Lego Art & Design Principles 101

I just tried to get an account, but my e-mail was blocked.

Its because you have to use an email account thats not a free one, gmail, yahoo, etc. I used my Comcast account. What also works is your student email account, work email, etc.

Yeah do what Uberlag says Zeph, and you should be able to get on.

Building BIG 101

Building Big. I want to build bigger what can do, and I don’t have a lot pieces?

Here's a list of things you can do to increase the size of your MOC’s.

Shred. Yep that's right recycle extra sets and old MOC's. You can always build them again and probably better the next time. I took 2 Droid Fighters, 3 TIE Fighters, 1 Clone Scout Walker, 3 Droid Tri-Fighter, 1 ARC-170 Fighter, & 2 Vulture Droids sets and recycled them this morning. All doubles in my collection leaving still one of each on display. I had done this before with several other doubles but these were still in my display collection. Ah more pieces to build with and more space to display new Official Star Wars Lego Sets.

Build frames. Use Technic pieces and build a frame the cover the frame with bricks & plates.

Vision. Think about what color it needs to be. Do I have enough pieces in that color? Plan ahead. Buy sets that have the color you need.

Illusion. Build you model out whatever colors and pieces you have and save all the of 1 to 3 colors (see Color Theory 101) for the outside pieces that are showing.

Design. Open and simple shapes like a fish or ball are going to use less pieces then something complex and busy like a centipede or poly-winged ship.

Buy more for less. Shop on EBay for small amounts of bulk bricks at low prices. Go to thrift stores and clear out their Lego inventory. Buy sets on sale. Often, larger suppliers will have clearance sets up to 50% off, but it means waiting and being patient. Finally cruise around and check out yard sales on the weekends. I think on an average Lego bricks cost about $0.10 USD if bought in a offical set. Try to find pieces for less then $0.10 USD. Every ten cents you save is another brick.

Have Fun & Keep Building

There's one you missed Rook, get your freinds old collections when they get too "mature" for LEGO at way bellow market values!

astoriabluelegos wrote:There's one you missed Rook, get your freinds old collections when they get too "mature" for LEGO at way bellow market values!

I think that is close enough to yard sale.

There's also crime but I didn't think that was ok to add.

HAHA, yeah we could all be like that one guy who ripped off a $1,000 worth of LEGO from Target!

astoriabluelegos wrote:HAHA, yeah we could all be like that one guy who ripped off a $1,000 worth of LEGO from Target!

48,000 actually, kind of stupid the stuff people steal, children's toys? Pfft.

Uberlag wrote:48,000 actually, kind of stupid the stuff people steal, children's toys? Pfft.

I was only off by like $47,000, and who are you callinga child, I'm 118 remember! You young'ns don't have ANY respect for your elders!

On an art topic, is using my blood to create realistic blood-stains weird? I wouldn't hurt myself to do it, just if I had a bloody-nose or something, my mom says it's been used in art a long time.

Uberlag wrote:On an art topic, is using my blood to create realistic blood-stains weird? I wouldn't hurt myself to do it, just if I had a bloody-nose or something, my mom says it's been used in art a long time.

On top of being weird it's unsanitary, and could have adverse reactions on the LEGO elements it's applied too, not to mention it will decompose making an even grosser situation. If I were you don't do it!

Unsanitary? Blood is actually very sanitary, if its the life fluid of your body, it has to be sanitary. I tested it because I had a bloody nose this morning, it just turns brown like blood does, sticks like paint too. If its so weird, tell that to Sev, I bet he would beat you up .

Uberlag wrote:Unsanitary? Blood is actually very sanitary, if its the life fluid of your body, it has to be sanitary. I tested it because I had a bloody nose this morning, it just turns brown like blood does, sticks like paint too. If its so weird, tell that to Sev, I bet he would beat you up .

Sev's might be paint, no one knows. And blood is very sanitary as long as it stays in your body, once outside it can breed MANY different kind of germs, not too menton it's just plain gross!

Rule of thumb: Whether or not painting with blood is saniary or not, it is gross, so avoid it.

Zepher wrote:Rule of thumb: Whether or not painting with blood is saniary or not, it is gross, so avoid it.

Good summary Zeph, that's a good rule to follow!

:spammers: I know this thread is pretty much dead but whats wrong with blood? Its no different in you than it is out of you. And everything is a breeding ground for bacteria so its not that bad.

major reviss wrote::spammers: I know this thread is pretty much dead but whats wrong with blood? Its no different in you than it is out of you. And everything is a breeding ground for bacteria so its not that bad.

It's not dead it's pinned?

Wow nice way to go way off topic. It's been pinned for people to add ummm?... oh yeah ideas about Lego Art & Design Principles 101. On that note. Maybe it is time to revisit this thread with a 205 series.

I have noticed that when some of you take pictures of your minifigs, there is all sorts of things happening in the background.

Most professionals however, uses a technique called White Balance. It takes away all the distracting background so your audience can focus on the figure it self.


First you need a lamp and a sheet of white paper, set it up like so.


Change your camera settings to manual and micro.


This is your end result.


Use this technique and your minifig will be more focused then the background.

Sorry for the Double Post... but I have another tutorial! Part two of the one above me...

HOW TO MAKE THE PICS BRIGHTER AND GETTING RID OF SHADOWS!

First of all, you have to download Picasa 3...

Pick the Photo you want to use (already white-balanced). And open it up.


Then you go to Tuning>Brightness, and raise the bar till it's satisfactory.




Then you open up GIMP, select a brush AND CHANGE THE COLOR TO WHITE! Then use the airbrush tool to erase the shadows...




Ta da!