This tattoo is the third official iteration of the client's idea. He wanted a maze with various symbols that he feels represent him. The base of the band is a maze that continuously loops through buildings taken from New York City and Chicago. The Twin Towers are incorporated here as ghosts instead of silhouettes, combined with their replacement. The thick lines give depth and a faux 3d perspective.
The pre-maze idea
The first maze
Art print maze development
Art print for the maze concept
The tattoo itself started off as a collection of symbols, and the maze grew from there. The first maze had rings that would get tighter, giving a tunnel effect. The symbols were drawn crudely and curved like graffiti. As I have drawn a number of tattoos for this client, he commissioned a series of art prints based on the works I've done for him. The art print version laid the maze flat with no attempts to fool the eye, allowing the swirling dark mass in the background do that work instead.
For ease of use, the client intends to get the band done first. The maze goes around the symbols, tracing around the concepts that are important to him while playing with perspective.
The profile tattoo, isolated from the buildings, has a flat maze that enters through the mouth and ends at the starfield in his mind. Instead of going around symbols, the maze path goes directly through them.