In the image above, the red outline is the shape of the letter ‘A’ to be built as a LEGO mosaic.  The first step is to superimpose the outline over a grid of the desired size.  The smaller the pitch on the grid, the more accurately the ‘A’ can be represented, but the more bricks and effort it will take to complete the project.  For this example the ‘A’ will be positioned inside a 9 high by 11 wide grid.

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To build a mosaic that is black and white only the rule is that if 50% or more of the grid cell is covered, then that brick is black.  Otherwise, it is white.  Following this process will result in a mosaic matching the one below.

To build a mosaic that is black and white, plus anti-aliased with one additional color the rules are as follows:  If less than 33% of the grid cell is covered, then that brick is white.  If between 33% and 67% of the grid cell is covered, then that brick is grey.  If more than %67 of the grid cell is covered, then that brick is black.  Following this process will result in a mosaic matching the one below.

This same process works with other background and foreground colors, as long as bricks roughly halfway between the two colors are utilized.  For Part 1 of this series I built examples of blue on white adding light blue and green on white adding light green.  Obviously a limitation is the colors LEGO bricks are produced.  Plus, odd colored bricks are more expensive, so this will probably factor in also, especially for larger projects.

Some other ways to extend or fine-tune AA include:

• Use even more colors.  For example, if two in-between colors are used, then the rules could be adjusted to create four ranges  (< 25%, between 25% and 50%, between 50% and 75%, > %75).
• Adjust ranges for shades that are not exactly in-between.  For example, if the grey color above was darker than half-way between white and black the percentage of coverage range for grey could be shifted upward to compensate.  Possibly (< 50%, between 50% and %80, > %80)
• Compensate for several nearby bricks that are just over or under the range thresholds by using some bricks from the other side of the threshold.  This will prevent an area from getting too light or dark.
• Use trial-and-error to evaluate the use of AA.  If the range rules call for many brick changes or additions, make the changes incrementally and compare the results.  I recommend doing this type of evaluation on a computer using a graphics program since it is faster than building multiple variations from actual bricks.

These are just a few ideas.  There are books and websites that detail algorithms used for AA in computer graphics.

For this article series I used a shareware program Paint.net as an aid for generating plans for all of the small mosaics.  I also used it to create the image at the top of this article.  Paint.net includes AA, which simpler tools like MS Paint do not.  I usually keep the displayed zoomed to either 800% or 1200% with the pixel grid turned ON.

Shown above is a screenshot of Paint.net that illustrates AA (with many more shades of grey than are available in LEGO bricks.)  Since I only used one in-between color for my mosaics I had to visually map the full grey-scale spectrum to my three colors.  I also did some adjustments for symmetry and some general trial-and-error to achieve results I was happy with.

Sometime in the future I plan to create a large mosaic (between 100 & 200 bricks square) using AA, which of course, I will share here.

Starting today, there is another category, which is solid area, anti-aliased mosaics.

In real life I am a business software developer. However, for fun I’ve recently started playing around with iPhone development. This hobby has introduced me to the concept of anti-aliased graphics. Generally speaking, anti-aliasing (AA) is the use of lighter (or darker) colors at region transitions to smooth out jagged transitions. LEGO bricks are a great way to demonstrate this technique.

Shown above are a couple LEGO mosaic examples with and without AA.  Hopefully the middle blue line seems less jaggedy and the right green circle and letter ‘A’ also appear smoother than those to the left.  I’ve purposely shown these images small, because in order for the advantage of AA to be realized visual blending of the pixels must occur.

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LEGO bricks are available in many different colors, so most colors have at least two shades, which is needed for AA.  By using a lighter shade of the color in the proper places, the jagged appearance is visually smoothed when viewed from a distance.

Shown above is an enlargement of a section of the blue line.  The right image has been anti-aliased with the addition of the light blue bricks.  If the background behind the blue line was another color, the added bricks would need to be a different color.  These bricks should be between the color of each side of the transition.

Shown above is an enlargement of the green ball and ‘A’ examples.  Similar to the first example, light green and grey bricks were added (and in some places used in replacement of the darker bricks).

This technique could be used throughout a large mosaic to produce a smoother appearance, especially when viewed from a longer distance.

In Part 2 of this post I will explore more about AA including how to determine which bricks should be lighter or darker colors and tools you can use to help with AA.

Shown below is my Packer Logo Mosaic in both its original rectangular form, and newly modified form with cut base plate.

I very happy with the cut base plate result, and prefer it to the original design. This change also has an added bonus – it frees up the white border bricks for other projects.

Read on for more information on the techniques I use to cut base plates including additional pictures…

Shown above is the tool I used to cut the Packer Logo base plate, a utility knife. This knife model has an excellent handle design which makes it easy to apply enough pressure to cut through the base plate material. I cut with the yellow bricks in place to use as a guide.

Shown above is one of the cut away pieces.

Another tool I have used which also works well is a good scissors. Shown below is my Starbucks Coffee Mosaic with bricks removed to expose the cut base plates. For this mosaic I used a scissors.

I also used a scissors to cut Extra Large base plates into quarters for my Cub Scout LEGO Mosaic activity.

Obviously the major downside to cutting LEGO base plates is that they are no longer useful to reuse for other projects. However, since I usually keep my projects intact after I complete them, I don’t see this as a big issue.

In the simplest form of brick sculpting, the studs on all bricks face the same direction (usually up).  However, at times it is desirable to face bricks in multiple directions.  Fortunately, LEGO has provided many different building elements to accomplish this.  In addition, LEGO geometry also allows elements to fill brick voids left in one direction, with bricks facing another direction, with some careful planning.

I used SNOT building technique above to create a 10X Minifig Sunglasses Face design.  Detailed construction pictures follow with more information and additional examples of SNOT.

There are several reasons to use SNOT.  One reason is that LEGO plates afford the ability to create gradual changes in height or color because they are one-third the height of normal brick.  Sometimes a model needs this level of detail in more than one direction (geometric plane).  In the example above, the sunglass face design needs plate-level detail in one direction for the sides of the frames, and in another direction for the bridge over the nose.  Using SNOT, I was able to achieve a good final result in both areas.

Shown above is a close up of the face containing a void for a sub-model turned sideways with respect to the main model.  The five plates on edge on the sub-model (inset picture) exactly fill the void which is two bricks wide.  I built the sub-model with ‘wings’ (yellow 1X2 bricks) which lock it in place on the main model.

Above is a picture of the head taken apart to expose the position where the sub-model will be inserted.

The next SNOT example is from my New LEGO Chess Board.

On this model, I built 64 sub-models (one for each of the chess board squares).  Each sub-model is a 5 bricks high (4 bricks + 2 plates + 1 tile = 5 Bricks) and form a perfect square that completely fill a 6×6 brick opening in the board.  The smooth sides of the bricks form a stud-free surface for each square without requiring a large quantity of tiles.

The next SNOT example is from my Elmo Sculpture.

Above is Elmo’s face (eyes removed) demonstrating how SNOT was used to form his rounded nose.  The left box highlights the special LEGO element used to face plates in different directions for the nose (1X1 brick with studs on the sides).  The right box shows how I used sideways facing red plates and tiles to completely fill the space around Elmo’s nose to help it blend into his head.

Above is the same area with the top of the nose attached and only the front exposed.  The same technique used on the nose is also used on Elmo’s eyes.

The next SNOT example is from my 3X Motorcycle Sculpture.

For this model I used plates to get the detail I wanted for the forks on the sides of the wheels.  However, the orientation of these plates was different from the rest of the model.  My solution was to build the wheels (with the forks integrated) as sub-models and attach them using the headlight brick element to change the orientation.  The tops of the tires are hidden, so it wasn’t important to build them black.

The last SNOT examples are from my SpongeBob LEGO Pants Sculpture.

For this model I used SNOT to orient special building elements different from the rest of the model.  For SpongeBob’s eyes and nose I wanted to have element project studs-outward from the side of the model.  For the eyes, I used headlight bricks to position radar plates studs out.  For the nose I used a technic brick with an axle to attach the round 2X2 bricks.

To construct SpongeBob’s clenched fist around his spatula I used plates wedged tightly between the studs on other plates to change the orientation 3 times (twice for the wrapping hand, once for the handle of the spatula).  Using SNOT I was also able to take advantage of the flatness of plates to create a better spatula than I could have with studs up bricks.

As I’ve shown, there are many different ways to use SNOT to improve the accuracy of LEGO brick sculptures.  There are also many other LEGO elements with studs facing multiple directions that can be used for this technique.

• 10X Minifig Sunglasses Face
• New LEGO Chess Board
• Elmo Sculpture
• 3X Motorcycle Sculpture
• SpongeBob LEGO Pants Sculpture