Removing Paths Under Objects in Illustrator

[tracykay13]

I have a complex mandala vector created using brushes. There are a lot of unneeded overlapping paths that I would like to remove, but I can't quite figure out how, aside from literally going in and cutting each and every one, which would take forever. 

The end result I'm hoping for is an image that is only a compound path, with no fills. 

I've been beating my head against the wall with this one for a while now - any suggestions?

I've attached two images, one you can see what I'm aiming for with the final product, and the second one, you can see all the overlapping paths behind objects that I'm trying to get rid of. 

Thanks for any help!

[Bobby Henderson]

You mentioned brushes, but are all the lines in the drawing line strokes? If so I would expand all the line strokes/brushes into editable paths. But first I would move the interior portions of the graphic that are overlapping the other parts to additional layers above. I would do that to keep the various parts organized. Next I would do the expand step. Then I would work from the bottom up using copies of the overlaping shapes to cut through the paths running underneath. Finally everything could be welded together into one compound shape with no overlaps.

[tracykay13]

This is sort of working - I've divided it into layers, duplicated them, then Unite a layer to make a solid shape of that layer, place it on top of the next layer down, and divide it. Then, just select and delete everything within the solid shape. It works for the most part, there's a few stray areas that need cleanup, but this is the closest I've gotten so far! Lots of fiddling, but at least I'm getting somewhere. Thank you!

[Monika Gause]

Are the white areas filled with white?

In that case: expand brushes or strokes as Bobby mentioned and then hit the button "Merge" in the pathfinder panel.

Afterwards delete all white filled objects and search for invisible paths and delete them as well.

[tracykay13]

Thanks for the suggestion! Unfortunately, this results in a solid shape with a few stray lines, I believe because there's open paths in this project. 

[Monika Gause]

Did you outline the strokes?

Are you sure you clicked on "Merge" (instead of unite)?

[tracykay13]

You are absolutely right, I hit Unite instead of Merge! This gets me close, but does a double line instead of a single line. Is there a way to get it back to the single line? I've been here before - tried the negative offset method, which didn't work in this case. Any ideas?

Thank you!

[Monika Gause]

Has it perhaps stroked the path instead of filling it?