Tag Archives: Ralf Langer

This one-color cottage is a real “passion project”

In an effort to improve my LEGO building game while I continue my endless sort, I’ve been doing some deep dives recently into color. And right on the heels of finishing The Secret Lives of Color (by Kassia St. Clair and a very good read), I spy this beautiful cottage scene by the one and only Ralf Langar. The build speaks to the importance of the color red, and how we interpret it in our lives. While it can be the color of leaves, as in his darling ruby tree here, it also can symbolize such energizing things as life, heat, and love. Of course, as Ralf knows, you can sometimes have too much of a good thing: what once was love can quickly turn into passion, danger, war, and even blood. And a cottage with red-splattered windows doesn’t bode well for its occupants….

The silence of the bricks

LEGO Creation of the Week (#14): Lothlorien Riverside by Ralf Langer

Every week readers of the The Brothers Brick Telegram channel choose the Creation of the Week: one project that impressed all of us the most. Ralf Langer got nearly 40% of all votes with his amazing Lothlorien Riverside scenery! Yet another Creation of the Week in our improvised hall of fame, ha!

Meanwhile, the new vote is already on! Join our Telegram channel to follow all the best LEGO creations, latest news, and, of course, vote for your favorites. See you there!

Midnight in the Garden of Lothlorien

My apologies go out to John Berendt as I came dangerously close to the title of his famous novel with my title. LEGO builder Ralf Langer tells us this latest creation is called Lothlorien Riverside, which makes it a Lord of the Rings sort of thing. But he also says it’s not of a specific landscape so you can forgive me if I imagine this as a setting for an atmospheric Southern Gothic tale of murder and deceit. It is a setting of breathtaking beauty juxtaposed against an unsettling eerieness. Ralf truly understands the reflective properties of LEGO as you can see in our Ralf Langer archives. Black works particularly well here but he has done this with other colors in the past. The angle of the photography is also an effect he thinks about a lot. Shot at a high angle the green algae on the water would seem more blocky. But at this angle, it’s perfection! mastery of brick and photography like this is why Ralf is consistently among our favorite builders.

Lothlorian Riverside

Don’t sail off the edge!

We’ve been impressed by Ralf Langer’s alien and exotic worlds before, by golly! But this time, I’m in awe of that two-stud wide perfectly round base. That is what he had challenged himself to do and not only is this build visually striking, but sturdy enough to hold. It’s also larger than expected at first glance. The white 1×2 plate sort of acts as a reference to the size of it all. Ralf tells us that he certainly could have loaded the composition with greenery but scaling back to a very simplified color scheme does wonders for this scene. The water somehow looks deep but, as the edge shows, it’s only two studs wide. I’m well aware the water and the rest of this world continue outside of the borders of what has been presented here but one can almost imagine the little sailing ship going ass-over-tea kettle off the edge.

The City

A dark ocean on an alien world

Builder Ralf Langer has a particular knack for making LEGO bricks feel like fluids. Whether it’s a mind-blowingly impressive curve or a serene tide pool, Ralf always seems to turn the bricks into liquid in his hands. And he’s done it again with this build representing the aftermath of a distant war on an alien landscape. Ralf has made excellent use of reflections so that the rubble of a futuristic vehicle sinks beneath the dark waters with no visible seams. It’s an effect so realistic that it makes my thalassophobia kick in.

After the war

Let’s sweeten the pot a little

If you’re a fan of the LEGO Botanicals collections, you’ll love this creation by Ralf Langer. Seven spectacular plants spring forth from pots that are every bit as elegant. There are great techniques everywhere you look, from the robot-arm wicker casings to sides made from layers of 1×2 rounded plate. If you look closely you can spot tank treads, Technic flex hoses, and even a few standard sloped bricks. Also noteworthy are the muted earth tones and olive-green foliage. These choices make the reds, bright greens, blues, and lavenders really stand out.  Altogether this is one of the most naturalistic-looking recreations I’ve seen in quite a while.

potted plants

Finally, take a look at that great wood-slat furniture. It makes me want to take a trip through our archives for more home furnishings. You might even spot some other builds from Ralf in there!

A table strong enough to hold the Earth

I think it’s fair to say a LEGO build by Ralf Langer is always a going to be special. So when this appeared in my feed, I felt it needed to be shared with the readers of TBB. At first glance, it’s an elegant table adorned with a little tree. But there’s always more! Using artistic license, Ralf has created a map of the world in the table design, which compliments the colour of the tree’s leaves perfectly. Using plant stem parts, these leaves capture a naturalistic look, sitting proudly atop the table. A round shape is notoriously difficult to recreate in Lego form but Ralf has executed it to great effect here, using a nice solution to capture a rimmed edge to the table.

Earth Table

Dungeons and dragons and bricks, oh my!

Confession time: while I’ve always secretly wanted to, I’ve never played a game of Dungeons and Dragons (or other games of its ilk). Seeing all the great D&D builds popping up lately is doing nothing to scratch that itch. There have been some incredibly creative entries as well, such as this one by Ralf Langer. I love the inclusion of the pencil and notepad – crucial for remembering just what it is your character is up to. While they’re great in their own right, it’s hard not to focus on the amazing playing field curving up next to them. Ralf has somehow managed to make forced perspective work in an arc – te further up the cylinder you go, the more the landscape disappears into the distance. It’s a quite remarkable bit of workmanship.

Entering the dragon's lair

Billowing sails on the high seas

The latest episode of LEGO Masters had me in awe as the contestants built stunning pirate ships in just eight hours. This lovely tall ship by Ralf Langer is admittedly several nautical miles above and beyond that and surely took him more than eight hours to construct. The cannons, the rigging, and the waving flag are all amazing touches to be sure. But the star of the show here has got to be those billowing sails. Ralf is a master at building complex curves and textures and this ship encompasses all of that in some surprising ways. Please do yourselves the favor and set sails for our Ralf Langer archives to see what other adventures await.

IMG_6597

A lavender dream over turquoise waters

Ralf Langer is a master when it comes to making bulky LEGO creations. He also is very capable of making builds look very delicate and fragile. In this creation it is almost baffling to me that he manages to make this massive tower look light and airy. The hexagon shaped towers are created by sticking hot dogs into 1×1 round plates with holes. Ralf’s builds always look quite part intensive so my guess is that these two towers actually weigh quite a lot. Yet he still managed to make it look like they are just floating in mid air. The window in the middle part of the build looks quite interesting and Ralf himself is quite fond of it, so I hope he ventures further into that style of architecture because I am most curious what he’ll come up with.

Lavender Dream

Speaker loudly and carry a multi-pronged stick

Today we double-dip into the LEGO world of Ralf Langer with his build Open Air 2053, providing a look into the future of concert music. The towering stack of speakers in the background is impressive, utilizing the largest tires around to churn out some thumping beats. I like the subtle changes in color and style between the different units, highlighting that this is a collected array of equipment, not a part of a set. The well-scaled drum kit appears more uniform, as of course it should. And the use of tank treads for the drum hoops is excellent! Finer details like cords and controls, both on the speakers and the keyboard array, put in a lot of work here. Through these details, we see that instruments and equipment haven’t changed much in 31 years. However, the musician has gone through a complete makeover! Given Maestro9000’s innate multi-instrument ability, this one was no doubt programmed by Dave Grohl himself.

Open Air 2053

The circuit of life is a series of parallels

One of the great pleasures I find in creating art through LEGO bricks is the ability to merge two contrasting forces. It could be two colors in something as simple as a black and white build. Or it could be the complexity of a mature emotion like grief or loss expressed via a toy for children. In this case, Ralf Langer highlights the natural and the artificial in this computer board/forest hybrid. And, boy, does Ralf show off his prowess for both styles. The circuitry is sharp, precise, and clean; all stud-less with crisp corners and neat rows. Gradually, that regimented look gives way on the green medium to Nature’s chaos: curves, bumps, and rocky nodes galore! There’s a lot of great parts usage here, but my favorite has got to be the dual rows of Modulex bricks. These LEGO products of a slightly different scale are a rare sight in builds, but can provide some truly brilliant solutions to construction problems without straying from the brand.

CardBoardForest