I built these three miniature dog portraits on commission. I actually designed and photographed these models before I shared my larger-scale Cavalier King Charles Spaniel models but, as these mini-dogs were all intended as holiday gifts, I didn’t want to risk spoiling the surprise by sharing them any earlier!
From left to right, we have: Kayli, a toy poodle; Charlie, a Jack Russell terrier; and Muzzy, a Schnauzer/poodle mix. The dogs aren’t built to scale with each other, but all conform to a similar 6” (15cm) size that’s convenient for display on a bookshelf or desk. This also happened to be the smallest scale at which I felt confident in capturing these dogs’ idiosyncratic characters.
I designed Charlie first, Kayli second, and Muzzy third. All three dogs use a similar, slightly modified version of a head design I first pioneered on my werewolf model. For their eyes, I intentionally used older robot hands rather than the newer variety, because the older ones have rounded tips that catch the light better.
So, let’s dive in for a closer look at each of these dogs individually, as well as pictures of their real-life counterparts!
Charlie, the Jack Russell Terrier
Here’s Charlie, a sweet dog who—in the reference image that my client equipped me with—is celebrating his birthday. How sweet and special! I definitely admire Charlie’s patience in this picture… you can just tell that he’s waiting for permission to dig in on that cupcake. My client expressed a desire to produce not just Charlie, but also his birthday paraphernalia, in her model. I was glad to oblige.
In LEGO form, as you can see below, I have given Charlie his box, hat, and cupcake. The box proved a surprising challenge in this scale, since I had to find a way to translate the feel of random polka dots into the rectangular lines of LEGO; at this scale, there just wasn’t room to make them round, but I think my version captures the spirit of the original paper.
Charlie’s body is deceptively complex, hiding within its smooth white lines not just a few stud inversions (if you look closely, you’ll notice that the body on either side of his collar is oriented differently), but also a static angle and a transition between 3 and 4 stud widths behind his arms. To give Charlie a sitting stance with back feet out, I had to make his rump slightly broader than his midriff.
Speaking of the feet, one of my biggest back-and-forth decisions about this model was whether or not to give Charlie’s feet clawed toes. I opted finally to leave the claws; they provide extra visual interest and realism to the model.
Kayli, the Toy Poodle
Kayli is an absolutely tiny toy poodle who barely clears 4 lbs even in adulthood. Her owners like to joke that she has a “complex” about her size— she’s definitely the queen of the house. I wanted to capture Kayli’s regal attitude in her LEGO model, so I decided to outfit Kayli like in the image here, with her purple harness/sweater and a flower by her ear.
Because Kayli is dominantly black-haired, which might have been monotonous, I seized the chance to highlight her muzzle and eye areas in grey. They marcate her as the lovable senior dog she is, and also visually help to distinguish her eyes and nose from the rest of her body!
I opted to build Kayli in a pose of repose, laying on her stomach. One of the best parts of this model, in my opinion, is the subtlety of Kayli’s posture, with front paws bent delicately inward and back paws splayed slightly outward. These minuscule angles turned what could have been a really static position into something more lifelike.
I faced a slight obstacle designing the shapes of Kayli’s sweater. It proved tricky to accomplish the multiple curves at the sweater’s front while still producing adequate stability and color separation in the neck/shoulder area. 1/2 curved arches did the trick though, allowing for a break between pink and black that mimicked reality.
Muzzy, the Schnauzer Poodle
Muzzy was the hardest of these three dogs to design. Aside from his extremely expressive face, which proved tricky to get right, he also comes in colors that don’t really exist in the LEGO color palate. The darker patches of Muzzy’s coat fall somewhere between dark tan (too light) and reddish brown (too dark), while the lighter patches are somewhere between white (too clean) and tan (too saturated).
I ended up opting for the combination of reddish brown and tan because, even if neither of these colors was precisely right for Muzzy, they looked correct in relationship to each other.
In LEGO form, I think I did a good job of capturing Muzzy. Although he sits like Charlie, I’ve differed his silhouette with a raised paw. While these three dog models were all designed for different people, I fabricated and photographed them at the same time, so they feel like a series to me, and I wanted to ensure that each dog looked as different as possible from its compatriots.
One of the other ways Muzzy separates himself from the pack is in terms of his texture. While Charlie’s short fur asked for clean lines (tiles and curved slopes), and Kayli is all poofs (round plates), Muzzy’s hair looks slightly disheveled and unkempt, a texture I replicated here by using a mix of slopes, clips, and teeth.
Thanks for reading! If you have any other questions or thoughts about this model, feel free to leave them in the comments below. And, if you’re interested in getting a model like this yourself, you can reach out to me about commissioning one of your own!