Tartar sauce… Steve Hillenburg, the creator of the long-running Nickelodeon show SpongeBob SquarePants, has passed away from complications of ALS. He was 57. It’s amazing to think this show has been on the air since 1999, and hard to think of a cartoon character as ingrained into 21st century popular culture as Mr SquarePants, who has appeared in everything from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade to LEGO sets to my favorite pair of yellow pyjamas. So long Steve, and thanks for all the fish.
During the late 70s and early 80s The Specials made some of the most innovative and iconic singles to ever grace the British music charts. Not only did they mix ska, punk and rocksteady beats to raucous effect, they married it with a two tone fashion sense that set them apart from their peers. Red 2 has caught the band at the height of their powers, as they appeared in the music video for their 1979 hit A Message to You Rudy. The LEGO version of the group perfectly capturing their tonic suits, and my favourite part of the build, pork pie hats made form small dishes and domes. It’s no small feat to build all nine members, but it pays off with each posed in mid-swagger, capturing the very essence of their musical style.
By now, LEGO bricks’ place among other art media should be obvious, but it still seems to be more of an exception than the rule for builders to express their emotions through bricks. But some times, builders do feel the need to express themselves, as in the case of Malin Kylinger in her latest build. Malin states that the dual theme of the creation represents a range of emotions she went through in the recent times. What at first glance looks like a simple struggle between good and evil hides countless possible interpretation. Is this a chaotic whirlwind of changing emotion or is it a fine balance? Or maybe there is no struggle, just coexistence of light and dark?
Whatever the interpretation, there is no getting around the fact this is a great build. The face is technically a somewhat flat build, but from the photos, it looks very realistic. The hair is built using an interesting technique using strings with bars as the flexible basis for the white and dark red leaves. My favourite part by far are the eyes built using pieces as crazy as feathered minifig wings. The landscaping might look chaotic to some, but I see it as a stream of consciousness in LEGO.
When Eero Okkonen set out to build a female archer, he found inspiration in nomadic cultures and the character of Lyndis from Nintendo’s Fire Emblem series. Eero has built a reputation for building impressive-looking characters out of LEGO bricks, and his archer is no exception. In this model, bright, bold colors and earth tones play off of one another to great effect. In terms of form, the figure’s pose is realistic, from the stretch of the bow to the flow of the dress.
Eero makes excellent use of certain elements, such as barrels used to form a quiver and a balloon tire for the hair bun.
Tengu are legendary creatures in Japanese myths going back hundreds of years. Although they have a complicated history, they’re most often seen today as protectors of mountains and forests, though still certainly fearsome! John Cheng has built a rather adorable Tengu, dressed in Yamabushi (mountain hermit) garb with black bird wings and an enormous, beak-like nose that reveal his avian origins.
And I quote, “Stink. Stank. Stunk!” Dr. Seuss’s vile villain who stole Christmas, and his trusty dog, Max, come to us in LEGO form! This awful (lovely) model of Mr. Grinch by Miro Dudas is simply terrible (awesome)! In seriousness, this is one of my most favorite builds in recent history. Miro’s wonderfully expressive recreation is remarkably close to the latest version of the character in the new 2018 movie, The Grinch.
A few months ago, russian builder Timofey Tkachev has uploaded a photo of his latest build in progress on his Flickr photostream. In said photo, the two versions of the same face threw me off from what I should immediately have guessed to be the beginning of the bust of Warcraft’s Sylvannas Windrunner, the banshee queen.
The facial features are captured perfectly, displaying a beautiful woman turned into a monster. Her characteristic features like the slender pointy ears, elongated eyebrows and a heavy eyeliner smeared by tears are immediately recognizable, but it is the more general details of a humanoid face that are really amazing. The lips are very realistic, using a double feather piece on each side and the nose is not only realistic, but looks like something a model would spend a lot of money on at a plastic surgeon. Timofey adds a few extra pieces of information in the photo description: the build consists of 855 pieces, measures 24 cm in height and her eyes light up!
An artist’s work is never done, but even when the stone block is still half rough from the quarry, there’s room to marvel. Gabriel Thomson‘s rugged craftsman may be working with a harder medium than Gabriel himself, but it’s nonetheless a reflection of the skill involved in art, be it made of marble or LEGO. And speaking of skill, the horse head is fantastically sculpted, but no less so than the workman with his thick beard and toned arms.
It’s inescapable. It’s everywhere. And it was recently crowned Meme of the Year at the 2018 Shorty Awards. So immortalizing it in LEGO seemed like the next logical step. I’m talking, of course, about the distracted boyfriend meme, a stock image by photographer Antonio Guillem that became the unexpected flagship for the armada of so-called “object labeling” stock photo memes that have raged across our screens this year. Here is my rendition of it:
Feel free to use this template to give your LEGO-themed boyfriend memes a bricky twist!
Click here to see some examples
We recently covered Mike Nieves‘ excellent Belle from Beauty and the Beast, but of course, she needs an antagonist. Now Mike is back to bring us everyone’s favorite Disney chump, Gaston. With ludicrously bulging muscles and a smarmy grin, this LEGO sculpt captures the essence of Gaston perfectly as he shows off for a disinterested Belle. The little bit of scenery ties it all together, with an excellent stump that even includes tree rings.
Going back to the original book description of Hogwart’s headmaster, Eero Okkonen has created a fantastically faithful portrait. With a beard down to his belt, a nose broken in at least two places – built from a modified plate with tooth brick – and flowing purple robes, this Dumbledore is true in every way to J. K. Rowling’s beautiful prose. The build also utilises some seriously clever piece selections, from the LEGO parrot that forms Fawkes the phoenix’s beak to the wing elements that double for sideburns. Peering over his half-moon spectacles, this model is LEGO illustration at its best.
You can read more about the build on Eero’s Cycloptic Bricks blog.
Builds by Martin Redfern have a signature style, even when the main feature is not an object but just characters. These types of build, using what looks like very simple techniques and common colours, remind me of how powerful LEGO bricks are as a medium.
Martin had a stroke 3 weeks ago and this is his comeback piece, to be gifted to the folks that took care of him during his recovery at the hospital. Martin, from the team at TBB and the LEGO community, we’re glad to see you’re building again, and we wish you a speedy recovery!