Darth Lego

A new kid on the block

2008-05-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

So, Dave over at http://brickplayer.com has recently showed up on the scene (just over 100 days on the web) and wow, is his stuff amazing!

Taking inspiration from his kids and other aspects of his life he shows many different things a AFoL can do! Plus, he updates his blog a whole lot more then me :)

Anyway, go over to his site and check it out! 'tis good stuff!

http://brickplayer.com

I'm on YouTube!

2007-10-25T23:35:00.000-07:00

Well, at the Maker Faire, they had people going around and filming all the "Makers" so they could upload their film on YouTube. Anyway, I was filmed at the end of the day and completely couldn't speak at that point.

Enjoy!

Maker Faire Austin 2007

2007-10-21T21:17:00.001-07:00

Maker Faire Austin 2007
Originally uploaded by Laughing Squid

Here's some of the examples we brought with us to Maker Faire to show people the different techniques one could use to do Lego Mosaics. Notice the "Make:" in the back corner, yep, had to show my love for the magazine :)

The Gazelle!

2007-10-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I mentioned someone had came by my booth who had made their own mosaic following the instructions on Instructables, well, she came by today and let me know she had emailed me a picture of her creation. I wanted to share with everyone out there this wonderful work of art.

Let me present to you, "The Gazelle" by Julia!

This is what's cool about Lego, using the same bricks, each person can make their own masterpiece based on whatever subject they want. Thank you Julia for taking the time to not only create a custom mosaic but to also share your effort with me. And see, she even took it a step further and framed it... hmmm... maybe I'll frame my next one!

As for everyone else, go on, create your masterpiece and share it with the world!!!

Chris

Yay I'm on the Make Blog again

2007-10-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not, but one of my lego creations are :)

Check out this page on "Maker Faire Photos" then scroll on down until you see the only lego picture on there :) (it happens to be the second to the last photo there...)

Hehe, very cool :)

Oh, on a related Make Magazine note, Bre Pettis, of the Make Weekend Podcast fame came by and gave me a "Maker Faire Blue Ribbon." It was super sweet :)

I tell you what, so far, this weekend has been great!

Maker Faire Day 1....Wow!!!!

2007-10-20T18:52:00.000-07:00

Wow, simply wow. Seriously, I can't express how fantastic, crazy, amazing, wow-ish, Maker Faire day 1 was. I am now horse, my voice has simply disappeared. We didn't know what to expect going into the Maker Faire, but if tomorrow is anything like today, man this would have been one crazy weekend.

Jess and I had put together 200 business card size information cards so people can go to instructables.com to learn how to make their own Lego mosaic, well, 3 hours into the Faire, we had given all 200 out, so, Jess drove home at lunchtime and printed off 200 more cards, well, by 4:30-5pm, we were out of those too! People just did not stop coming by! It was fantastic!

From 10am until 6pm, Jess and I were on our feet explaining what our booth was about and what was great, it was the whole gambit of demographics that came out! We had very young kids to those who were kids at heart. It was a blast, Unfortunately, I'm on such a rush, that it'll be hard for me to get the much needed sleep to do this again tomorrow!

Oh one of the highlights of the day, this fantastic young woman approached me and asked if I was the one who put up the instructable, I of course, said yes. Well, it turns out earlier she had found the instructable on her own and had made a Gazelle Lego Mosaic! I had a grin from ear to ear because my work on the Instructable had lead to someone else creating something they enjoyed, and she had a grin from ear to ear for meeting the person who made the Instructable she enjoyed. It was a win win/grin grin all around :)

The other highlight of the day was seeing my wife stand next to me getting just as into telling people about the booth as I was. It was nice to see both of us having a great day :)

Anyway, for those of you coming to this site for the first time, I hope to be featuring your mosaics on here soon!

Off to Maker Faire!

2007-10-20T05:05:00.000-07:00

Well, we went to the Faire on Friday Night to see where we'll be setup, and they also threw a little celebration to kick off the event.

Although this one will be very different then the one in San Mateo, it will still be interesting. Jess and I have made custom Shirts for the event as well as a bunch of smaller mosaics to show off the style. We've also printed off various documents so people can see how easy (and hopefully fun) it can be to make their own mosaic.

Here's crossing our fingers we will be received well!

Chris

Maker Faire!

2007-10-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

Well, we're only a few days away! So far, the last couple months have had us move house to Austin, Texas. My showing at this years Austin Maker Faire will be a little lighter then I had hoped but I'll still be out there providing all sorts of information, so come on out if you're in the area!

Darth Lego has been approved!

2007-08-21T10:51:00.001-07:00

For the Austin Make Faire!!!!!

See you guys there Oct 20 and 21st.

(You should see this site come to live too, as I'll be getting things setup for the Faire, we've been busy recently though as we're buying a home... our first one... crazy!)

Make Magazine Blog!

2007-07-12T01:47:00.000-07:00

To everyone coming from Make Magazine's Blog, welcome! To all those who don't know about it, go there now!!!!

I'm pretty stoked to have made it on there :) it is one of the few "must check every day" sites I visit!

Make Blog: Lego Mosaics

Darth Lego... Returns?

2007-07-09T14:14:00.000-07:00

Wow, so Daybringer, who has been commenting on here, has finished his own version of the Darth Vader Lego! It's so cool seeing someone make their own version of a creation I did :)

Yep, so very cool :) Plus, he framed his!

Maker Faire

2007-07-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I've applied for a table at this Year's Maker Faire in Austin, Texas. I should hear whether I'm accepted or not by August 21st. Here's keeping my fingers crossed!

For those that don't know, The Maker Faire is a excellent gathering of home made techie stuff :) From art to electronics, at least the San Francisco one was AWESOME! I'm hoping the Austin one is as good :)

Here's hoping I see you guys at the Maker Faire :)

Chris

New Technique, new Mosaic

2007-07-02T08:50:00.001-07:00

Well, After 1 year of being away from my Lego, I've decided to begin work on a SNOT style mosaic. What's SNOT? Well, it stands for "Studs Not On Top" Check out Eric Harshbarge's "Mad Hatter" piece to see an example of SNOT. Anyway, the added complexity of building the piece, adds to a much higher fidelity in terms of the pixel appearance. The reason I want to try SNOT is the piece I want to do has a lot of curves in it and I'm anxious to see how well I can do a "circle" in Lego :)

As my trials of success or failure come in, I'll update the site :)

Chris

Official Star Wars Blog!

2007-06-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Well, after 1 year of sitting in my office, I met someone yesterday that turned out to be one of the bloggers for StarWars.Com. My 15 Seconds of fame starts now!...and well, ends now :P

Talk about an additional perk for working for Mr Lucas :)

So, all of you coming over from the starwars.com blog, welcome and all of you coming over from other sites, drop a line as to what site sent you and I'll try to keep a running list!

Chris

An Update

2007-06-27T17:47:00.001-07:00

Well, it has now been over 1 year since I completed my Darth Lego project. During that time, it has survived 2 earthquakes (small ones, but still) and one office move. Our team has grown so quickly that every month or so, I have someone come in and ask where I "got that from" which I'm always pleased to say "I made it!"

I still haven't decided what to make next :) I want to do an R2D2 scene but I would need to stylize it pretty good due to the colors needed.

At the same time, with Transformers all the talk, I've been kicking around the idea of making a Transformer themed mosaic.

Me and Darth, just Chill'n

2007-06-27T17:46:00.001-07:00

Me and Darth, just Chill'n
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

Sorry for the color quality on this image, no, I am not an oompa loompa with orange skin :)

Well, here is a image that shows the scale of my masterpiece. Additionally, it is now hanging in my office at work, (notice the Xwing on the right of the photo)

I am one happy camper! It couldn't have turned out better in my opinion. And hey, now Darth Vader can watch over me while I work, if I start to feel a tight constricting around my neck, I'll know he was catching me slacking off.

Now, what to make next :)

Repairing the damage

2007-06-27T17:43:00.001-07:00

Repairing the damage
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

My wife felt bad laughing at me in my time of despaire :) so she helped me put the mosaic back together again :) (unlike humpty dumpty :)

Yep, she's a great woman, not only does she enjoy Lego like me, but she entertains my "interesting" hobbies :)

The damage

2007-06-27T17:34:00.001-07:00

The damage
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

Yep, this is what happens when you drop a mosaic at roughly 4 feet above the ground :(

Pieces everywhere!

2007-06-27T17:33:00.001-07:00

Pieces everywhere!
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

A very valuable lesson. When transporting a lego mosaic that held together only by friction, I highly recommend using packing tape on the seams. If you don't, you'll find yourself with 200 pieces flying across the room, a wife feeling sorry for you but laughing at the same time, and you, standing there, with a very dumbfounded look :)

Ah well, at least it is lego, and well, I get to put it together again!

By the way, this happened when I was trying to move the mosaic to the wall so I could get a good photo of it :)

Darth Vader Lego Mosaic

2007-06-27T17:30:00.001-07:00

Darth Vader Lego Mosaic
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

It's done!!!!!

Wow, that looks freak'n sweet!

It has taken me roughly a month of planning, sourcing and building to get this project done in my free time. I need to make another one, but I did learn one valuable lesson... see the next post to find out what it is :)

Almost Done!

2007-06-27T17:28:00.001-07:00

Almost Done!
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

Oh man! I'm getting closer!

Does that look sweet or what! For my first mosiac, I am pretty stoked as to how it is turning out!

All total, I think up until this point, I've worked on this for about 10 hours over 2 days (and yes, my fingers are SORE!)

I almost just want to sit and finish this, but no, I must sleep, and work in order to afford hobbies like this :)

starting to fill in the face

2007-06-27T17:19:00.001-07:00

starting to fill in the face
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

Phew! All the non-black is done! Man, it sure doesn't look like non-black is too many pieces. It's quite surprising to see that the non-black is roughly 1,200 pieces.

Also in this picture, you can see the vertical and horizontal black lines, these are the seems between the 6 64x64 plates. I would soon find out that pure friction is not enough to support the weight of all these pieces :)

The mask plate

2007-06-27T17:17:00.001-07:00

The mask plate
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

Oh man! I can actually recognize things now :)

This is after the first 64x64 panel is done (minus the black pieces of course). I don't remember how long it took me, but I do remember I was excited!

Just beginning

2007-06-27T17:15:00.001-07:00

Just beginning
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

How do you walk a thousand miles? one step at a time.

Yep, I have begun! 10 pieces down, 3,190 to go :)

Witness my Palette

2007-06-27T17:14:00.001-07:00

Witness my Pallette
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

Ah yes, Every painter needs a palette, mine, well, happened to be a paper plate :) This made accessing the color blocks I needed so easy! I highly recommend this method to everyone!

I made plans

2007-06-27T17:12:00.001-07:00

I made plans
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

This is how I worked :)

I would start with a non-black color and much like plotting points on a map, I would meticulously put each square in, one by one (making sure the Lego logo is right side up of course :)

I started with Non-black, because I had about 80% of the squares as black. Which meant if I saved black as the end, I could just put those pieces in any square that was left.

Anyway, I created the map in a program called Bricksaic after I had cleaned up my source image in Photoshop. I should mention I am in no way a graphics guy so I had to learn how to use these programs and pretty much, convince them to do what I wanted :)

Check out the instructable link to see more information on how this is made.

The Playing Field

2007-06-27T17:06:00.001-07:00

The Playing Field
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

This to me, is very representative of Lego. Here I have a field of studs. To me, I see the Dark Lord setting up his home on here, but to someone else, it could be a castle, pirates, even care bears! Lego truly is a toy for everyone, actually I wouldn't even call it a toy! It is a canvas. Like any true artist (of which, I am not :P ) you need to start with a blank slate and work towards what you see in your minds eye.

Also, to me, this picture represents endless possibilities since the end of the field is not in the shot.

Oh I love lego, but man! I have a mosaic to be building!

So many pieces!

2007-06-27T17:03:00.001-07:00

So many pieces!
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

Have I mentioned I'm stoked at all the pieces I now have :) YAY!!!!

Inside the box

2007-06-27T17:02:00.001-07:00

Inside the box
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

The box of joy arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This box contained the majority of my lego requirements :) I actually had to order from two separate people as no one person had enough black pieces! Anyway, it is quite amazing how heavy a box full of lego can weigh.

One of my earliest childhood memories is owning a box of lego. I'm not talking about a Kit here, I'm talking about a pale of random lego that you had to use your head to create from. Anyway, the sound of rummaging in that pale has stayed with me and when I picked up the box and shook it for the first time, I truly felt like a child again. I was giddy!

Chris

The Count

2007-06-27T16:54:00.001-07:00

The Count
Originally uploaded by chuybregts

Wow, 6,144 pixels. When I started this project, I had no idea the scope/size it would end up to be. 6,144 pixels... that is a lot of pieces! After crunching the numbers, if I were to source 1x1 blocks for every pixel, it would cost me well over $300 dollars to make this "hobby." So, how can I bring down the cost?

I went onto BrickLink to see what the cheapest pieces were and how I could use them to my advantage while maintaining a pretty clean/symmetrical look. Looking at the prices, I could get 2x2 black pieces for between 1.5 to 2.5 cents a piece, which is much better then 1x1's for 2 to 3 cents a piece. Okay, I was sold, I orderd about 1,200 black pieces in order to make up the bulk of my "pixel count" that left roughly 2,000 pieces in the remaining colors that I needed (plus a few hundred blacks 1x1s).

In the end, I spent roughly $100 dollars on this piece of art, which seeing as Lego's "price per 1000 pieces" rate is roughly $100 per 1,000 pieces (check out the star destroyer kit or the death star). In the end I made up my mosaic with roughly 3,200 pieces.

Darth Lego Has been Made

2006-05-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

Recently I was in need of a hobby. I thought and thought and thought but couldn't think of anything. That was until one day our work started putting up a slew of artwork on our walls. One of these finely crafted pictures was of Darth Vadar. "sweet" I thought to myself, "That image kicks ass, if only I were an artist then I too could make something cool." Well, that's when things started to churn. You see, I'm a programmer. I have ney the artist bone in my body, but what I do have is an uncanny sense of "figuring things out." So one day I was frequenting a website, at this point I do not recall which one, but I found an image of Darth Vader. This image was so simple, but full of such joy that I knew I just had to make a lego mosaic of it.

This my friends, is that story.

Step By Step of the process