Tag Archives: Still Life

Eat your fruits and vegetables!

A major problem with the diets of many folks these days is that they do not eat enough fresh fruits and vegetables, instead deriving too many of their calories from highly processed wheat, corn, and soy. There’s nothing wrong with wheat, corn, or soy, per se, but they don’t provide many of the vitamins and minerals necessary for human health. So consider this LEGO build by Barbara Hoel to be a public service announcement: eat your fruits and veggies! Your gut will thank you. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Still Life with Fruit

This still life is awash with bright colors, with red apples, green, dark red, and purple grapes, orange oranges, yellow pears, and perhaps a dark red plum. Yummy! Organic curves are hard to do in LEGO, but Barbara has done a great job sculpting them. And then there is the tablecloth beneath them all, with every shade of blue imaginable featured. Someone must have invested in some LEGO DOTS sets! If only the background were black velvet, this would look great surrounded by a gilded frame and hanging on the wall of my dining room, reminding me to eat my fruits and vegetables.

You’ll feel right at home in this build

Isaac Snyder has created a LEGO room that feels so welcoming, it may as well be a snapshot lifted from a modern living magazine. The fireplace looks warm and inviting, as does the seating arrangement in front of it. It’s the perfect spot to read a book, and the bookshelf is just a few steps away. I love the recesses in the wall for the shelving and storage of logs for the fire, and the staircase is minimalism at its finest. That modern clock hanging on the wall is pretty spiffy, too. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to turn off the lights and take a nap on the couch. Zzzzzzz

Modern Living Room

Preserving analog recording devices in plastic

Chungpo Cheng takes us back to early ’90s with a trio of classic pieces of recording technology, including a 3.5″ diskette, cassette tape and VHS tape. These formats are prone to degradation over time and, in many ways, are more fragile than paper documents. Chungpo has faithfully immortalized them in LEGO-form…or has he? Sadly, the bricks we have today won’t be the same forever. Case in point; those white bricks tend to yellow over time, especially with prolonged exposure to heat and UV light. Some bricks can also become brittle with age and crack under pressure. I’ll tell you who doesn’t crack under pressure, though – Chungpo Cheng, that’s who!

FD&Videotape&Audio Tape

Judging by the attention to detail, it’s clear that Chungpo respects magnetic media as much as LEGO bricks. The VHS and audio tape have reverse sides that embody the age-old Blockbuster rental mantra, “be kind. Please rewind.” Don’t forget to repeatedly hit that tracking button either.

FD&Videotape&Audio Tape

This LEGO build is an open book

Here’s a build worth taking note of — a 19th century workplace, in 1:1 scale by Russian LEGO builder Nikita Sukhodolov. We get an open ledger on a blotter, a pair of glasses, an inkwell and pen, and a candle to shed some light on it all. All the individual elements are well-built, but some standout features include the melting wax at the top of the candle and the simple-yet-perfect shaping of the spectacles. The ribbon-strip bookmark is nicely done too. I can imagine a whole series of 1:1 scale “workplaces” like this, taken from different technological eras as we progress from handwritten ledgers to desktop computers, tablets, and beyond.

The working place of the 19th century

Planting LEGO bricks leads to flowers that will forever bloom

We have featured plenty of beautifully built LEGO floral arrangements, but this unique interpretation by Jarekwally may be the most literal interpretation of LEGO flowers so far. Each of the flowers are upscaled versions of the 1×1 modified brick with stud on 1 side. The inclusion of the actual brick as a smaller bud is pure genius.

Red Brick Flowers

How to build a construction toy with a construction toy

For well over a century, BRIO of Sweden has been manufacturing high-quality wooden toys. Builder ForlornEmpire was inspired to replicate BRIO’s MEC construction toy in LEGO-form. BRIO Mec sets typically consist of wooden beams, plastic pegs, tools and more. ForlornEmpire’s concept is whimsical looking in terms of form and presentation, complete with the characteristic tan representing wood and bright colors for the plastic mallet and pins. Speaking of the pins, they make clever use of the construction helmet and 2×2 disc weapon. Modifying the BRIO logo to read BRIC is a nice touch.

Bric Construction Toys

When LEGO was making toys from the 1930s through 1950s, they were contemporaries of BRIO. In fact, it’s worth noting how the BRIO Mec construction system is reminiscent of LEGO’s BILOfix wooden construction toys introduced in 1959. Both Scandinavian toy makers were likely inspired by metal beam construction toys like Meccano and Erector.

This LEGO bubble wand is super slick with parts that stick

At first glance, it is easy to mistake this LEGO re-creation of a bubble wand by Anthony SÉJOURNÉ as the real thing. It certainly looks the part, complete with a simple bottle and bubbles made from a variety of transparent domes, radar dishes, and cockpit canopies. Comprised of approximately 21 elements, this is the perfect creation for the start of spring.

Lego soap bubbles - atana studio

Mirror, mirror, on the wall....

What’s the scariest mirror of all? This ghastly-looking LEGO mirror built by Corvus Auriac comes close. While the ornate frame is largely black, pockets of gold and silver peek through in a futile attempt to rein in the darkness. I love the ghoulish hand extending from the mirror, singling out its prey with a pointed finger. It’s a frighteningly good build!

The Mirror of the Covenants

LEGO my EGGO waffles!

Back in December, we shared ExeSandbox’s LEGO waffles. LEGO waffles are back again, this time having been built by -LittleJohn. This is a wonderfully photographed scene, blending together LEGO models with real-life objects. The entire dish looks delectable, complete with brick-built blueberries, strawberries, and a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Plastic never looked so delicious.

Berry Bliss Waffles

Breakfast must be the builder’s favorite food, as they have also made a delectable yogurt parfait.

Fruit ‘N’ Yogurt Parfait

They are even cooking up some eggs, tomatoes, and greens. Freshly built avocado slices sit to the side.

A Healthy Start

Build your own bento

In Japanese cuisine, bento is a meal in box for take-out or eating at home. Leonid An has built a delicious looking LEGO bento, which includes sushi rolls, nigiri, vegetables, wasabi, and a hearty serving of white rice. Each dish is able to stand on its own, thanks in part to a diverse range of colors and building techniques. The pieces of nigiri use a mix of curved slopes and constraction figure elements to form slices of raw fish. Black tires and white tires are cleverly used to represent the seaweed and rice in the sushi rolls, and lime green Bionicle Krana Za masks are used to form the side of wasabi. Meanwhile, a pair of chopsticks at the base of the box signals it’s time to eat. Itadakimasu!

Bento

I see a row of cabinets and they’re all painted white.

Do-it-yourself projects are more fun in LEGO-form, such as this detailed painting-themed render by _spacehopper_. The cabinetry, refrigerator, and sink look attractive in this kitchen, complete with a mouth-watering turkey. (Who makes a turkey and paints the kitchen at the same time?) Someone has been busy painting but is noticeably absent. A ladder sits to the side, and the fan is running to help with ventilation. Meanwhile, the paint roller sits abandoned on the counter top, dripping white paint on the floor. No drop cloths or trays are there to catch anything. Perhaps our missing painter is a novice, realized he was in-over-his-head, and drove to the hardware store for the missing supplies.

1980s Tape-recording technology

Builder Sven Franic completed a LEGO tape recorder that is a blast from the past. Thanks to Sven’s attention to detail, it looks almost like the real thing. One of the buttons is pressed down, and a cassette tape is visible through the clear window. The power cord is unplugged, revealing the machine’s two-pronged outlet. I especially like how Sven used the Tile, Modified 1 x 1 with Tooth / Ear Vertical (used as floppy ears in Unikitty figures) for the fast-forward and play buttons. They almost look like they were made for this build.

Tape recorder