The advance copies look fantastic! I am so happy how the book turned out. Each theatrical Star Wars film gets at least 2 mazes, plus one Mandalorian and Black Spire Outpost on the inside cover.
This detail is from the Naboo maze, based fairly closely on the capital city.
book2
Happy Star Wars Day!
Well, was yesterday and I posted this Hoth maze from the book all over my social media.
Below is the sketch for the maze. You can see it is very similar! Phil Szostak, content and asset specialist at Lucasfilm, asked me to rotate the Millennium Falcon and add additional snowspeeders.
The yellow lines are the gutter. Though the book can open flat and my publisher is has excellent precision, I wanted to be sure there were no bridges or vertical paths in this area.
All the mazes in the book had to be canon or canon adjacent. I made adjustments to create a fun maze in my style, but it was important to feel like the recognizable Star Wars from the films.
I used tons of research! Screen grabs from the film, 3d model references, images from the Battlefront video game, Wookieepedia, and the DK Star Wars Locations books. The Hans Jenssen cross-section of Echo Base is amazing! His illustration includes much more than I needed and a lot of information not in the film. It was especially helpful because relationships between the scenes is never shown in the movie. Jenssen’s illustration is the best, canon-approved overview I found.
These people are drawn 600dpi, so are very small on the page! They look jagged because soft, anti-alias lines are not so friendly for print. Also much easier to work with my preferred flat colors
While doing research, I found this cool picture of director Irvin Kershner on a tauntaun
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays everyone! If you got From Here To There today, Hooray!! I encourage everyone not to draw in the book, but use your finger or something pointy, so you can explore the mazes again and again.
If you’re visiting this page for the first time, let me be the first to tell you about my upcoming book, Star Wars Mazes, available in July!
Star Wars Mazes, a new book by Sean C. Jackson, arriving July 2021
Currently, the name on all the bookshop websites is misspelled Staw Wars Mazes, which is hysterical. I’m sure my publisher will update that on Monday. Hopefully they are not all on vacation until January 4!
Pre-orders are great because it gives stores an idea of the interest in a book. They can make sure to have enough copies available when the book comes out in July. If you we shopping this year for my current book, From Here To There, you might have noticed the book sold out everywhere! I feel like a lot of folks had a sad, mazeless Christmas. Don’t let that happen to you! Pre-order today!
New Step Style
Here is a new style for doing steps. I like it!
Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens
In April, I visited the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens in West Palm Beach, Florida. Winding paths through palm gardens and monumental sculptures- it’s perfect. I took many pictures... Norton’s towering Gate sculptures loom out of the foliage or are revealed around bends of the path.
This summer I made a maze based on the gardens. Here is a detail.
You can see the full puzzle on my Twitter!
This Brutal Maze
It's been a while since I've posted a maze. Here I'm playing with Brutalist Architecture- which has been quite the internet trend for a bit now. I am happy with how the maze turned out. It is simple, a little tricky, and has very clear paths.
If you want more cool buildings every day, follow @BrutalHouse on Twitter!
UPDATE: This is now available as an art print on my Society6 shop!
UPDATE: Also as a shirt or other apparel in my Threadless shop!
A New Planet Maze!
Similar to a couple in the book, "From Here To There: A Book of Mazes to Wander and Explore". Have fun!
Rust
Rusting steel sculpture reference, in case I want to include lots of Serra sculptures. I do.
New Cube
This new cube may show up in a later book. I'm very happy with it!
Path Notation Update
I've finished inking the maze I showed off in August for the "Path Notation" entry. Here is a detail of the top of that same section. The working title is "Tall Rocks".
My working titles are kind of boring.
Top detail of sketches I uploaded in August. With color, the paths will pop. Promise.
Working Late
I've just scanned all my pencil layouts! Here I am "inking" in a spherical city maze. I'm wearing my new Threadless hoodie and listening to the audiobook Gone Girl on Overdirve.
Spaceport Shipyard Update
Inking the big spaceport maze. I don't add color until the black is done. I've noted some things that will need to be addressed.
Currently I do all my "inking" on the computer. This is were I have to decide on the thickness of the black line. Typically, the thickness of the line depends on the detail of the maze. I thought this piece was super detailed, but once placed on a 18"x12" page, I realized the maze was not as detailed as I thought!
This shows the black layer over the original drawing, which is how I usually work. I've pointed out areas that will need attention before I'm done.
Path Notation
Although the mazes are often free-form and doodle-like, I need to keep track of the paths. Here is an example of my notations tracking paths alongside the final pencil drawing. Arrows are typically the "hero" path that will lead to the end. O's are paths open on both ends that I will eventually attach to a hero or false path. Letters or numbers refer to a specific fork, usually close to the start, so I know where to reconnect looping false paths or eventual solution paths.
Left: Path notations help keep track of the maze. Right: Final maze layout with notations still visible.
Brutalism
Concrete overhanging blocks. This should be fun to color.
Detail sketch and partially lined.
Shipyard Details
I'm working on a larger maze with lots of spaceships. here is a detail.
Guidelines!
Laying down guidelines for this large garden maze. Usually I let the perspective kind of wander, but I wanted to try something with a little more discipline. I hope it won't feel too uptight when done.
Reigning in the chaos with guidelines!