Which comes first the character or the “design?” It’s a question I get a lot. Do I build the maze around the character or do I design a maze and then place in the character. The answer is- “both!” Most of the time I have an idea of what I am going to draw in the maze, a specific topic, animal etc.. I will then draw in that character and allow for the exits and paths to integrate with the drawing. Other times I start drawing the maze and then add in the intended character. But…sometimes I just draw. I might have an idea for a design element I like but nothing to go with it, or I might have no idea at all and just start doodling and see what happens! The best thing to do when you can’t come up with anything to draw is to just draw anyway.
Today’s maze is this mad villain with a figure 8 on his head. I just liked the design and depth and this was going to be an abstract maze but then it ended up looking like a hat to me so I decided to create a classical evil villain or ring master or something??
Here are a few examples of mazes that started out as just random designs and then I added characters as I went along inspired in the moment.
The owl maze I drew the spirals that became the eyes first.
The mouse maze, the mouse was added as an after thought.
The Panda maze was inspired by the bamboo like design.
The rocket maze, was just an afterthought and it makes little sense, but for some reason the design reminded me of a space station.
The cat, dog, mouse one is a little different. I really just started drawing and then put the dog in randomly at the bottom, that then suggested the cat and mouse as further additions.
