31208 The Great Wave revealed
Posted by Huw,
One of the last of the January 2023 releases to be revealed is this Art set, 31208 Hokusai - The Great Wave. Here's the press release:
Easily one of the most recognisable and influential Japanese artworks of all time continues to make creative waves around the world: Hokusai - The Great Wave. The LEGO Group is paying tribute to this global masterpiece and its almost two-century long history by re-imagining the iconic masterpiece in LEGO Art form, giving lovers of art and Japanese culture the opportunity to immerse themselves into a relaxing build, perfect for displaying at home.
Since Katsushika Hokusai created the original woodblock print of The Great Wave in the early 1830’s, the image has decorated the walls of museums, inspired music, and been recreated as street art and merchandise around the world. The image portrays Mount FUJI, Japan’s iconic mountain, behind a large wave covering a group of small boats.
The artwork has now been re-imagined by LEGO designers in this new 1,810-piece LEGO Art set, featuring layers and elements of different shapes to portray the lines and depth of Hokusai’s original artwork.
“We’re thrilled that fans of art and Japanese culture will get the chance to immerse themselves into the relaxing project of recreating the iconic Great Wave, captured in a LEGO Art set,” said Annemette Baaskjær Nielsen, Designer at the LEGO Group.
“This set offers so many ways that fans can unwind and find their flow. Not just immersing themselves into the building process, but also getting into the artwork and how that is composed. Sparking an interest in Hokusai’s instantly recognisable original and its rich history of almost 200 years.”
Art and LEGO fans can find their flow as they build and listen to the accompanying soundtrack while looking through the premium booklet of instructions that features details about the original artwork. Using LEGO Art Hokusai: The Great wave as a great escape.
The 1,810-piece LEGO Art Hokusai: The Great Wave set will be available from January 1st at LEGO.com and LEGO retailers priced at €99.99 / $99.99 / £89.99.
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75 comments on this article
Best mosaic set so far, but I don't really need it.
It doesn't look very big in the first image, so I was surprised when I saw 1,800 pieces. But then you zoom in and see 6x6 tiles so it is larger than I expected.
I will likely pick this up sometime. They did a great version of it.
Very bad, expensive
Oh, great, my tentative shopping list for Sunday just got revised... again!
Got to get just over $190 for the Blacktron Cruiser GWP...
Looks good from a distance -- not so much close up.
Oh this is beautiful!!! And it’s not too expensive! I may have to pick one up!
Cant wait for the other 35 sets in the 'Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series'.
Genuinely a lovely looking recreation of the print but it is going to need a hefty reduction to convince me to buy it.
This looks nice - I can see a clever usage of white leaves, unprinted birds and DOTS 1x1 tiles!
Though I'll pick it up sometime later.
Beautiful, can't wait :-)
This looks superb.
I hope it includes a warning not to hang in a sunny room (unless a replacement set of white bricks is included).
@Dylex said:
"Looks good from a distance -- not so much close up."
Fair point. I have a similar experience with the Starry Night set: it requires a certain distance, angle, and the right lighting conditions in order for the set to look at its best.
Normally I don't care so much for sets in the Art theme, but I might actually get the Great Wave at some moment. I like the subject matter, the 3D effect, and the fact that it uses a variety of pieces instead of only studs or round tiles.
The best of the Art series so far. Not a bad price either, but sadly...there’s just too much on my list that’s of higher priority I’ll likely never get the this.
This looks pretty cool. I like how they have used different pieces to give shape to the waves instead of just another pixelized mosaic.
THIS is what the LEGO Art line should have been all along.
Pure beauty.
I did not realize the brown bits in the middle of the wave are supposed to represent a boat until I compared this to the original artwork.
I'm not interested in the art series, but this one might change my mind. I like it!
@huw, apologies for the odd topic question but will there be a review of the blacktron GWP anytime soon? I’m interested in the forward section being connected to the back section, as displayed on the back of the box, I’d like to get a good look at that. Thanks for all the work you do!
A bit to my surprise....I quite like it! I'm glad it's not just a flat mosaic, there's a bit of depth with some clever parts usage. I have seen more 3D-renditions of the same piece from Chinese brands, but I think Lego made the right choice here. And I think it's the frame what makes it work so well. A bit worried about those 6x6 tiles though. The one thing I don't like is the depiction of Fuji-san, there should have been a bit more blue, and no pointy top. Not sure if it could have been done better though.
At a decent discount I would be tempted to actually buy it...
"Find your flow."
One of the many phrases that will be banned once I assume my right and proper place as ruler of the universe.
I've always liked this painting, so this is very tempting. It looks nice! And I'm not even a huge fan of Lego's art/mosaics.
@woosterlegos said:
"I did not realize the brown bits in the middle of the wave are supposed to represent a boat until I compared this to the original artwork."
Me neither! Never noticed the seamen either, obviously.
I guess, as with any work of art, it will divide opinion but I just feel a little uneasy with the idea of creating out of Lego an image of a Tsunami drowning people which is what the artwork depicts.
@Stoker_stu said:
"I guess, as with any work of art, it will divide opinion but I just feel a little uneasy with the idea of creating out of Lego an image of a Tsunami drowning people which is what the artwork depicts."
C'est n'est pas un tsunami.
Those do not look like boats
This is a piece of art I really like and would consider putting up in my own home ... but not for a $100 LEGO replica. At that point I may as well go the distance and get a high-quality reprint of the original.
I feel bad for the Ideas submissions
@Goujon said:
" @huw, apologies for the odd topic question but will there be a review of the blacktron GWP anytime soon? I’m interested in the forward section being connected to the back section, as displayed on the back of the box, I’d like to get a good look at that. Thanks for all the work you do!"
Yes, tomorrow. CapnRex101 will be handling it.
My wife studied Asian art in her undergrad so we will definitely be getting this.
It's certainly more interesting than the rest of the 2D mosaics, but it's, sadly, such a hackneyed image.
Someone already made a 3D model and submitted it to Ideas: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/3ad57806-5766-4d10-ae6a-0c6491bfe0c3
It has the 10k votes and it's in review. I'd much rather have this beautiful fan made model than some ugly DOTS painting.
@bananaworld said:
"
It's certainly more interesting than the rest of the 2D mosaics, but it's, sadly, such a hackneyed image."
Probably less so than Marilyn Monroe or The Starry Night. But using instantly recognizable art pieces is sort of the point of the series, even if it might seem lowbrow to art enthusiasts. I'm sure it's only a matter of time until they churn out other obvious ones like the Mona Lisa, The Scream or The Kiss.
Subarashii!!!
My shoulder tattoo as a Lego set. The paiting stands for the useless fight against the elements.
I literally gasped and said “WOWWW!” upon opening Brickset.
This set is the PERFECT use of the Lego Art line. This set is actually art itself! Absolutely a day 1 purchase for me and I am not kidding.
Love it. Just smitten.
I like it a lot and will be getting it. Have compared it to the original on my Samsung Frame TV and I think the 3D effect with LEGO looks great.
@Modok said:
" @bananaworld said:
"
It's certainly more interesting than the rest of the 2D mosaics, but it's, sadly, such a hackneyed image."
Probably less so than Marilyn Monroe or The Starry Night. But using instantly recognizable art pieces is sort of the point of the series, even if it might seem lowbrow to art enthusiasts. I'm sure it's only a matter of time until they churn out other obvious ones like the Mona Lisa, The Scream or The Kiss. "
Yeah, fair enough. I'm not what I would describe as an art enthusiast at all ("I don't know art, but I know what I like"-level of art-appreciation) but this image seems to be everywhere, from hipsters' tattoos at the coffee shop to the bottom of skateboards to mass-produced t-shirts.
I dunno, I guess I just expected more from a LEGO Art set. The Starry Night seems to be on another level compared to this.
I love that they're doing something more with an Art set than just mosaic, the use of 3D and unusual parts really helps recreate the drama of the original piece, but man, those weird little face prints on the 1x1 tiles just throw the whole thing once you notice them. If you get this I think you really need to replace those with plain tiles to keep it looking...serious.
Very excited to see Hokusai's Great Wave. Enjoyed Van Gough's Starry Night very much. Eager to add this to the newly appointed Lego wall of great art. :-) The boat riders' faces are a nice touch.
@bananaworld said:
" @Modok said:
" @bananaworld said:
"
It's certainly more interesting than the rest of the 2D mosaics, but it's, sadly, such a hackneyed image."
Probably less so than Marilyn Monroe or The Starry Night. But using instantly recognizable art pieces is sort of the point of the series, even if it might seem lowbrow to art enthusiasts. I'm sure it's only a matter of time until they churn out other obvious ones like the Mona Lisa, The Scream or The Kiss. "
Yeah, fair enough. I'm not what I would describe as an art enthusiast at all ("I don't know art, but I know what I like"-level of art-appreciation) but this image seems to be everywhere, from hipsters' tattoos at the coffee shop to the bottom of skateboards to mass-produced t-shirts.
I dunno, I guess I just expected more from a LEGO Art set. The Starry Night seems to be on another level compared to this."
I agree that The Starry Night is great. But for what it's worth I think LEGO did a good job with this one given the limits of the medium. You can immediately tell what it is. The wood "frame" offsets the picture very nicely, and I like how the bits of wave extending off the canvas makes it even more three-dimensional.
Sure, it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it looks nice and I appreciate that LEGO went for something from a different culture this time.
Like how they used leaf and bird elements for texture.
Hokusai is easily one of my favorite artists ever, and the distinctive lines in the wave can't be easy to communicate in Lego. But I think they did an admirable job here!
The blue rouns face tiles are weird.
Off-topic comment, but I think the plant in the last picture needs some water... leaves are curling and starting to change color. And the wave mosaic was positioned in a way that looks like it is (eternally) going towards the plant.
@Crispy_Bricks said:
"Someone already made a 3D model and submitted it to Ideas: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/3ad57806-5766-4d10-ae6a-0c6491bfe0c3
It has the 10k votes and it's in review. I'd much rather have this beautiful fan made model than some ugly DOTS painting. "
To me this 3d version looks absurd and it totally lacks the subtle yet powerful charm the original painting has. The lego version is very good, those white leaves used to depict fringes of waves are just perfect. They also have nothing to do with DOTS esthetic (where you only build with 1x1 tiles and plates).
The round tiles in the background work really well to dampen the colors (by having the color behind the tiles shine through) and make the wave pop more. Well done by the designer!
@merman said:
"The blue rouns face tiles are weird. "
I think they're a great representation of the boatmen's faces from the original.
I’m disappointed they used the abbreviated name. The accepted full name in English is “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa”.
@woosterlegos:
It’s three separate barges, but yeah, I’d known of this woodblock for years before I ever looked at it close enough to realize there were boats full of sailors.
@WizardOfOss:
Mount Fuji has been noted before for being such a prototypical shield volcano that it always looks made-up when depicted in paintings.
@Stoker_stu:
You have to take it in context. Japan is a place where every spare scrap of land was, and still is, used to grow nutrient-poor rice, so the entire nation is highly dependent on the abundance of the sea for survival. And yet the sea is never safe. Even today this is true, but not to the extent as back when much of the work was done in human-powered, open-hull boats like this.
There’s no way of knowing if any, or if all, if these sailors made it back safely. Likely, some lives would have been lost, but others would have survived. If any boats were damaged, their surviving crew would have probably found vacant seats to fill on those that remained seaworthy. Life doesn’t always pause at your convenience. These sailors had livings to earn, and people back on shore needed what they were hauling to survive, so you took your hits and you got back up.
It also doesn’t hurt if you know a bit about Japanese philosophy.
@bananaworld:
It’s believed to be the most reproduced piece of artwork in the world, but that’s partly a product of the format. It’s a woodblock print, so the original artist created some form of the image (which is probably lost), a woodcarver created the woodblocks, a printer would use the woodblocks to make a bunch of prints, and a publisher who would have financed, promoted, and distributed the prints. It is estimated that at least 2000 prints needed to be sold for the publisher to turn a profit, and that this particular image was printed up to 8000 times from the original woodblocks, at a time when Japan was starting to open up to the outside world. This specific print influenced the likes of Van Gogh and Monet, so some of these prints were sold to art collectors around the world at a time when the only way to see the Mona Lisa was probably still to be in the same room as the original.
And yet, every print is different. Earlier prints have subtle clouds, like the ones owned by museums in Tokyo and Chicago. There’s one in LA that still has the pink sky, but no visible clouds, and there’s another in the UK where the sky is almost colorless.
@Modok said:
" @bananaworld said:
"
It's certainly more interesting than the rest of the 2D mosaics, but it's, sadly, such a hackneyed image."
Probably less so than Marilyn Monroe or The Starry Night. But using instantly recognizable art pieces is sort of the point of the series, even if it might seem lowbrow to art enthusiasts. I'm sure it's only a matter of time until they churn out other obvious ones like the Mona Lisa, The Scream or The Kiss. "
yeah, after they worked the hyper-classics of Batman, Ironman, Sith, Mickey mouse, Minnie mouse, Beatles, Elvis and hogwarts heraldics, they can now dive into the less known 2nd row of art like Mona Lisa, Sunflowers, Scream, etc. etc. for those enthusiasts that are really really deep into the more obscure areas of art ... Malevich just around the corner!
Maybe the best LEGO Art set released so far (unless you count Starry Night). I'm a massive fan of Japanese art, and they did an admirable job in capturing the style. Wave looks great, but they could've done a better Mt Fuji in my opinion.
@Crispy_Bricks:
That’s a really great model, and I hope the submitter is able to build and display a copy, but I don’t think it would work for this. For one thing, it can’t easily be hung on a wall. It also looks incredibly difficult to assemble compared to this. A lot of the people who will buy this just want to hang it on their walls. They literally pushed the boundaries with The Starry Night, but I don’t see why they should need to eliminate them altogether for this piece of art.
@thor96:
Both versions had to make compromises. The original wave is shaped like a giant hand, which is easy to replicate. But the bits of foam also look like dozens of tiny hands, clawing toward the sailors. This version loses the clawlike froth, while the Ideas project looks like blunt fingertips.
@Legonk:
One of the notable features of Japanese woodblock prints is that, because they’re all printed by hand, the printer was more free to blend colors to achieve subtle gradients that simply weren’t possible with the contemporary western printing press. I wonder if keeping the pink behind the clouds except where it’s dark-blue toward the bottom is an attempt to recreate this blending of colors. Certainly I’ve seen a few different attempts at similar results done on MOCs displayed at Brickworld Chicago.
When they ask you to do a wave on sports.
LEGO is making waves :~P
@Huw said:
" @Goujon said:
" @huw, apologies for the odd topic question but will there be a review of the blacktron GWP anytime soon? I’m interested in the forward section being connected to the back section, as displayed on the back of the box, I’d like to get a good look at that. Thanks for all the work you do!"
Yes, tomorrow. CapnRex101 will be handling it."
Thanks Huw, glad to hear. Have a good day.
Not quite sure what the birds are doing for the whole thing - it seems like the leaves would be sufficient (we will know more about this during the review I guess). I might get tempted to get this with some form of discount. You get to get 13 sailor heads! (all smiling despite their unfortunate position - nothing about the painting tells about their fate good or bad so we'll just say they are experiencing a rough sea).
Looks like they chose the version of the Art Institute of Chicago. (sky is nougat coloured)
I have this tattooed on my leg, so this will definitely be a purchase for me!
As a long-time Japanophile, I have only one thing to say: Sugoi!
How about this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cza2g87mjo
I love the idea, but not the execution.
It's mixing two styles, the dots mosaic and a slight relief model. The mix doesn't work for me; the top half and bottom half look like they're from different artworks. The sky/ background just looks wrong above the relief foreground. The printed tiles also look out of place.
I don't think either style does justice to the style of the original. Definitely a pass for me.
I think this set looks fantastic, what the Art series needs to be more vibrant and interesting. Not sure what the price locally is, but I'm sure it will show up discounted easily enough if it's out to regular retailers, so will be looking to get at some point!
This is very tempting, as was the 21333 van Gogh 'Starry Night' (but to me it was too three-dimensional and prone to 'breakage'). However, 31208 'The Great Wave' is an excellent rendition. I will be buying it - I have a wall space with a similar colour scheme where it will be ideal. Roll on the New Year.
@HOBBES:
It’s definitely an earlier print because it includes the cloud formation, but we’ll probably have to wait for the instructions to explain which version they used. There are over 100 surviving prints known to exist in both museum and private collections, but the quality is inconsistent. Chicago, MOMA(NYC), and the Museum of Tokyo all seem to have early prints that retain the cloud formations. There’s one in LA that was definitely from a later run as the sky is pink but without any clouds. The UK print could be from any point during the time they were producing original prints, but it likely got exposed to a lot of light that washed out the pinks completely, as the sky is sort of a uniform light grey. I can find the names of several museums that own an original print (including a Japanese museum devoted to this style of woodblock print, which began with a private collection that started early enough to have obtained one of the very first batch of these), but I was only able to find photos of five of the museum prints, as it seems the internet is awash with references to the MOMA copy.
The set should include 14 face tiles, since it’s of a size that typically qualifies for an extra. The birds are probably meant to be a bas-relief depiction of the grabby little claws formed by the white froth, but I was kinda thinking frogs may have worked better in this instance.
Regarding the video you linked to, that’s Jumpei Mitsui, a LEGO Certified Professional from Japan. Besides a practically unlimited supply of cheap parts (including non-production elements), he has access to the same powerful modeling software used by LEGO Master Builders. It’s an impressive build, but I’ve said before that very large sculptures become more an issue of structural support than the actual modeling, since sheer size makes the shapes involved less significant.
In this case, it looks very painful to build (and as I was thinking that, he pulls out a seat cushion to prove my point), and it was interesting to see the amount of trial and error involved in the top of the main wave, but I can’t get onboard with all the white curls. It was immediately obvious what they were meant to represent when he was building a pile of them, but they get so lost in the white crest that I didn’t even realize he’d included the little grabby claws when I saw the completed model at the start of the video. They really need to end in some sort of pointy element. Something like 87747, 53451, or even 16670 might have worked better. And as an LCP, he can order any current mold in any current color, so it doesn’t even matter if they’re available in white right now.
@PurpleDave
I would so love to be able to order any current mould in any current colour. For a few years now I am waiting for Lego to produce them. One part has already been produced in the needed colour in the distant past. The other is a more recent part and has never been released in the colour I need. For me, any new set release is important just to see if they contain these two parts in the colour I need. In this particular case, Bricklink is not an option. (need 300 parts and cannot afford $5 each)
Lego does not often produce the sets I 'really' want as evidenced by the Ideas choice they make (never those I'd like to see) so I reverted to creating my own and building MOCs of others (Rebrikable). That comes with the problem that not all parts in all colours are available. To me the main attraction of Ideas is the possibility of having parts recoloured. In the meantime I'm building in the wrong colour and waiting for the miracle to happen - this increases the cost as I buy the parts in the wrong colour first and then in the right colour when available.
This would be, for the first time that I felt that the Lego bricks are 'worthy' of being made into a 2D art piece. The rendition of the slight 3D effects here make this piece stands out, and when the total length and width of the object is done right, with the necessary picture frame included (made out of Lego pieces and not of wood), I see this as something that I would gladly put onto my wall..! The same can't be said for the other Art Theme sets from Lego which are not good at all in my opinion.
Thus in summary hopefully we could see more these (I remembers the 21333: Vincent van Gogh - The Starry Night, but that set is too blocky to be seen as an art piece as compared to this).
@HOBBES:
Ah, you’re preaching to the choir! I’ve been playing some form of that game going back to the early 80’s. I’m not the only member of my LUG who max it a goal each new year to get at least one set that was big enough to include the large, all-themes pack-in catalog just so we could look at the contents and see what new pieces were coming out.
I also do most of my design work on MLCad, so no link to any parts database. Not that it would help in every case. I designed Holley Shiftwell pointedly only using dark-purple parts that had been released at that point. Smart, right? I forgot to check how rare/expensive they were ahead of time, so when I started entering my Want List on Bricklink, I was shocked to find 2x2 corner plates (only available in one set at that point) ran $3 each. I needed 20. I quickly got it down to four, and built both her ground and flying forms. Then TLBM gave us 70906, and within a year they were down to between $0.15-0.30.
I recently designed the Ferris Bueller Fauxrari (currently the actual car used for the “jump” scene is on display next to our Henry Ford Museum layout, so my still-in-progress MOC is in a display case nearby), and I came up with an idea that would have let me add enough space behind the seats to sorta fit Cameron. I needed 1x1-2x1 down brackets in red (doesn’t exist), and heart tiles in red (stupidly rare because they only came from a make-&-take at Michael’s craft stores?!?!?).
And back when I designed the Ford Anglia from HP2, we had just lined up a display at a Harry Potter convention, and I wanted to get it done in time. I had to design it at a show where we had no Wi-Fi, but they did in the hotel at the far end of the building. So I’d periodically have to run down there to see if certain parts were available (I think I’m still waiting on a medium-blue 1x6 tile). I went through the same exact issue in the same venue (different event) when trying to design the wagon wheel window on the Home Alone garage this summer. Given the crowds at that show, it was usually easier to just keep working on the model, check parts when I got home, and make any necessary edits when I got back the next day.
I think Lego finally figured out how to do the art line. I had no interest in the original mosaics, despite being a huge Beatles fan. My favorite artist is Van Gogh, but I didn’t get Starry Night until my wife needed me to get it for her job (and the company she was working for reimbursed me for it). I wound up loving Starry Night and it looks great, however I will say that it is definitely too 3-D. This set seems to provide just the right amount of 3-D, which Lego needs to make it more than just a shiny pixelated print, but doesn’t get carried away. I think Lego also uses the two styles of mosaic and brick built to a wonderful effect, and in doing so have created their own unique interpretation of the original, and that really is what art is all about.
Will I get this? I don’t know, but if I ever see it on sale I probably wouldn’t hesitate to pick it up.
@alfred_the_buttler:
Kinda curious what your wife does that they’re just forcing her to buy LEGO sets on the company dime…
One of the reasons the mosaics were really popular with non-AFOLs during the pandemic is they were mind-numbingly repetitive, consisting of nothing more than laying down rows of 1x1 round tiles or plates according to a color chart. And one of the reasons they aren’t very popular with AFOLs is they are mind-numbingly repetitive. Time will tell if this hits the sweet spot, being “mind-off” enough for non-AFOLs just seeking release from whatever they’ve been doing that day, and still feature enough interesting construction techniques to keep the AFOL crowd from terminal boredom. I’ve been working towards a full set of Batman mosaics, but I am _not_ looking forward to assembling them. This I might build as soon as I buy it.
While I have no interest in the subject matter this is a great LEGO reproduction of the same. I particularly like the tan frame and the white mat surrounding the actual artwork adding even more to the realism (though I'm not sure if the Great Wave is typically displayed with a mat). I like the juxtaposition of the layered elements for the foreground with the classic Art 1x1 circular tile background which creates even more visual interest than seen in Starry Night.
Speaking of which, comparing 1x1 circular tile mosaics to DOTS is doing DOTS really dirty. DOTS isn't just 1x1 circular tiles, it's also quarter tiles, D-shaped tiles, squares, and then there's printed versions of all those, many of which fit just fine in all kinds of creations. You can make far more interesting 2D creations with DOTS than you can with only the circular tiles and round plates that are typical of Art sets (and just to be clear, I like the classic Art sets for what they are!). And that's not even getting into the charms or the gems and dual-molded star pieces, along with the familiar cheese slopes and 1x1 double curved slopes, or the fact that DOTS isn't limited to a single 2D surface for a canvas, you can DOT just about anything as long as it has studs.
@PurpleDave: I like how the implication is that you can distinguish an AFOL from a non-AFOL by whether or not they enjoy simple, repetitive builds. Not saying you're wrong, it's not a bad generalization.
Very good. Double the price it should be. Pity.
Looks nice and not too badly priced (considering other Lego prices). I reckon they could sell the set for £5 and people would still moan about it being too expensive.
Interesting thing I learnt about this picture is that it evokes different emotions in Western cultures compared to Japanese.
I in Australia read left-to-right, and when looking at this my brain focuses on the wave in the painting making it threatening, whereas in Japan they read right-to-left so for them the focus is given to the boats approaching the wave.
Try it by using a mirror to reverse the image.
@PurpleDave said:
" @alfred_the_buttler:
Kinda curious what your wife does that they’re just forcing her to buy LEGO sets on the company dime..."
Yeah, I want to know that too! Obviously, I’m in the wrong line of work that I have to pay for my own LEGO :~S
@PurpleDave said:
" @HOBBES:
Ah, you’re preaching to the choir! I’ve been playing some form of that game going back to the early 80’s. I’m not the only member of my LUG who max it a goal each new year to get at least one set that was big enough to include the large, all-themes pack-in catalog just so we could look at the contents and see what new pieces were coming out.
I also do most of my design work on MLCad, so no link to any parts database. Not that it would help in every case. I designed Holley Shiftwell pointedly only using dark-purple parts that had been released at that point. Smart, right? I forgot to check how rare/expensive they were ahead of time, so when I started entering my Want List on Bricklink, I was shocked to find 2x2 corner plates (only available in one set at that point) ran $3 each. I needed 20. I quickly got it down to four, and built both her ground and flying forms. Then TLBM gave us 70906, and within a year they were down to between $0.15-0.30.
I recently designed the Ferris Bueller Fauxrari (currently the actual car used for the “jump” scene is on display next to our Henry Ford Museum layout, so my still-in-progress MOC is in a display case nearby), and I came up with an idea that would have let me add enough space behind the seats to sorta fit Cameron. I needed 1x1-2x1 down brackets in red (doesn’t exist), and heart tiles in red (stupidly rare because they only came from a make-&-take at Michael’s craft stores?!?!?).
And back when I designed the Ford Anglia from HP2, we had just lined up a display at a Harry Potter convention, and I wanted to get it done in time. I had to design it at a show where we had no Wi-Fi, but they did in the hotel at the far end of the building. So I’d periodically have to run down there to see if certain parts were available (I think I’m still waiting on a medium-blue 1x6 tile). I went through the same exact issue in the same venue (different event) when trying to design the wagon wheel window on the Home Alone garage this summer. Given the crowds at that show, it was usually easier to just keep working on the model, check parts when I got home, and make any necessary edits when I got back the next day."
I had hoped that Lego purchasing Bricklink would help that. In Bricklink, you can put your 'want' for any part in any colour. Lego could then go in, see what parts are produced in what colour and see if there is a very strong demand for a part in a colour not yet produced. The two parts (there are a lot more but those two are sorely needed) that I need are in very high demand not just by me but apparently by quite a few member of the Bricklink community. Ah well, I learned that these are long term projects, that is why I recently began building Rebrickable projects - most of these have readily available parts (in rare cases, you have to order a few of them because they are not produced any more but they exist already in vast number not to be too expensive). A new year always bring promises of new recolour!
Can't help but be fairly disappointed with this one; as one of my favourite pieces of art, I had high hopes but it just looks... somewhat flat, in my opinion. The designer hasn't done a bad job, but I was definitely hoping for a greater sense of scale and depth in the final thing - an actual model, not just a mosaic representation.
@LegoSonicBoy:
Well, consider that the AFOL community was formed largely in the absence of anything like the Art mosaics, so anyone who got into the hobby prior to the pandemic was likely not being drawn to it by the ultra-repetitive nature of a theme that wouldn't launch until months after everything went into lockdown. Here, we constantly see people praising interesting building techniques, while the mosaic line got a lot of grief for the fact that they're nothing but rows of identical shapes that don't take much thought to construct (unless you line up the logos on the plates, or the mold marks on the tiles).
@bmerigan:
Indeed, what I was reading involved earlier prints by the same artist that showed waves moving from R-L where the viewer would "read" the action of the wave, but this piece reverses it so they would instead "read" the action of these tiny boats striving against an unyielding wave that acts as a barrier. And the whole artform is entrenched in Buddhist philosophy regarding the ephemeral nature of life, so the fact that some of these lives are possibly moments away from being snuffed out is likely precisely why this piece is the most famous example of ukiyo-e art.
LEGO, Please make more like this and the botanical sets!!!
This is lovely, and it’s this stuff that’s pulling me back into the hobby with my kids. …some proof of our interest on Instagram: @quincy_3dk
Just watched an older NOVA episode on the history of writing, and they demonstrated how woodblock printing worked. An artist would create an original on paper. I suppose for different colors to be applied, the "original" would need to have separate "layers" spread out across multiple sheets, one per color. Each sheet of paper is glued, in reverse, on a plate of wood. When the glue is dry, a carver uses the translucent nature of the paper to carve away everything where there aren't any lines. Then a printer can slather each woodblock with ink and press it down onto the medium that's being printed. I'd seen it noted that the quality of print can degrade over the entire run for a single woodblock, and I'm guessing that's just due to the abrasion caused by slopping ink onto the woodblock with a large brush, combined with the absorption of ink into the wood (which would result in swelling).
So, the artist obviously needs creative vision, and artistic skill, or nobody will want to buy their prints. The carver needs a steady hand (you really only get one shot at this), and for them there's a lot of intense one-time labor. The printer has to do the most labor as their workload increases every time more prints are required. The publisher bears all the financial risk (and probably takes the lion's share of the reward, since they control all the money), but for them it's more about having the ability to invest, and being good in sales and marketing. I'm kinda curious what the normal split on this sort of thing would have been, and if anyone besides the printer and publisher got extra pay if they needed to run extra prints.