A professional LEGO builder just recreated Hokusai’s ‘the Great Wave off Kanagawa’ – review geek

Certified professional LEGO builder, Jumpei Mitsui, has just finished building a LEGO replica of one of Japan̵

7;s most famous depictions: Hokusai’s The great wave at Kanagawa. And what’s more impressive is that he went beyond recreating the 2D image and built a full 3D landscape, complete with boats and all.

Mitsui has always been interested in Hokusai’s iconic woodblock print, and this project is something he has been thinking about for years. Since he would transform the painting into a 3-D landscape, Mitsui wanted to make sure he could properly convey the physical dynamics of waves, so he read numerous academic papers on giant wave formations and watched YouTube videos of waves for hours. He then made a sketch (as seen below) which he would then use to build his final model.

The huge LEGO statue is on permanent display at the Hankyu Brick Museum in Osaka, which is dedicated to showcasing Mitsui’s work, as he is the only certified professional LEGO builder in the country. He also built a LEGO replica of it Wind God and Thunder God, an 18th century painting by Rinpa artist Ogata Korin.

via Spoon & Tamago