(This entry is part of a look at early mosaics I’ve made).

One of my brilliant ideas early on was to create a LEGO mosaic portrait of a celebrity who was web-saavy and therefore likely to stumble across the photos, be amazed and flattered, and purchase it immediately. It totally worked. Well, except for the stumbling, flattery, and purchase parts.

When I was searching for black and white portrait images, I came across a photo of Zach Braff from “Scrubs”. I was a big fan of the show, and decided to make the picture into a mosaic. This one used a bit of cross-hatching, and made use of shadow and light. I like how it turned out, but I think the “commercialism” of it makes me a bit, well, ashamed of this piece. Not of the result, of course, but of the fact that I let the commercial aspect call the shots. Also, I then have to explain it to whomever is looking through the pics, and convince them i’m not a celebrity stalker or anything.

I’ve been faced with that decision a few times since, and I find that when I choose “art”, things generally work out better. One thing that I learned early on, is that when you spend between 40-100 hours (spread out over evenings throughout a month) on a piece, you HAVE to be inspired by the image, otherwise it becomes a grind, and isn’t fun at all.

“Shh Zach, don’t say anything. It will be our secret.”

The biggest positive that came out of this piece is that it made me want to make more portraits, and that led to one of my 2 favorite mosaics. But more on that later.

Thanks for visiting and allowing me to ramble on about the work. Hope you enjoyed it, and as always, Brickwares is available for custom mosaics. contact me at dave@brickwares.com if you have any questions.