Read on for a closer look at each of these dogs individually, as well as pictures of their real-life counterparts!
Read MoreI designed this 1:2-scale pair of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels on commission. They’re some of the first pet builds I’ve ever designed, and I feel quite proud with how they turned out.
Let me introduce you to two sweet dogs: Indigo (the “Tri-Color” Cavalier, with black, white, and brown coloration) and Harmony (the “Blenheim” Cavalier, with white and reddish coloration). Like most pet owners, my client loves and treasures his dogs. Out of respect for his adoration, I sought to recreate Harmony and Indigo as faithfully as possible, and to make the pair complement one another just like their real-life counterparts do.
However, I wasn’t always slated to build both Indigo and Harmony. Initially, my client approached me seeking just a 1:1 replica of Harmony, and I signed on to the project intending to produce a model in that size. So, why did I change scales?
Read on to find out why, and to learn more about the process and design decisions behind these models!
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I designed these famous Halloween characters in collaboration with Build Better Bricks (B3). Every year, B3’s head designer Tyler and I decide on two new monsters to build for the holiday; he does one, and I do one. During our inaugural Halloween season, I built the savage Werewolf on the left. For this year, I built a wicked Red Devil. Both figurines are highly articulated and detailed, and are designed as amalgamations of my favorite versions of these iconic monsters.
Read on to learn more about the design choices that went into each of these models, and to find out how I found my way to their striking photo presentation!
Read MoreI designed this replica of a Fell Beast from Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001-2003) in collaboration with Build Better Bricks (B3). Despite their limited screen time during the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) films, the Ringwraiths’ dragon steeds known as Fell Beasts are some of the most striking creatures from Jackson’s take on the Tolkien universe. I was excited to revisit this subject; the last time I made a Fell Beast was actually back in 2012, when my building skills were nowhere near as practiced as they are now.
Read on to learn more about the design choices that culminated in my finished Fell Beast model—and stick around to the end of this post to see my 2012 version, too!
Read MoreIn Episode 7 of LEGO Masters, “Storybook” (3/18/2020), all the teams were presented with an identical, Mad Lib-style story, the blanks of which had been filled in creatively by a group of kids. For the challenge, each team had to present their own recreation of this zany tale involving a “book chicken,” a “horse that can do gymnastics,” a “Taker-Waker,” and more.
For our model, Christian and I chose to build the interior of the Taker-Waker’s house, which the storybook specified as being messy and full of stolen toys. This setting choice, however, turned out to be a bad one. Our decision to build an enclosed structure literally boxed us in, and guided us towards manifesting a more realistic interpretation of the “Land of Koo Koo Magic” than other teams. Unfortunately, this stylistic direction left the Brickmasters cold. On top of this, since we took the story at face value, we intentionally built a cluttered house… but ended up with an unintentionally messy-looking build.
Ultimately, our entry for the storybook challenge landed us in the bottom two teams for the first time. Although Christian and I weren’t eliminated, this was still my least favorite build of the season. Read on for my special dissection of this model’s process, design choices, and more.
Read MoreFor Episode 5 of LEGO Masters, “Mega City Block” (3/4/2020), Christian and I created “Attack on Sustainable City,” an environmentally-minded city block under threat by an enormous pollution monster.
This build—which was divided into a 14 hour first part and a 4-hour second part—was a huge emotional roller coaster for me. As we wheeled our build into the gallery during the final two minutes of part one, our table hit a brick on the floor, sending a shock wave up the tall tower and toppling five of its fourteen stories. This catastrophic collapse felt like the lowest of lows… until we got an extremely lucky twist!
In part two of the challenge, during which we were instructed to put our city blocks “under attack,” Christian and I managed to both rebuild our fallen tower and create an iconic monster of which we were quite proud. Our finished model definitely made its mark; it turned out to be the tallest building of all.
“Attack on Sustainable City” landed us in the top two teams for this week. Read on for my special dissection of this model’s process, design choices, and more.
Read MoreFor Episode 3 of LEGO Masters, “Movie Genres” (2/26/2020), Christian and I created “Heartbreak of the Dragon Prince,” a fantasy romance with a thrilling conclusion!
In our final build, the Dragon Prince and his princess are threatened by a pair of nefarious necromancer brothers, who have summoned an army of skeletons to attack the castle. In the blockbuster moment we captured, the Dragon Prince—chained by wicked magic—has managed to delay the horde of skeletons with fire, but cannot prevent one of the necromancers from pushing his love from the top of the tower. Will he be able to save her from a deadly drop?
Read on for my special dissection of this 13-hour model’s process, design choices, and more.
Read MoreIn the winter of 2020, my friend Christian Cowgill and I appeared in the first American season of LEGO Masters, a reality-style building competition show. For Episode 3 of the series, “Cut in Half” (2/19/2020), Christian and I created “Beneath the Surface,” a epic underwater vignette built on the side of a halved antique diving helmet.
Read on for my special dissection of this 12-hour model’s process, design choices, and more!
Read MoreAs soon as I got my hands on LEGO set 70828 Pop-Up Party Bus, and its huge supply of bricks in coral, I knew I wanted to jump on using this new-for-2019 hue. The question then became: what would be a fitting employment of this bright, idiosyncratic new color?
The first—somewhat absurd—idea that occurred to me, which I ended up running with, was building a pink salmon. After all, I’ve never built a fish before! Read on to learn more about this silly salmon.
Read MoreThe 5PY 8UG is my third ABS challenge build.
This model, a transforming robot known as 5PY 8UG, is the third build I've completed for my second round in the ABS Builder Challenge, an online competition where LEGO® artists are tasked with implementing a "seed part"—in this case, a silver goblet—creatively into as many builds as possible.
Read on to learn more about the design choices behind this model.
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