experienced enough, I'm going to make a Quake level design tutorial thing with documents and map segments to explain how these map segments work, and how they are effective in DM. There aren't many tutorials on map design (specifically for Quake 1), so I feel it might be a good idea. Of course, I'm not at that skill level yet, so it's gonna take a while. 

Remember: Is it (areowalk) simple? 

A simple layout? Simple geometry? Simple to learn as a player? You will have to be more specific :)

I list Aerowalk because it's considered by the overwhelming majority of Quake players to be "the best" duel map created. If you're going to learn from something, learn from the best!

Then look at some of the worst dm maps, and work out why they are the worst, so you can avoid those mistakes :) 

"Simple" in the way that I think you mean it, is a fallacy. You should take the best maps, and then abstract them yourself into "simple" maps that you can understand.

E.g. take Aerowalk and ignore what's unimportant right now (brush detailing, texturing etc) and focus on what is important - i.e. layout and item positioning. 

That's great you want to make some map design tutorials. I agree, in terms of things like youtube video tutorials and such, they are a bit lacking. You can dig archives and piece things together (How I did it). but it would be nice to have some more current easy to reach material.

I have been heavily considering making some basic Trenchbroom editor tutorials so people interested in mapping may not feel so intimated at first glance. 

What I could describe as simple is this: Imagine that the map I want to achieve in finding is fun and balanced. Now imagine being an absolute map creator noob like me; could you easily recreate this map, and easily understand what each part does to balance everything else out? That's what I mean by simple. To show you my current skill, download this map I made:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/nam3zj2wzhgkcs0/vertig2.bsp 

Yeah, that's another reason why I want to do that. It would be modern and user friendly, but I wasn't thinking about a video, but rather a document with diagrams and commentary. 

Guys, don't mean to patronize, but doesn't it belong in Mapping Help thread instead of here? 

I just Googled "what makes a good deathmatch map" and got about '6,643,000' hits. The first five all had short articles on layout, placement and flow ( I did not go further).

But if you play DM, surely you must know what you like and what you do not like. Don't design-in elements that you do not like to see in a DM level. And don't expect to ride your bike no-handed until you have learned to keep the pedals turning.

And don't worry, I couldn't create a DM level to save my life - I haven't got a clue, hence Google. 

In the end, I made a map. But, it's not very good. So, if someone could reference me some basic but good quake DM maps

Looking for reference dm maps and possibly gaining inspiration from them? I don't know :P 

Yeah, that's it. I may not get the lingo for "reference" though, because from what I'm seeing, I'm using it wrong. And, yes, I want to gain inspiration and experience from these maps. 

Yeah most good DM maps should be fun/useful to study... the best ones are not real complicated in any case. aerowalk and ztndm3 have been copied to so many games that there must be something to them. :-)

It could also be interesting to go off the beaten path a bit, with maps that may not be the current flavor of the moment but were and are considered as good DM maps. Including those that are more FFA-flavored, as opposed to duel maps only. I mean there are so MANY good Quake DM maps out there that you might as well do something a little interesting/quirky. (ultrav comes to mind, alk08dm, trimp...) Still way too many to mention, if I really got going.

To come back to the original question though, it's neat to try to think about what the _simplest_ good DM maps are. Hmm. Maybe stuff like pkeg1 by Mr. Fribbles, or edc and aggressr by Tyrann. I'm tempted to take a walk through a lot of the "small" and "tiny" maps listed on Prominence to see if anything else jogs my memory. Bonus points if they can get the job done with minimal or no teleporters. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7dpLcIaUTs