Jonathan Lopes - The Art of LEGO Construction

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Table of Contents

Guide

New York City

Brick by Brick

The Art of LEGO

Construction

Abrams Image, New York

New York City

Brick by Brick

The Art of LEGO

Construction

Jonathan Lopes

Editor: Garrett McGrath

Designer: Eli Mock

Production Manager: Rebecca Westall

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018936269

ISBN: 978-1-4197-3468-7

eISBN: 978-1-68335-520-5

Text copyright 2019 Jonathan Lopes

Illustrations/photographs copyright 2019 Bryan Regan

Cover 2019 Abrams

Published in 2019 by Abrams Image, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights

reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval

system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic,

photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from

the publisher.

Abrams Image books are available at special discounts when purchased

in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational

use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact

specialsales@abramsbooks.com or the address below.

Abrams Image is a registered trademark of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

LEGO, the Brick and Knob configurations, and the Minifigure are trademarks

of the LEGO Group, which does not authorize or endorse this book.

ABRAMS The Art of Books
195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007
abramsbooks.com

For Greyson

Introduction

For as long as I can remember, Ive been pursuing a creative and

artistic life. As a child, I was enrolled in after-school art classes that covered

various artistic mediums, such as painting, drawing, printmaking, and

sculpture. I worked extensively with pastels, which allow for the blending

of colors. They taught me about different color combinations and how

colors can work together to develop subtle contrast. I loved art, but my true

passion was my toy of choice: LEGO bricks. I had a large bag of LEGO pieces

that were augmented a couple of times per year with LEGO kits I received

as gifts. I would typically build the LEGO kits once or twice and then add

the parts to my existing mix. From there I would let my imagination take over

and build my own creations.

That is how things stayed until I was about eleven years old, when

I discovered music. From my teens to my mid-twenties, I threw myself into

it as my creative outlet and art form. This took me from Boston to Los

Angeles and finally, in 1990, to New York City. After a number of years

pursuing a career as a musician, I decided to develop a more stable full-time

career and found my way into the book-publishing industry. It was a

pivotal change for me. I was now immersed in an extremely creative field

and one that offered a wide variety of avenues to explore, including

graphic design, writing, paper engineering, and format development.

Music was now playing a diminished role in my life, and though the

publishing career was quite rewarding, I still felt the need to create on my

own. This was about the time that the LEGO company obtained its

first license to manufacture building kits based on the

Star Wars

franchise.

My interest was piqued, so I went out to a toy store and bought my first

LEGO kit as an adult. I was quickly reacquainted with the shapes, colors, and

pieces that I had known as a child and enjoyed working with them again.

I purchased a number of additional kits and, more importantly, a few general

mixed buckets of LEGO bricks. From there, over the course of a number

of years, I regularly designed and built my own LEGO creations and shared

photos of them online in LEGO fan forums. Soon I was being contacted

by others to design and build things for them. Shortly thereafter I started

participating in art exhibitions in New York City. This all set the foundation for

my art today. The years of building as a hobbyist, unbeknownst to me

at the time, helped me develop the building style and techniques that now

define my work.

This book presents a collection of my New York Cityinspired art.

It also highlights particular building techniques I used to achieve the unique

visual details that we associate with the icons of New Yorks cityscape.

I have found that the inclusion of small details, such as air conditioner units,

trees, and garbage cans, can truly bring a piece to life. But the added

details should not be excessive: There is a balance that needs to be

maintained between the details, the colors, and the textures. Attaining that

special balance is something I strive for with each piece.

I have a very organic approach to creating with LEGO bricks. My process

doesnt involve CAD programs. I prefer instead to sketch out my

ideas on LEGO graph paper, which is available online. When replicating an

existing structure, I research it online, and if I dont have the opportunity

to physically visit it, Ill walk the perimeter using Google Street View. I use

Google Earth to assess the footprint and the roof elements.

My work is meant to capture the essence of each subject, not to

be a replica or a scale model. My intent is to work within the parameters

of each prototype, rendering many details as accurately as I can, but

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