I make a lot of mazes for the website. Thousands since I started it, but you may not know that many of those mazes have been scrubbed from the site as new, better mazes have replaced them. In 2022 I switched the site from a daily maze on the homepage (very labor intensive), to a new maze each week (debuting every Monday).
These individual mazes take a lot of time to make, so I work ahead - sometimes only a few weeks, but usually a few months. If you ask me what maze will be featured 13 Mondays from today - I know. This gives me time to research and write a blog post for the maze, and set-up a dedicated page on the website. I also am making comic book mazes for Tuesdays, comic strips on Wednesdays, and hard mazes each Saturday to go along with regular blog posting. My point is I am busy.
Another advantage of working ahead is the ability to stop making a maze if something if off with it for some reason. I also scrapped a few ideas after having made many mazes for a theme (because I don’t really do many themes anymore). This gives me a catalog of mazes that had never seen the light of day. Each of the below mazes was abandoned at some point, but eventually I went back and completed (most of) them. I’ll show you the abandonment and then a link to show you the follow-up case study and maze. I’m hopeful I can complete even more of these in the future.
Abandoned Maze #1 - The Hollywood Sign Maze
Technically could be considered a finished maze. But it is very boring. Not particularly good. It does not bring a Kondo level of joy. The maze is easy. Could it be salvaged ? Yes, probably with some color and lots of background detail - but once you see a photo of the actual sign and it’s surroundings you notice a lot of rocks/dirt and just a few bushes. The top of the hill has fences, and cellphone towers, etc. So, this COULD be salvaged, but most likely won’t be. Mistake made: Poor subject matter / poor execution
This became a case study: Case Study#4 - How to Improve a Bad Maze - The Hollywood Sign.
The improved maze is part of my sign maze collection where you can find most of my old sign mazes and thier downloads. Here is the new, completed version:
Abandoned Maze #2 - US Lightship Maze
I spent a lot of time on the details of this boat. I wanted to make the maze for Veteran’s Day. The only place to make the maze is in the hull of the boat and I used an on-line construction. It just doesn’t look good. It might be salvageable. Mistake made: Poor maze construction.
This became a case study: Case Study#7 - How to Improve a Bad Maze - Ship.
Here is the permanent home of the US Lightship Maze with the download. Here is the new, completed version:
Abandoned Maze #3 - Severance Hall Maze
This almost maze was done before I started using perspective for just about every maze, that’s why it looks so boxy. I was in-between wanting to start from scratch or moving forward with the maze. I never made a decision and it got lost until I found it for this post. It also appears to be floating and a nondescript building. Mistake made: Using a poor method to start with. Indecision on how to move forward.
This became a case study: Case Study #5 - How to Improve a Bad Maze - Severance Hall, and then I thought I could improve on that version and did this, Maze of the Week 79 Redux - Severance Hall (MOTW#176).
Here is the permanent home of the Severance Hall Maze with the maze download. Here is the most updated version of the maze:
Abandoned Maze #4 - Tiki Totem Maze
I thought this would be a good idea. Tiki totems are so cool. I can’t quite put my finger on this. It just isn’t good enough to be on the site as a weekly featured maze. I think it MIGHT be able to be fixed. Add color to the totem, and to make it more interesting - SHADOWS. I would also try a more complex maze structure vs the current kids level format. But I can’t be sure that will be enough…so it will not get done ….or it will. We’ll see. Mistake made: Not enough details / interest
This became a case study, in fact my first one: Case Study #1 - How to Improve a Bad Maze - Tiki Totem Maze.
Here is the permanent home of the Tiki Totem Maze with the download. Here is the new, completed version of the maze:
Abandoned Maze #5 - Red Rocks Amphitheatre Maze
Never completed. I never made the maze…just the picture which I struggled with in terms of coloration - every photo of RR has different lighting so the colors are difficult. And most of all, the maze was going to be placed in the rocks but that is a bad structure to make a maze in. Mistake made: Poor subject matter for a maze
This became a case study: Case Study#3 - How to Improve a Bad Maze - Red Rocks Amphitheatre Maze.
Here is the permanent home of the Red Rocks Amphitheatre Maze with the download. Here is the new, revised version of the maze:
Abandoned Maze #6 - Dancing Man Statue Maze
I had high hopes (sing it!) for this when I started it. As you can see I made the figure and I was starting to add muscle definition (in red) when I came to the conclusion - there is no place for a maze - or if there is it will make the maze very large in order to be able to see/solve it. I want this to work because the figure took so long to make and I included so many details. Mistake made: Poor subject matter for a maze.
This became a case study: Case Study#2 - How to Improve a Bad Maze - Danzante Conchero Chichimeca Maze. Then in 2025 after visiting Queretaro again, I was able to update this maze again. I feel like George Lucas playing with the original Star Wars: the Danzante Conchero Chichimeca Maze Update.
Here is the permanent home of the Danzante Conchero Chichimeca Maze with the download. Here is the new, completed version of the maze:
Abandoned Maze #7 - Gateway Arch Maze
This subject fits the definition of something people would like to see. But it doesn’t work. I used a standard maze structure in the arch and it is the wrong type of maze for it. I did a mix of background detail and non-detail. The trees in the foreground are terrible. This could be salvaged with a lot of work. Mistake made: Poor maze execution
Well, I finally finished this maze by improving it. The above never should have seen the light of day. The new version became Maze of the Week #183 - The Gateway Arch as I added more details to the city and colorized the illustration. I also changed the style of the maze in the arch.
Abandoned Maze #8 - Terminal Tower Maze
A building in Cleveland, Ohio that was once the 2nd tallest building in the US (after the Empire State Building). This almost maze was made when I was trying to make everything geometrical and without perspective. Later I switched everything to perspective drawing. I just didn’t feel that the finished product would be worth the additional work needed. It was going to become a very large maze (and difficult to solve), similar to my Empire State Building Maze. Mistake made: Using a poor method to start with.
I am unsure if this maze will ever be completed. I have gone back to it multiple times, only to never restart it.
Abandoned Mazes #9 - Kiyomizu-dera temple pagoda
I started this maze in early 2023. I was using a photo to help me create the illustration. It is very complicated and was taking much longer than many mazes. I gave up after making little progress after a month. I was unsure how to fit a maze in eventually. The detail meant there was little space for a maze. Mistake made: Complicated illustration with questions on if a maze would look good.
This would be a bad maze, but an excellent illustration. I do not run a website called do you illustrate, so this may never be completed as I focus my attention on mazes.
Abandoned Mazes #10 - Assorted building mazes
I have started and stopped on the following mazes for a variety of reasons - but none deserve a visual in this post.
Tower Bridge, London, England
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre, Paris, France
Abu Simbel, Egypt
Mont Saint Michel
Machu Picchu, Andes Mountains, Peru
I wish that was a comprehensive list, but it is not. I think that is because I have hope that many more mazes “In progress” will be finished at some point.
So what do you think ? Which of these last few mazes can and should be salvaged ?