Tag Archives: Pixels

Takuya Fukugawa’s chilly pixel penguins warm the heart

When Takuya Fukugawa first started building pixel art models in LEGO, he took inspiration from video games, often with stunning results. More recently, the builder has been turning to nature as muse. Last year, it was a blue whale that took our breath away. The builder’s latest features an Emperor penguin and chick.

The build is actually a remake of the artist’s previous take on the subject, swapping “realistic” colors for impressionist ones. It’s a beautiful evolution of style that shows how much vitality there is in pixel art as an aesthetic. The wider range of colors have an emotive quality – a warmth that captures the truth of the moment.

Later this month, “Pixel sculptor” Takuya is receiving his first public exhibition in Tokyo at the America Bashi Gallery.

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A colorful bridge between reality and fantasy in this LEGO scene

This scenic little village built on a high bridge by Francis Wiemelt (Hubba Blöoba) looks like something out of a fantasy novel, until you notice the utility poles and the vending machine. While a safety railing would make me feel a lot more comfortable, the cats in this scene don’t seem to mind. While the structures are beautifully crafted, what stands out to me is the blend of colors, both in the roofs and in the gray stone bridge, which could represent the look of sunlight on various surfaces. Or, it could be a result of weathering. Either way, it looks fantastic. I also like how the tree foliage is made with plates and tiles rather than LEGO foliage elements, which adds some visual texture to the trees.

Francis based the model on Minecraft voxel art from digital artist Snarple and the translation into the physical world is perfect.

This is what you call a pop-up

One of the themes I wish LEGO would pick up is the cyberpunk theme. The visibility of segregation between rich and poor is something that always strikes my interest. The same goes for this latest build by Swestar. We can see a clear separation between the poor and the rich. The world is filled with neon signs. These have been made with an assortment of tiles to create LEGO letters. The result is stunning. We get references to Tron and Atari and a lot of other references that are lost on me because I am not much of a gamer.

The best thing about this beautiful build is the fact that the triangular sign which features retro game characters can actually spin. Check out the video.

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