Certified professional LEGO builder, Jumpei Mitsui, just finished building a LEGO replica of one of Japan’s most famous images: Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa. And what’s even more impressive is that he went beyond recreating the 2D image and built out an entire 3D landscape—complete with boats and all.
Mitsui has always been interested in Hokusai’s iconic woodblock print, and this project has been something he’s thought about building for many years. Since he’d be converting the painting into a 3D landscape, Mitsui wanted to ensure that he could properly convey the physical dynamics of waves, so he read myriad academic papers on giant wave formations and watched hours of YouTube videos of waves. Then, he created a sketch (as seen below), which he would then use to build his final model.
The enormous LEGO sculpture is on permanent display in Osaka’s Hankyu Brick Museum, which is dedicated to showcasing Mitsui’s work, as he’s the only certified professional LEGO builder in the country. He also built a LEGO replica of Wind God and Thunder God, a painting by Rinpa artist Ogata Korin from the 18th century.
via Spoon & Tamago
