Check Out Aaron Liepman’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Liepman, a mosaic artist from southeast Michigan.

Hi Aaron, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by sharing a little about your artwork.
I create mosaic artwork using thousands of hand-painted LEGO bricks. This artwork arose at an intersection between my lifelong interest in art and my enjoyment of creating with LEGO. In my childhood home there was a giant bucket of LEGO pieces acquired at a flea market. I used these to build countless creations. I also have enjoyed art since childhood. Art classes were among my favorites in elementary school and high school, and while I pursued a biology major as a University of Michigan student, I also continued taking art classes in college and beyond. Fast-forward to 2012…my family and I were visiting Chicago, and my kids wanted to visit the LEGO store. On the wall outside the store, I noticed a large and detailed cityscape depicting the Chicago skyline, created as a two-dimensional mosaic using LEGO pieces. I had never seen anything like this before, and it fascinated me how my perception of the image changed depending on my vantage. Up close, the sharp geometric edges of individual pieces were easy to see, but at a distance, these disappeared and a much smoother image, featuring details not evident up close, emerged. I immediately knew I wanted to explore this artistic medium.

My first LEGO mosaic creation was a portrait of LEGO Hulk, which I created in 2013 as a gift for my brother-in-law’s birthday. Since then, I have created about twenty other LEGO mosaics, ranging from relatively simple cartoon characters to larger, more elaborate, and realistic subjects. Each mosaic teaches me something, and I constantly refine my techniques as I learn from these lessons, and my mosaics grow in size, complexity, and accuracy.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with anything that is complicated, and new, there are struggles! As a guiding principle, I believe that hard work and persistence can go a long way when trying to overcome challenges, so I try to keep this in mind and not give up!

With my first LEGO mosaic (depicting the Incredible Hulk), I learned the hard way that creating something simple in appearance can be much more complex than anticipated. I was unable to purchase LEGO bricks in all the desired greens that I needed because the LEGO color palette is quite limited. So, I decided to expand my brick color palette by painting bricks using various green spray paints from the hardware store. This strategy worked, but the selection of greens available as spray paints at the hardware store also was quite limited. Not to mention that spray paints are extremely stinky, resulting in painted parts that smelled horrible and some that were tacky even after the paint dried.

Soon, I transitioned to hobby-grade acrylic paints, like those found in the craft store. This presented some new challenges, including how to prepare these paints for application using an airbrush. And while the selection of colors available within the craft paint palette far exceeds those available as spray paints from the hardware store, I still found myself struggling to find all the colors I needed. I started mixing craft paint colors to produce additional colors. Color mixing, as I learned, isn’t as simple as it seems, either. Achieving the desired color and paint mixture thickness and consistency using craft paints proved, in many cases, to be very difficult.

Eventually, I moved on to artist-grade acrylic paints that I custom mix in my studio. These paints are well suited for application using an airbrush and much more predictable than craft paints when mixing to create different colors. Color mixing still presents challenges, but I continue to practice, learn, and improve. I keep good notes, so I can remember what strategies work well and avoid repeating mistakes.

These are just a handful of challenges associated with creation of my artworks. Of course, there have been many other challenges (for example, a years-long quest (successful!!!) to obtain Tom Brady’s autograph for a mosaic created for charity), and I anticipate many more to come!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I create one-of-a-kind mosaic artworks using hand-painted LEGO bricks. I am most proud of the improvements I have made to the quality of my artworks gained through many years of practice. Artworks that I create in this medium can be quite large and consist of 10,000 or more pieces, requiring a time investment of tens to hundreds of hours to complete.

I also have published the “Brick Madness” series of eBooks. These books aim to inspire kids to create LEGO mosaic artwork. There are about seventy volumes in the Brick Madness series, providing detailed, full-color, illustrated step-by-step instructions and parts lists for creating small-scale (no larger than 10″ x 10″) mosaics using standard LEGO bricks (no painting needed!). There are Brick Madness books of many animals, vehicles, and various holiday-themed decorations and characters. Brick Madness eBooks are available via the Amazon Kindle Store, and I am happy to provide free sample downloads for anyone interested in trying one out (just e-mail me!).

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Some of my most memorable childhood experiences happened at Camp Michigania, the University of Michigan alumni family camp situated on Walloon Lake in Boyne City, MI. My family spent a week vacationing there most summers. It was always so much fun to explore the camp, participate in fun activities (archery, boating, riflery, horseback riding, Petosky stone polishing, etc., and to simply be there. It was like a different world and a real departure from my home life. As an adult, my own family continues the tradition, and we spend a week at Michigania whenever we can. A unicorn has been spotted roaming the grounds of Michigania, and to commemorate this magical being, I created a LEGO unicorn mosaic entitled “Believe,” which adorns a wall of the Arts and Crafts area at Camp Michigania.

Contact Info:

• Email: recyclemi@yahoo.com
• Website: www.brickmaniac.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brickmosaics/
• Brick Madness eBooks: https://tinyurl.com/3xt4t8n6