Tag Archives: Sculptures

This maneki-neko is the cat’s meow

Maneki-neko are Japanese figurines of cats that businesses all over the world have adopted to beckon customers and the money burning holes in their pockets. The cats often hold large, old-style Japanese gold coins in enormous denominations, as this lovely white cat by Taiwanese builder DOGOD Brick Design does — this maneki-neko holds a coin worth ten million yen! This lovely feline was recently installed at the Masterpiece Gallery in the LEGO House.

Maneki-neko hold their paws up in the gesture that Japanese people use to ask someone to come over — palm facing out while “scooping” the fingers toward yourself, rather than palm up as many Westerners do.

The Brothers Brick is funded by our readers and the community. Articles may include affiliate links, and when you purchase products from those links, TBB may earn a commission that helps support the site.

Nothing is true, everything is permitted

Inspired by the upcoming stealth-adventure game Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Kevin J. Walter presents a LEGO statue of ancient-Egyptian protagonist Bayek. His leaping pose is dynamic, enhanced by the flow of fabric from his outfit. The shaping is excellent and the choices of parts and colors for his assassin’s gear match up well with the character in the trailers.

Still LEGO life worthy of an art gallery

Traditionally, still life is the drawing or painting of items such as fruit, flowers and household objects, which are usually arranged on a table top. Birgitte Jonsgard has crossed LEGO with a typical still life set up to give a still LEGO life piece of artwork that seems to emulate the work of Dutch Golden Age painter, Pieter de Ring. The dark background and table contrasting with the vibrant colours of fruit, vegetables and, of course, the central lobster have been carefully arranged to really give some serious artwork vibes.

If you like Birgitte’s still life style of LEGO art, you will love another of her creations that we featured; Still life painting of LEGO fruit and seafood.

Around the World in 26 LEGO scenes

It’s time to go on a journey around the World with Denmark-based builder Lasse Vestergård, who has built a huge scenic sculpture complete with handy globe to help keep you on the right track. Around the central globe are two circular stages each showing scenes from different countries. There are 26 countries in total, including Denmark, Greenland, UK, Italy, Spain, Israel, Australia and lots more in between. Each country has a few minifigures that represent part of the history, heritage and culture. There are lots of fun minifigures to spot, such as a mermaid in Denmark, footballer in Germany, Leprechaun in Ireland, Medusa in Greece, Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus in Israel, Shakespeare in the UK, and so on.

See more details of this geographic sculpture

A gravity-defying LEGO waterfall

Do you enjoy the soothing sounds of moving water? How about the clatter of LEGO crystals jostling together? If so, you’ll love Jarren Harkema‘s perpetual-motion style fountain. Jarren says his creation was inspired by M.C. Escher’s Waterfall lithograph, which depicts water flowing uphill .

The crystal fountain’s gravity-defying effect was achieved by using two Power Functions L-Motors and six ladders held together with 40 gears. To see the fountain in action, check out the video below.

Hong Kong skyline in a island

While architecture skyline builds are a popular way to capture some of the landmark structures of a city, city son has created this fantastic mountainous sculpture of Hong Kong’s landmarks. At the base we have the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre with its glass façade, surrounded by Golden Bauhinia Square. Dominating the scene is the Big Buddha with the Ngong Ping 360 cable car and Peak Tram exiting the mountainside, all of which are located on Lantau Island, Hong Kong’s largest outlying island.

What a great way to capture some of the highs of Hong Kong, although Big Buddha doesn’t look impressed with the cable car exiting his head!

Time to bust some pesky revolutionaries

As a clarification, I should mention that this is not a bust of a revolutionary, but of one who busts revolutionaries: Inspector Javert from the musical Les Miserables. The builder, W. Navarre, has been making Les Miserables-themed LEGO creations since the start of this year, with this bust being one of the best so far, and the first that was not a minifig-scaled vignette or diorama.

The build is quite experimental, with many complicated techniques to achieve all sorts of shapes and textures, as is expected of Mr. Navarre. This does come at a cost, because experimental means some things work and others do not. So it is that the hat and the collar work really well, just as the mouth and sideburns, but the head seems to me to be somewhat short and the nose a bit too blocky.

Statistical data says the Internet is 50% cats

And yet the LEGO side of the Internet seems to have a lower percentage of cats than average – not surprisingly, as the characteristic cat’s head and legs offer a significant challenge for builders and can be done wrong very quickly. The latest builder to pick up the challenge is that Russian jack-o- all-trades Timofey Tkachev.

This time Timofey tries a technique of staggered layered plates to achieve complicated natural curves, which has been used to create LEGO cats before, but what appears to be different here is the intensely detailed face, and that the cat seems to be partially poseable. The playful pose adds a lot to the presentation, as do the LEGO basket and ball (which is an official piece, by the way).

Ponies are cool, but LEGO ponies are about 20% cooler

If the rain clouds are still hovering overhead then it’s time to call the cavalry, otherwise known as Rainbow Dash. In the world of hit TV show My Little Pony this pugnacious pegasus maintains the weather and clears the skies of Ponyville. British builder Andrew Harvey used around 3700 LEGO bricks to capture Dash’s colourful likeness, even managing to give her a sense of movement in the process. This sculpture is cleverly made using a “studs out” technique for the head, body and wings – but those expressive eyes are my favourite part of this model.

There’s also a view of Rainbow Dash’s swishing tail as she makes her way back to Ponyville to kick away a few rain clouds. And if you’re in the vicinity of Manchester, England this weekend you can even marvel at this model in person at the Bricktastic LEGO show.

Never forget how ideology can destroy our humanity

The Second World War was a great tragedy in our history, but its horrors were not limited to the years 1939 through 1945, with some of its consequencess still lasting decades after the war ended. One such case was the Berlin Wall, which took the lives of hundreds of people seeking a better life on the other side of the wall. In memory of these victims of the East German regime, Collin has built a strong, emotional, and symbolic creation of a dove trapped in barbed wire. While the build is not a masterpiece of complex techniques, its true strength lies in the message.

The builder adds a lot of information in his description, both about the Berlin wall and the build itself, so check it out if you can.

Sweet, sweet nectar of the gods

Break out the red sugar water, because Forlorn Empire built the perfect bird feeder to attract every LEGO hummingbird in your neighborhood straight to your backyard! Not only does this tiny hanging feeder look just like the real thing, but it’s packed full of some incredible NPU including minifig components (hands and arms), buckets, and the perfect fake plastic yellow “flower” to show the birdos where to sip while they hover.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste

I certainly couldn’t guess what’s on Timofey Tkachev’s mind with this sculpture, but I sure do know that I like it because it’s not your typical build but a peek into an artist’s own emotions. Over and above the mystery of the mind, the exterior shaping leaves you wondering about the techniques used to sculpt a 3D skull. Such a masterpiece indeed.