I Want You!...To Build Me Out of Lego Bricks...

Frequent mosaic builder, Dave Shaddix, re-creates the famous U.S. Army Recruiting Poster.

Uncle Sam supports Lego, you should too!

Flower power!

Hello! Here is my very first Mosaic Bricks post. It's a bit ironic that I've been invited to contribute to a LEGO blog right at the time that I started taking a little break from actual LEGO building in order to spend time doing a few other things. But I still have quite a backlog of mosaics and mosaic techniques that I've admired in the past, and I would like to share them here.

For today, I would like to share some mosaics Jason Allemann (True Dimensions) made entirely from LEGO flowers:










I find it very interesting how he's overlapped the flower petals to give the impression of solid blocks of color. You can also see how each row of flowers is elevated slightly from the one below it, so that the petals have room to fit next to each other (I would guess). I thought it was all very clever.

Announcing MosaicBricks' Newest Author!

Hear ye! Hear ye! Announcing MosaicBrick's latest addition to the blog! With the recent (or not so recent) contest, MosaicBricks has been expanding! In efforts to boost productivity, the blog will be adding more authors to add a variety of new content!

I'm proud to announce that mosaic master, Katie Walker, has agreed to join the blog as an author! If you weren't aware, Katie has designed the logo at the top of the site, she has been featured on The Brothers Brick Blog almost ten times, and has received an abundance praise throughout the community for her stunning work. Be sure to check out her flickr stream to see her fantastic creations, or you can check out the interview we did with her last year here.

Katie will be adding techniques and tricks & tips to the blog, as well as user creations, so look forward to her posts! If you're ever not sure if she has posted, or if I have (Casey), at the footer of the post, it will display one of our names. So, thanks to Katie for joining and thanks to everyone for sticking with us!

MBMMMC Contest Winners!

Hello there peoples! How's it going? Great! I'm doing quite well myself (more like the complete opposite). Aside from being totally consumed with school lately, I'm here today to announce the winners of the 2011 MosaicBricks May Mosaic Madness Contest! Yes, yes it's late, but better late then never. The contest ended Sep. 20th 2011, and it's Nov. 13th 2011, but I'm trying my hardest here.

Now, admit-tingly I only received two entries. Which is fine, more prizes for them right? So there was much deliberation as to who to pick for the winners. So without much ado,

The Entries:

 

First we (and by, we and mean I) received The NFPA Chemical Hazard Label mosaic by Bruce N H, admin at classic-castle and author of (way) too many blogs.This one has a lot of great things going for it. In some of the larger shots, it's hard to quite make out what you're looking at, but when you look back at it, you can really recognize the letter and numbers. Second, it's built sideways. Very clever. It reminds me of the mosaic by au_riverhorse's bandit mosaic from a while ago. It's simple, clean, and gets the job done.

Concept: 4/5 - Picking a mosaic that is still relevant, while picking one that not many people would choose. Taking day to day objects and building them out of Lego, is always a great idea.
Execution: 4.5/5 - The mosaic looks spot on to the original design. Admittedly, some of the letters do look at bit wonky being sideways and all, but it's almost an exact copy (especially when you look at it from far away, or in a lower resolution).
Originality: 3.5 - The mosaic is not an original work, but is one that not very many people make mosaics of (day to day warning signs, etc.)
Overall: 12/15 - An overall, nice mosaic with bright colors and a great design perfect for applicable day-to-day use.

Check it out here.

Second, we have "the pretties picture", by Katie Walker, mosaic guru and master of cheese slopes. In art class during 8th grade, I learned of what makes art really great, one point of which was a focal point. With this mosaic, you really get your attention set to the middle, really capturing your attention from the get go. The colors work well together, and setting the 1x1s on their sides just a little bit, is really cool.

Concept: 3/5 - If you were trying to describe this mosaic to someone, you wouldn't honestly know (Or I wouldn't, at least) what to tell them what it is other than, a 'picture', a 'pattern', or a 'design', without getting really technical. It's hard to put your finger on quite what it is, making it difficult to explain, unlike a brand logo, a portrait, etc. Not saying that the concept is bad, but is hard to put context to.
Execution: 5/5 - Now it may seem weird thinking the concept is, o.k., but saying the execution is phenomenal. But, it's true. The intricacies and techniques in here are really great and beautiful, really showing off Katie's skill as a builder.
Originality: 4.5/5 - Like I've stated previously, the 1x1s on their sides is really a great technique, along with the focal point's bold slope usage. I'm not an art aficionado, so I'm not sure if a piece of art that looks like this exists, but the mosaic is a pretty original idea.
Overall: 12.5/15 - Overall, a solid work of art. Techniques and choice of color is really superb.

Check it out here.

So who wins? Katie comes out on top by .5 of a point, but since we only had two entries, I decided to up the winnings!

The Swag:

Prize pack #1 includes:
- One (1) $15 Lego Store Gift Card (Also redeemable online).
- Two (2) Series 5 Collectible Minifigures
- One (1) 40005 Bunny
- One (1) 40012 Pumpkin

Prize pack #2 includes:
- One (1) $15 Lego Store Gift Card (Also redeemable online).
- Two (2) Series 5 Collectible Minifigures
- One (1) 7606 Frog
- One (1) 7871 Whale
- One (1) 1999 McDonald's Chicken Car (Not sure set # or name)

Both are now virtually the same, and both will receive a $15 gift card, perfect for a large PaB cup, or anything else your Lego heart desires. If any of you two have questions, feel free to contact me. Katie, you win by just a little bit, so you have first pick on said pack! I will be contacting both of you to get these sent out. ;-D

Thanks to both the competitors! Hopefully next year's will be grander, and more well organized, but that's a while away from now. I apologize for being so busy, life and school really have gotten in the way of every hobby that I want to do. Look around here more often because I'm really really trying harder to get school done faster, so I can do what I love. But, no promises. Thanks,
~Casey~