Winter Serenity has been my most popular build of the year so far, and also was the build I received most comments about while at Brickworld. Today we’ll take a look back at the process of building this winter landscape.
One of the things I knew I wanted to have in this build from the beginning was a long, winding path. This gave me the opportunity to use some of our light yellow, which I had been wanting to do ever since I saw this build by Mark of Falworth.
With the path started, I continued building snow on either side, and also tried adding a tree. I did end up using this tree, though not placed where you see it now.
With this build being focused on nature and wildlife, I decided it would be good to start working on some animal designs. Below is my attempt at a rabbit.
Perhaps the most challenging animal to design for this creation was the fox. I went through many iterations before settling on a design I liked. Below is one of my first attempts.
After a while of trying to come up with a design I liked (and failing every time), I looked for designs by other people that I liked. The one you see below was inspired by Markus Rollbuhler, and is what I used in the finished build.
With two ground animals done, I tried my hand at a bird. I was trying for an owl here, but wasn’t satisfied with how it turned out.
Another attempt at an owl. Still wasn’t happy with it, so I decided to just completely omit the owl from the build.
With a few animals done, it was time to continue working on the snow and path. I also started planning where the rock would go.
I was trying to come up with ideas for other animals I could include in the build. Seeing as I was planning on having a cave, a hibernating bear seemed like a good option. As such, I started work on a bear design. Below is my first attempt.
With some input from Isaac and a few friends, I improved upon it, to come to the final bear that you see below here.
The landscape and path were progressing well, and I was almost ready to put in the cave for the bear.
It’s really starting to come together now! Much of the rockwork is completed, and the entrance to the cave is in place. I also decided some icy water would fit the scene well, so I added a small pond on the left hand side.
The path is done! I’m really satisfied with how long and winding I was able to make it, as well as how the light yellow works with all of the other colors in the build. Much of the drifted snow on top of the rockwork is complete as well.
I spent more time playing around with tree for this build than I thought I was going to – although, I’m glad I did. Here you can see my first try, with some trees having ice on them, and others having snow. After asking some friends what they thought of these, I decided it would be best to make all of them have either snow or ice, but not both in the same scene.
And here is the final result. I’m really pleased with how the ice effect turned out here, though it’s something I’ll definitely be playing around with more in the future. Aside from a few animals and small finishing touches, this build is complete.
The finished product! This would have to be one of my favorite landscapes that I’ve ever done, and it was a blast to build. The animals were definitely the most challenging aspect of the build, but I’m happy with how they turned out.
As always, thanks for reading, and don’t hesitate to ask us if you have any questions about this build log!
