One Maze - Many designs - experiment #22

This is a continuation of my maze design experiments. Read about it in post #1, One Maze - Many designs, and so on with a new post every Friday.

The original maze:

Simple Maze

I saw that Bing Image creator had some new pre-set image creators so I tried them again to see how or if it improved. For each generation I uploaded the original maze.

  • For the first maze I asked Bing to create a fun background. It went with a beachball, star, rainbow, cloud, flowers, leaves, and a birthday cap. Unfortunately it de-mazed the maze.

  • The second maze used the Impressionist button, but it de-mazed the maze again.

  • The third maze used the item Spotlight button, but it de-mazed the maze.

  • The fourth maze used the Oil Painting button, but it de-mazed the maze.

  • The fifth maze I asked Bing for an Americana background and not to touch the maze….but it de-mazed the maze (again).

Bing really can’t make a background without touching the foreground. It loves to de-maze, mazes. Bing could make a background for mazes, but not with the foreground maze in the equation, leave it out and add it later yourself ! AI is still having problems with this !

Using color for Maze pathways - A Case Study

Today I will explore the use of colored pathways as a choice when creating a maze and show how that decision will impact the look of the maze. Previously I looked at 12 different pathway options with #11 being using colored pathways. As an example I used the red wine maze. As you can see the burgundy pathways define the wine resting in the wine glass. Easy to understand for the viewer/solver.

Red Wine Maze

But that maze is the end product, a result of a construction decision that I think was the correct one. Let’s look at a different maze that could be created with or without colored pathways and see what happens as we make different selections.

For our example we will be doing the famous Route 1 road sign from California, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway or simply the Coast Highway.

Maze Design 1 - Colored background used

Looks like the sign you might see on the side of the road (mazed!)

California Highway 1 Maze

Route 1 Sign Maze

Maze Design 2 - Pathways colored as is

For our second example we simply lose the background color and change the pathway color to the former background color. The maze sign is recognizable, but the color is very subtle but visible. For some designers this would be an acceptable solution. In this instance I would want this maze to have a bit more color….so

California Highway 1 Maze skinny walls

Maze Design 3 - Pathways colored, but twice as thick

So I took the maze above and doubled the thickness of the lines to increase the appearance of the color in the background. It definitely works to achieve more color. And, depending on how you feel about the maze you have designed this might be a great solution. But there are 2 more options, best these options should be decided on before you have started mazing.

California Highway 1 Maze - medium thickness walls

Maze Design 4 - Twice the pathways, original thickness

This option will make for a maze that is twice as long (or at least has twice as many pathways). For the example I cut the original maze in half (not recommended) to quickly construct it. The result is a darker background, a more difficult maze, and a longer design and drawing process. This is a nice option if you want to increase difficulty. There is certainly enough space to make this complicated ! We do have 1 more option to look at…

California Highway 1 Maze - many pathways

Maze Design 5 - Twice the pathways, double thickness

To bring the options full circle I took Maze design 4 and doubled the thickness of the pathways as I had before in Maze Design 3. The width almost switches this maze from a standard maze construction to a standard equal maze construction. Lots of color in this one.

California Highway 1 Maze - many thick pathways

So those are 4 possible designs for the same maze, with 4 different colored pathway options. I wanted to illustrate that the use of color is about more than color you assign the path, but also about their spacing and their thickness. Any could be used depending on how you want the final maze to look and the difficulty you want to give the solver. Here is a comparison of all 4 colored pathway examples together so you can more easily compare them. Which do you prefer ?

Example of how wall thickness changes how a maze looks

Let’s look at some additional maze art I have made where I used non-black lines and talk about why. These are more about keeping the integrity of the illustration than coloring it, but it is a similar story.

First we have my Mount Rushmore Maze. I really enjoyed making this one. The president’s are carved into the side of the mountain and using black made them to defined IMO. The grey lines look more natural, as if the carvings are part of the structure (which they are!).

Mount Rushmore Maze
 

My second example is the Giant Causeway Maze. Maybe we have a theme, because once again I used the color brown to draw the basalt columns, as black contrasted too much with the illustration. So in these first 2 examples I wanted the nature scenes to look natural. Using black in either would make them look too bold/unnatural.

Giant Causeway Maze
 

My third example comes from my maze of the Gibraltar Lighthouse. Same idea, but a bit different. The lighthouse is made of stones. I used black for the outer walls, but all internal walls or mortar was a more natural grey.

 

My last example is more in line with the California street sign above. I made a red barn maze in 2 different variations. I prefer the colored red vs the red lines, but you may disagree. For some applications you may want one over the other. You have the option.

Lost and Found in Mexico: Exploring 6 Amazing Mazes of Mexico

I have spent 3 winters in Mexico and hope to spend many more in the future. During my time there I found many different subjects that I have been able to make into maze art. Today I present the 6 best Mexican maze art mazes. To download the maze and learn more about it click on the header. To check out additional maze art click on my home page !

Museo Soumaya Maze

A beautiful building located in Mexico City, Mexico. I think you will enjoy the special solution to this maze ! This is my newest version of the maze (you can also find the original black and white version on the site !)/ I was able to visit the museum during my stay in CMDX and it is well worth a few hours of your time. You start on the bottom floor and make your way to the top on walkways between the floors.

Museo Soumaya Maze
 

Chichen Itza Maze (El Castillo Pyramid)

Highly detailed, this maze of the pyramid at the Chichen Itza archeological site will take you a long time to solve. Print it large and good luck. I took the time to colorize and shadow the maze and love how it came out. Which do you prefer ? Click the next arrow to compare the 2 versions !

 

Queretaro Walking Street Maze

This street was near where I lived in Mexico. One day I took a picture and made it into a maze. I hope you like it ! I have included the photo and the most updated version of the maze. I added textures to the maze to give the plants more life. Click the next control to compare the photo to the maze !

 

Templo de Sangre de Cristo Maze

The first of my church mazes from Oaxaca. I really like how this maze came out. Originally in black and white, I recently added color and shadows to the maze. This is a maze I use any time I want to speak about adding details to a maze. I spent a lot of time taking photos of this church and adding in details to make this illustration accurate.

Templo de Sangre de Cristo Maze
 

Monte Albán Maze

If you visit Oaxaca, this is the reason. A quick trip outside of the city, this maze is one of the many impressive structures at the site. Click on my original post to see my pictures of the site (and download the maze). This maze also includes shadows !

Monte Alban Maze
 

Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán Maze

Maze of the week #100. This one took me a few months to make as I kept going back to the church to capture more details. It is also one of the largest mazes on the website. Eventually I switched it from a black and white maze to a full color ! The building is multiple colors depending on the section and stone used to make it.

Santo Domingo Maze
 

I have made a few more Mexican themed mazes, but the 6 best are above.