Tag Archives: Nature

A castle fortified with texture

This beautiful castle build by Margrabia Mokotowski brings all manner of LEGO texturing to bear. The walls of this fortress evoke so much tantalizing topography that I keep reaching into my computer screen to feel the stony stronghold. It gives the stone a worn, cobbled look, while still communicating the craftsmanship that went into the mason work. Moving down to the yard, it’s a slew of pine trees, flowers, and high grass. While properly giving off a proper “wilderness” vibe, the verdant patch still possesses some of the order we would see in nature: blotches of the same plants together, careful application of moss over the occasional crag, and climbing vines ascending the walls of the building. The wooden structure rising up from one of the ramparts has some brilliantly fashioned shingles on its roof, and I love the use of color to signify the slats comprising its walls. And the splash of blue and white striping along the hoarding is an excellent pop of color in a very green and gray scene.

Castle on a hill

Taking a look at the interior, there has been clear attention paid to keeping the wild brush out. The blues and whites continue to shine, especially at the main entrance marked with the classic shield and crossed spears. From this vantage, my favorite detail is visible: the giant chunk of wall missing on one of the tower’s corners. Such a fascinating addition that adds so much character to an already impressive build.

Castle on a hill

A breath of wild air in the land of Hyrule

Link travels through the wetlands of the Lanayru region of Hyrule in this LEGO vignette from builder Peter Hart. The scene is simple, but illustrates much in the hero’s journey from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Exposed studs and varying levels of plates capture the rough texture of the ground beneath Link’s feet. Transparent plates show the movement of the water, the little waves lapping around land and plant life. The pine trees stand tall over Link, their needle laden branches showing off a good use of those flower stalk parts.

Legend of Zelda BotW Lego Moc

From this additional angle we can get a better view of that nice boulder Link is passing by. It features sharp edges from all angles thanks to the use of strategically placed slopes. Also from this angle the ground and plants around Link can be seen a little better. The ground curves excellently down to the waters flowing by. This little vignette captures a snapshot of the game’s presence and atmosphere for this region from the game. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and boot up my Switch…

Legend of Zelda BotW Lego Moc

A warrior swamped in adventure

Builder Peter Ilmrud presents a legend in the making with this beautiful, and dangerous, LEGO swamp. Green. That’s the word at the forefront of describing this build, broken up by the tan interspersed throughout. It’s a bright and bold choice and works wonderfully here for this swamp teeming with life. And even with the green dominating, it’s quite nuanced in the variety used. Everything is distinct in its own right, allowing the scene to shine with all its poisonous might. There are two small things I appreciate in this build–one is the bird watching the scene below, and the other is a paint palette. Can you find it? Here’s a hint: it’s a big leaf for a short plant.

Creatures of the swamp

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Elemental forces converge in this kaiju of nature

The forces of Nature bloom forth from this epic LEGO kaiju by T. Jenson. I can imagine the scene of its emergence, the mountain it slumbers beneath crumbling away to reveal this beauty. First off, the color palette is bright and coordinates well together. Nothing distracts from the other elements, each leading the eye to the next. T. Jenson makes wonderful decisions with the Bionicle pieces for this Bio-Cup, kaiju category build. They coax some phenomenal curves from the parts, lending themselves well to the foliage. The luxurious mane gives way to the flowering spine and tail. The use of a tan gear for teeth is a lovely touch to an already great head design. Like any kaiju, I prefer to enjoy its beauty and majesty from a safe distance.

Nimbura, The Verdant

The coral-ation of cuteness and compact critters

If you’re not familiar with LEGO, you might not realize this is made of the classic building toy. Of course, this is because of the excellent piece choices The Underscored Double made when crafting this natural scene. The parts from the Hero Factory and Bionicle toy lines push what anyone can do with LEGO, as the Bio-Cup event shows us with the unique builds on display. Here, The Underscored Double cleverly uses the Bionicle claw to create the lime green coral structure beneath the critter. The claw layering gives the coral a wonderful sloping texture, allowing the orange plant pieces to branch and curve around it. The creature itself moves around beneath the translucent green seagrass canopy. A part choice I really appreciate is the minifig microphones for the critter’s eyes. It’s a fun touch that brings your eyes to the alien crustacean enjoying the day in its bright coral home.

coral critter

Guardian of the natural order

When I take in this LEGO God of Nature by builder Konstantin T, the first thing that comes to my mind is balance. I don’t necessarily get the vibe of a god solely focused on flora and fauna, but rather a deity representing the balance of the cosmos, of the “nature” of all things. And while this includes plants, animals, the elements, and even the visiting pilgrim, the angular, metallic nature of the altar leads me to thoughts of how those “organic” entities live in harmony with the natural world.

The God of Nature

There is some truly breathtaking Bionicle craftsmanship in this design! The ability to use such large, single-purpose parts for tree trunks, stairs, and wisps of energy emanating from the god is outright stellar. But the peak of this build has got to lie in the design of the wandering pilgrim. Here’s a better view of our world-weary traveler below.

The Traveler

Exploring the cycle of life and death in all its haunting beauty

The cycle of Life and Death is something that most don’t like to think about, because it’s seen as scary. However, as we see here in this LEGO build by Dylan Mievis, it can also be beautiful. This build is for the Bio-Cup contest, where builders have to use pieces from Bionicle, Technic, Galidor, etc. The theme is “Nature”, and there’s nothing quite so natural as Life and Death, which Dylan describes as a “beautiful symphony”. In the build we see a potted plant growing up and through the seated human skeleton. The thriving plant brings a sense of wonder and grace to what would typically be frightening and stark. Of course, the plant doesn’t hold a monopoly on beauty. The amount of detail in the skeleton is astounding! It’s not often we get to see the radius and ulna in skeleton arms, or the tibia and fibula in the legs.

Overgrown

Even the knee caps are present, and the fingers and toes articulate. The ribcage is impressive as well, a good use of horns. I really like the design behind the spinal column. The ball joint connector has always reminded me of vertebrae, and here it fulfills that purpose. And let’s not forget to mention the wheelchair! It’s full of fantastic Technic parts, from the wheels to the footrests. The simplicity of the plant twining throughout pairs nicely with the complexity of the skeleton and chair. There’s a bittersweet note with the gold ring on the skeleton’s finger, speaking to a life left behind… Altogether, this shows the balance and cyclical nature of existence. Life turns to death, and death to new life. Truly, a hauntingly beautiful harmony in the symphony of the universe.

Life-size LEGO raccoon, made of 3,750 pieces, is right up your alley!

With this taxidermist-quality replica of Procyon lotor, builder Felix Jaensch displays just how much can be done using primarily basic LEGO bricks and plates. I mean, this is the kind of shaping and contouring we’re used to seeing at LEGOLAND theme parks! The coloration here is perfect, and I especially like the pixelated fade from light to dark gray about halfway up the beast. Trying to balance a color gradient with 3D shaping can go wrong very quickly, but Felix handles it here like a pro.

Raccoon

Zooming in on the face, there’s the continuation of the stepped contouring from the body going down right to the end of the trash panda’s boop-able snoot. The other features added here (the eyes, ears, etc.) aren’t composed of the same basic bricks and plates as the rest of the body. Yet these features don’t feel out of place in the design. Despite introducing some slopes and curves, they don’t distract from the form, and gently draw attention to the key features of the animal.

Raccoon

A hands-on approach to caterpillars

This huge LEGO caterpillar is constructed with giant minifig hands by builder Dan Ko for an Iron Builder challenge. Dan cleverly uses the bright green hand pieces for the many legs of the towering insect. The caterpillar possesses a wonderful color palette with those pastel pieces at every segment. Red leaves frame the caterpillar’s face, giving it bushy eyebrows and a great beard. The antennae test the air as the caterpillar rears up to intimidate the hunter. Nearby plant life watches the scene indifferently, not really a care in the colorful world. What’s cool about this build is the ingenuity it demonstrates with a part limitation. The giant minifig hands are the parts to work with, and Dan found a creative way of using them. The caterpillar is awesome, and I hope it can be friends with the hunter instead of enemies.

The Hunt Is On

Giving nature a hand

The Flower Pot Girl (from the collectable minifigure series 18) gets a boost in this thought-provoking build created by Pascal Hetzel. The model shows an arm raising the colourful minifigure and flowers out of a stone box. Transparent wedges seep through cracks in the stonework and could be viewed as toxic waste with the arm saving the plant life from falling in. The forearm is presented in a staggered motion in order to portray the limb outstretched at an angle. Macaroni pieces are used to represent humanoid curled fingers with small bulb pieces in white forming the fingertips. Best not to give this one a shake, otherwise those carefully placed wedges and flowers will be going everywhere.

LEGO Flower Pot Girl

A charmed LEGO cottage

A quaint little stone cabin in the woods is overgrown with vines and flowers. Far from a creepy, stereotypical witch’s home, this project by builder Castor Troy, in collaboration with builder Max Brich, was focused on giving witches a better image. The creatures of the forest seem to love gathering around this witch’s delightful cottage. The builders sought after a more rehabilitated, benevolent witch, emphasizing the magical relationship with nature and their healing abilities, instead of reinforcing negative stereotypes. Wooden accents define the edges of the stonework wall using brown hinges and a little bit of LEGO geometry. Angled roofs snugly cover the home, as a cobbled chimney rises up next to a lovely A-frame roof as tall as the tree next door.

Witch House on Lego Ideas

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A scenic path to a forest retreat

Builder Salt_city_bricks gives us a lovely LEGO retreat in a peaceful forest. Two travelers make their way home after an adventurous walk through the forest. They cross a cute little bridge that uses headlight bricks, open studs, and flex tubing for its curvature. Vibrant trees and flowers surround the house on the hill and the babbling brook. There’s not a bit of space left unused on the forest floor! It’s full of plant life, even growing up the sides of the hill to wreath around the multi-story house. The color blocking breaks the scene up into smaller areas to explore.

Unbenannt1

Take a closer look at the trees and flowers