Tag Archives: Vignettes

Vignettes are like the haiku of the LEGO world. Usually built on a base 8 studs wide by 8 studs deep, vignettes show a little scene or a moment in time. But like written poetry, there’s plenty of variation on the basic theme.

A pastoral post office makes postal work pleasant

The work of the postmaster is never done, especially in troubled times like those we find ourselves living through today. If anyone deserves a quiet place to sit and rest after a long day’s work, it would be the fellow delivering your mail. Ayrlego has built a very pleasant home and office for this public servant. I love the clean and simple walls and the terra cotta tiled roof. Also, the use of the wand elements from LEGO’s Wizarding World theme still attached to their sprues make the perfect finely carved wooden railing on the balcony. Speaking of the balcony, that vine trellis is another great detail.

If this postal paradise pleases you, you’ll probably enjoy another post office we recently featured by Ayrlego.

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A lived-in universe

One of the things that made the Star Wars universe so magical was its relatively groundbreaking take on approach to depicting a lived-in, weathered place, that felt like it had history and people striving to earn a living, unlike the clean, sterile environments of scifi predecessors like Star Trek. LEGO builder DarthBricks has set about building a series of large vignettes as part of a LEGO RPG they’re playing. The detailed scenes perfectly encapsulate the cluttered, imperfect world of the Empire. First up is this scene from Corellia, where a few Rebels spy on an Imperial patrol.

Next is a scene from the desert world of Tatooine, where the Rebels ambush some troopers. The amount of detailing feels just right, with enough texture to the dust-covered walls to make it feel worn, while still keeping the focus on the action.

Let’s see where DarthBricks goes next. Perhaps Kashyyk or Scarif?

Morning is for tea and contemplation

Summer is winding down and where I live the trees are already starting to change color just a little bit. The morning light hits the leaves in such a way that is similarly portrayed in this built LEGO vignette by Instagram user architeclego.

Looking at this vignette, I can smell the crisp autumn air and even feel a light breeze hitting my face like on a chilly but sunny morning in late September or early October. Architeclego makes use of many different plant pieces such as the tree limb element and even some LEGO pumpkins and logs to create this peaceful fall scene. Hopefully this little vignette will help the less autumn-inclined folks mentally prepare for the beginning of a new season.

The Mandalorian Mudhorn Showdown

With new LEGO Star Wars Mandalorian goodies finally making their way to store shelves this season, scenes from the popular streaming series are becoming easier to recreate. Builder Kevin on the other hand recreates an iconic and perhaps more difficult scene to remake out of some unusual LEGO elements.

While Kevin renders the terrain of the planet Arvala-7 pretty simply using plates and tiles, the most eye-catching components of this build are the creatures included; the Mudhorn as well as the child. The body of the mudhorn can be broken down into two segments: the brick-built head and the rest of the body which creatively makes use of the LEGO mammoth element. The most striking parts utilized in the mudhorn head build would be the 1×1 round tiles with eye prints and the grey claw shaft used for the horn.

Read on to see the brilliant model of The Child in more detail

Quiet days in the garden

Sometimes the simplest builds are the best. Jonas Kramm is a talented and versatile LEGO artist who consistently delivers excellent creations, big and small. He is currently doing a vignette series, and this one is my recent favorite. There are so many cute details packed into a little space. The rabbit hutch, birdhouse, gnome, and picket fence are all so cleverly crafted. In particular, using skis for fence boards is a brilliant idea. Alongside the satisfyingly white-trimmed shed, it all fits perfectly.

While you’re here, you can check out all of Jonas’ latest builds in our archives. (Including the first three vignettes in this series.)

Back to school, in some way or another, we hope

Is 2020 going to be the year that every kid stays back a grade? I sure hope not! I’m seeing an alarming number of adult students making a mess of their educations this year, with distance learning not being their strong suit. Hopefully, the kiddos are faring better than their parents. In the meantime, Instagram user brickdesigned presents some neat LEGO back-to-school elements. Various desks, lockers, a chalkboard, and those noisy metal benches from chemistry class are surely hitting me in the nostalgic feels. This is usually the time, in the late days of summer, that kids are gearing to go back to school. So whether you’re going to a physical place or learning from home, your old uncle Lino wants you to please make the best of it and be safe out there. Got it, you little whippersnappers? Good! I’m glad we could have this talk. Now get the heck off my lawn!

There and back again

Some LEGO creations manage to turn up a soundtrack in your head. A new series of builds by Thorsten Bonsch is a perfect example. The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies had numerous wonderful film locations, but the journey always starts by the Bilbo’s home Bag End in the town of Hobbiton located in the lush pastures of the Shire.

Click here to take a look at other creations in the series

A shack in the woods might be all you need.

I generally don’t broadcast my vacation whereabouts to potentially millions of readers but since I’m back I can say I’ve just spent a week in a tiny home similar to this one. With nothing but my own amusing self to keep me company, I have a new appreciation for living minimally. Daniel Barwegen may know what I mean as evidenced by this LEGO shack. Multidirectional bricks, plates, and slopes make for some neat textures here. I really enjoy the barren trees here and the all-around rustic feel. In my tiny rental, I fancied myself as a rugged old hermit (gray beard and all) just like the minifigure here. He’s doing it right with solar panels. And just when I started to smell like a guy who lived in a shack in the woods, it was time to come back to civilization, car payments, Zoom-room meetings, mortgage, and all that. But would I do it again? Totally! In a heartbeat.

Rock, papercuts, scissors, wait...

The players of the game that settles it all can get a little carried away sometimes. In this cute LEGO vignette by Pedro Sequeira some of our favorite players; rock, paper, and scissors are brought to life in three dimensions and we can see the consequences of such rough play!

Each player – rock, paper, and scissors are made up of some pretty standard small elements such as slopes, tiles, and small bricks. The faces on the objects and their expressions are what make this scene both adorable and hilarious. The rock and paper characters feature woodoo balls with eye prints, while printed round 1×1 tiles with mischievous squinting eyes decorate the face of scissors. A stream of tears on poor cut-up paper’s face is cleverly rendered with a couple translucent clear dragon’s fire elements. I enjoy the lines on the paper created with grey plates to give it that loose-leaf paper aesthetic. Maybe rock can talk some sense into scissors while poor paper heals its wounds from battle. Sequeira does mention that this brick-built vignette is based off of an illustration which can be viewed here.

A new perspective on a Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece

It’s 1496 in Milan, Italy and the renowned artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci is finishing up his latest commission, a fresco spanning the wall of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Over the years, “The Last Supper” has become a symbol of the Renaissance art movement. More recently, it has been recreated as a LEGO vignette by Joe (jnj_bricks). In this stunning rendition of da Vinci’s masterpiece, Joe creates the appearance of a two-dimensional fresco with the illusion of three-dimensionality using three-dimensional LEGO bricks– it’s mind-boggling!

Let’s take a look at some of Joe’s illusionistic building techniques in “The Last Supper”. First, the floor in the fresco is built slanting upwards. This creates a deep shadow underneath the table, reminiscent of da Vinci’s chiaroscuro technique of contrasting light and shadow in his oil paintings. Next, the walls of the room within the fresco are built using slope bricks instead of standard 1x bricks, making the “back wall” appear to be much farther away than it actually is. Finally, the bordering brick “window” that frames the fresco completes the composition. Early illusionistic wall paintings that date back to ancient Rome would also use this technique to portray a vista into another world.

All of these techniques enhance the forced perspective in the overall build, creating a convincing replica of the real-life fresco. With the amount of realistic details and artistic techniques packed in this build, it’s hard to believe Joe hasn’t apprenticed for the Renaissance master builders!

More than just 4 walls and a roof

Home is where the heart is, and this residence by Ayrlego, loosely inspired by houses in the civilization-building sim Age of Empires 2 is a sturdy place to raise a family, with strong walls, a nearby source of clean water, and shady trees to relax with the little ones. The textured bricks built into the frame are a nice connection to the building, as well as a frame for the ground made up of sloped bricks.

Fantasy palace is an oasis for the weary, whatever their species

No matter what kind of creature you are, if you live in a desert environment, chances are you would enjoy a visit to this fantasy oasis by Peter Z for a chance to enjoy fresh fruit, and to sit by the fountain to let the cool breeze wash over you. Gold and teal accents provide a lovely contrast to the tan structure, and the walls are peppered with little irregularities caused by the cutting wind and sand.

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