Tag Archives: Animals

Easter’s symbol of fertility

Whether you’re religious or not, Easter is a great time to recognize the breath of fresh air that is springtime. The flowers are blooming and baby animals are coming into the world. Rabbits, well known for their prolific ability to procreate, are the adorable mascots of the season. The candy-filled eggs (also a symbol of fertility) are a pretty cool bonus too. Although it doesn’t come with eggs, Felix Jaensch’s latest build sits amongst the best LEGO bunnies around. Most are sitting or standing, but laying down makes this one catch your eye. Realistic as always, it is more proof that he certainly has a keen eye for organic shapes!

If you can’t get enough builds for the occasion, this cartoon-ish bunny is full of character!

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Cute from tusk to... tail?

You gotta love it when you see a cool use of parts and wonder, “Why the heck didn’t I think of that?” One of the greatest things about the LEGO community is that we are in a wonderful position to share ideas with each other, all over the world. Inspiration makes us all better builders. And Jens Ohrndorf is certainly a builder who sparks creative ideas. These adorable little pachyderms are part of a menagerie of expertly crafted creatures. Many of which use clever techniques to achieve character. For example, the use of the Unikitty tail element for an elephant trunk is brilliant!

Anxious to see another technique from this builder? Check out these vultures, or perhaps a polar bear. Not into animals? Maybe this awesome toy train will interest you!

The Yin and Yang of panda house design

This month is an exciting time for the Copenhagen Zoo because they will be introducing a pair of pandas to the public this month. The two bears will be taking up residence in the Panda House, an enclosure designed to look like the Chinese symbol for yin and yang. Builder Full Plate was commissioned to build a replica of the Panda House for the Copenhagen LEGO Store, where it will be on display. It’s a great likeness of the original, complete with the curved staircase and viewing area. The unique architecture is accentuated by lush landscaping.

More pandas!

A bird that looks majestic in miniature

For those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, Spring is finally here. In observance of the season, Jarema has built a small, yet elegant-looking LEGO bird returning from the tropics. It doubles as an excellent case study in how just a few parts can go a long way in modeling a subject that is instantly recognizable. Coupled with the tilted beak, black wings staggered above white wings imply we are birdwatching from beneath the clouds.

Meanwhile, the placement of each element is carefully calculated. Red crowbars make for excellent feet stretched out in flight, and the mechanical arm doubles nicely as a neck. I particularly love how the minifigure epaulette has been used to form the bird’s belly. It looks like it could hold a fish or two!

The art of the butterfly

LEGO artists often title their creations with a cryptic title like “Daydream” or skip the title altogether, allowing the viewer more freedom in interpretation. Dario Minisini’s latest creation surprises with a descriptive and beautiful title: “Life is not always grey. There are colors too.”

Multiple gray butterflies leading to a rainbow-colored one makes for a powerful composition. Their flight path seemingly implies that the colorful butterfly and its monochromatic counterparts represent a single butterfly, possibly viewed from a different angle or transformed as it flies through the triangle. Supports are made from bent translucent bar pieces that Dario uses in many of his builds. I think it’s great how Dario manages to keep the creation’s message open-ended, even with the descriptive title. However, it is not quite true that the three gray butterflies are void of color – they use sand blue wedge plates for the undersides of the wings. Could this be a subtle message or just a lack of parts?

Bringing LEGO to life with a handsome macaque

It takes a great deal more skill to sculpt with basic LEGO bricks than you might think. The ability to produce organic curves from rectangular bricks is awe-inspiring, and strikes envy in those of us who are always searching for that perfect shape. Upon seeing this life-size Rhesus macaque, I knew it had to be the work of Felix Jaensch, who is a master of the art. I must say, it really could not have been done better!

Adult males like this one (just in case you weren’t sure if it’s a male) are about 18-25in long and weigh an average of about 16-19lbs. They have an expressive face, which is perfectly captured here. Additionally, the lovely use of a select few slopes gives the fluffier bits texture and character, and the minifigure hand to finish the nose is genius!

Rhesus macaques are probably the most commonly known macaques in the world. That’s partly because these monkeys have a massive home range in central and southern Asia, and are invasive in several other places in the world. They’re also widely studied and used in research due to their high level of intelligence and fairly close physiological relation to humans. It was a study of their blood that led to our understanding of the Rh blood-typing system we use today!

If you like Felix’s style, check out some of the other life-size animals we’ve featured, like his Red Panda, Macaw, Rabbit, or American Kestrel.

Doing a lot with a little: big LEGO creatures done small

You don’t need a huge pile of pieces or a deep wallet to be able to create something beautiful with LEGO. This bottlenose dolphin by Ken Ito (暁工房) is a perfect example of how just a few pieces can bring a scene to life. The dolphin consists of fewer than 20 pieces, and the base employs only simple, common elements. But there’s more motion evoked with them than you’ll find in many models that are much larger.

Ken’s gorilla is another perfect specimen, utilizing simple pieces to craft the animal’s shape. The head and face are particularly impressive, which really consist of only three slopes, but there’s no mistaking this noble creature’s gaze.

A new “swim” on LEGO Creator set 31088 Deep Sea Creatures [Video]

Inspired. That’s all I can say about how I feel every time I see one of Jason Allemann‘s new creations. And maybe a little jealous at how talented he is. Recently, we wrote and article about his update to the LEGO Forma mechanics with a custom shark. This time he has taken a recently released official set, LEGO Creator 31088 Deep Sea Creatures, and brought it to life. It’s done so well that you would think the set was always intended for this purpose.

With the turn of the crank or an attached motor, the drive mechanism of this build gives the shark an appearance of organically gliding through water. The most impressive part (as always with Jason’s builds) is how smooth and seamless the motions are. Truly fluid! And as a bonus, this creation isn’t just for admiring from afar! He has kindly shared these (and many other) instructions on his website so that others can build it too!

31088 Deep Sea Creatures is actually on sale at Amazon right now, along with LEGO Ideas 21315 Pop-Up Book, the official set that both Jason and Grant Davis collaborated to design!

A collection of New Zealand’s most famous birds

New Zealand has some of the most interesting fauna in the world, with many of their animals not found anywhere else in the world. While on holiday there, Patrick B. was so enamored by the birds that he decided to recreate them in LEGO. The results are lovely! This collection showcases the Kea, Pukeko, Kakapo, and the iconic Kiwi. I have to say, that last one is pretty adorable in LEGO form. Here in Seattle where I live, we have a pair of gorgeous Keas at Woodland Park Zoo. These endangered mountainous creatures are quite intelligent and always busy. They’re one of my favorite birds, and nicely done here.

Back in 2013, Thomas Poulsom also did a couple of these New Zealand birds (and a badger). And a bit more recently, we’ve featured an article about another LEGO build of the critically endangered Kakapo. It’s a parrot unlike any other in the world! Check it out, and then learn more about what you can do to help them.

This Bioni-frog is one wild amphibian

LEGO constraction (construction action figure) themes like Bionicle have introduced a broad range of parts, which many builders have leveraged to create organic-looking creatures. Such is the case with this lovely Ghekula Frog built by Djokson, which they describe as “an amphibious swamp-dwelling Rahi.” I suspect the red-eyed tree frog inspired the build, as is evident in the lime green body, white underbelly, and red eyes. Of particular interest are the feet, which utilize blue robot arms and minifigure arms as toes. The end result is one lively amphibian.

Palm oil is made of orangutan tears

When LEGO announced their first plant-based plastic elements, some people were concerned how the plant material would be sourced and whether LEGO would clear rainforests for farm land. The irony of the situation is that most people who complain about LEGO’s alleged ecological crime (which the LEGO Group denies) also eat food made using palm oil, which is proven to be a major cause of tropical deforestation. One thing is for sure, with this oranguan build by Simon Pickard and the right context, LEGO bricks may benefit the rainforests through raising awareness of what is happening to our planet.

The use of earth orange and studs shown on all sides really captures the furry look of an orangutan and the dark gray parts are a great contrast as the skin, both in colour and texture. The proportions are spot on and the pose is quite expressive too. The build’s seeming simplicity is a strong point too; I can really imagine this creation sitting on a desk or on a shelf, reminding us of the diversity of life.

The great Arctic wanderer

Do you ever wonder what a polar bear thinks as he or she travels hundreds of miles, alone, across the vast ice? Other than, “I can smell a seal about 14km away,” there has to be something they daydream about. Doesn’t this tiny LEGO version of the half-ton carnivore, built by Chi Hsin Wei (LEGO 7), look like he has a lot on his mind?

My favorite parts are the tiles in clips for ears and the car hoods on his sides. This build is great, but it’s only one of many incredible creations by LEGO 7, our 2018 Builder of the Year. This talented artist builds just about everything!