AoM: House Phase 2: Widow's Cottage

[Ayrlego]

Previously.

Yngvi and Erick continued down the mountain tracks until they reached the village they had heard about at the watchtower. The village consisted of a dozen or so sturdy cottages of stone and wood, with steeply pitched roofs to prevent the build up of snow during the long winter months. When the snows start, the livestock not slaughtered for food will be moved inside to live on the ground floor with the human occupants sleeping on the first level. Outside, the leaves are starting to fall and the villagers are busy preparing for winter, stockpiling supplies such as food and firewood.

Yngvi and Erik are taken in by an old widow, who employs Yngvi to chop fire wood which Erik neatly stacks in a simple shelter next to the cottage. The pair stay for a few nights are are rewarded with some coin. It is hinted that they would be welcome to stay the winter, the village is short on younger men. Although tempted, Yngvi decides to continue his journey back down to his home village of Ambarvale, nestled deep in the valleys below. Perhaps there may even be news of his wife and daughter, both of whom went missing during the hard times while Yngvi was away with the fyrd during the most recent troubles.

_______________

The house here was pretty simple. It was originally inspired by one of the pictures in the first post of the Mitgardia thread, but it evolved slightly during the build. Another really simple design (a rectangle with a roof!); I do promise they will get more complicated, but I wanted to try and build some more realistic style buildings of the rural mountain dwellers. I have been wanting to try birch trees for a while. These are a combination of a number of designs on the internet, including the use of the stud shooters which I thought was inspired (but can't re-find the original photo to post credit for.) Also I've wanted to build all yellow trees for some time, so out came the Alt Bricks. I was really hesitant at first using yellow plates in the landscaping, but as I started to place them I decided I loved the bright contrast, so I found myself adding more and more. Anyway, the single photo probably doesn't do the scene justice, (I'm pretty happy with it!) however additional photos probably won't so too much extra (although I do wonder now why I bothered to do fully textured walls around the whole house....!) Yngvi and Erik will probably take a break for a short time now while I work on some BoBS stuff and of course Challenge I.

 

[zoth33]

Great little scene.  I love the texturing and colors of the cottage.  The roof is also very nice, I like the use of the smaller plates.  The landscaping is great, I like how you put yellow on the ground to simulate fallen leaves.  Great job.  

[narbilu]

This is awesome, the scenery and trees!
I love the little woodshed with the logs piled up.

[TitusV]

Another lovely scene from your hand, Ayrlego!

My purist soul has not much love for the yellow leaves, but that's no problem as I can now give it all to the lovely landscaping (I had never thought yellow may work so well) and stud-shooter-trees (a genius idea for sure)  

Please don't linger too long in th BoBS forum  

[Gideon]

Nice scene, detailed but still not too busy

[Kai NRG]

I'm enjoying your take on Mitgardia!  This is a real nice cottage, and I really like those bright yellow trees!

[Bracari]

An great and inspiring build. Love the roof texturing. One of these days I need to buy a cow, just one grazing lazily gives such a nice country atmosphere to the whole (and the chickens too, of course).

[halixon]

Those birch trees are amazing. I love all the texture.

[Henjin_Quilones]

I feel your pain about detailing the whole of a building and then only showing one side. At least it looks good when you look at it, and it seems more satisfying, too. You have a real knack for creating beautiful builds, I must say; the way you balanced the yellow mass on the left with a touch on the right in the shield is inspired, and the overall composition is just lovely. As a strict purist, I harumph a bit at the yellow leaves, but I really cannot argue with the result. Having lived places with lots of birch trees in the northern USA (aspen trees look similar, too, and those were all over the mountains where I once lived out west), I can say that you have captured the autumn appearance of the tree masterfully. And the stud-shooter trunks are excellent. About the overall build, something that I note is that your builds in the Guilds have all seemed very clean, which is a good thing; I think it has to do with your restrained use of color; aside from the figs, there is only one green on the ground, there are three brownish tones, two greys, two yellows, and then a touch of black and white. It makes a final product that is very visually pleasing, which is further enhanced by excellent photography. Great work. 

[Basiliscus]

So much to love here @Gabe! 

I agree that the yellow foliage works well, despite how bright it can feel next to the more recent earthly tones LEGO have released. The birch tree design is fantastic, I actually just saw another MOC with that technique earlier tonight and was admiring it.

The house itself is solid - I like the 1x2 plate with rail used to give texture, it's a neat design.

Well done 

[TheLordOfBricks]

Oh yeah, this is easily your best build recently, such good composition. Great colors and textures here. The roof is really nice, along with the trees. But I just love the fallen leaves, so well done. Keep it up! :)

[Gabe]

6 hours ago, Basiliscus said:

So much to love here @Gabe! 

I agree that the yellow foliage works well, despite how bright it can feel next to the more recent earthly tones LEGO have released. The birch tree design is fantastic, I actually just saw another MOC with that technique earlier tonight and was admiring it.

The house itself is solid - I like the 1x2  late with rail used to give texture, it's a neat design.

Well done 

Huh?   

But yeah, otherwise, everything that you said! The birches shedding their leaves are stunning, they really set the scene and elevate the entire build. I also like how the yellow in the leaves is echoed in the yellow on the shield - very harmonious. The house and timber shed are lovely too. I'm really enjoying your clean, uncluttered style of building. 

[Basiliscus]

3 hours ago, Gabe said:

Huh?   

<snip>

Hahahaha!

Oops, apologies David (@Ayrlego), I guess being compared to @Gabe is hardly an insult (I hope!).

Obviously I've been looking at too many MOCs recently and my brain can't process their awesomeness! Or that's my excuse anyway... 

[de Gothia]

Wow wow wow! The colours! I love the colours in the moc!! The yellow make it such a cosy and autmn feel to it! The house is of course great aswell but you relly nailed the colour scheme in this one!

[mccoyed]

Agree with everyone about the colors here. I also think that's a really inspired technique with the fallen leaves. And hey, those wedges as cut logs for firewood? Good stuff too.

[Grover]

I'm really enjoying reading about Yngvi and Erick!  This house is awesome, and exactly the kind of thing I'd expect from the snowy realms of Mitgardia.  You have a good eye for the colors and the scene.  I really wish Lego would come out with those awesome yellows that Altbricks has, but glad that you weren't afraid to use them.  I think the birch trees really came out well, too.  Love it!

[Graham Gidman]

Positively charming!

[Ayrlego]

Thank you all for taking the time to write comments! I wish I had more time to comment on everyone else's builds. I will try and improve in this regard!

On 9/18/2018 at 3:36 AM, TitusV said:

Please don't linger too long in th BoBS forum

I'll try not! I am really enjoying the change of building styles plus all the energy here at the moment, so I suspect I'll be back sooner rather than later!

On 9/19/2018 at 5:22 AM, Henjin_Quilones said:

the way you balanced the yellow mass on the left with a touch on the right in the shield is inspired,

Thanks for the detailed feedback Henjin. Regarding the above, I have to admit that although I did notice the matching yellow, it wasn't something I planned!

On 9/19/2018 at 3:48 PM, Basiliscus said:

Oops, apologies David (@Ayrlego), I guess being compared to @Gabe is hardly an insult (I hope!).

No worries Colin! And no, definitely not an insult at all!!!

On 9/19/2018 at 12:05 PM, Gabe said:

I'm really enjoying your clean, uncluttered style of building. 

Thanks Gabe! At the moment I'm technically living in Canberra - but my Lego is on the NSW South Coast where I build during the week... it's complicated! (I think you asked but must have edited the comment?)

On 9/20/2018 at 3:13 PM, Grover said:

I'm really enjoying reading about Yngvi and Erick!

Thanks Grover! I need to spend more time writing the stories (they'd be better with dialogue I think, but it takes so long to write properly!)

[Gabe]

On 9/21/2018 at 10:04 PM, Ayrlego said:

... At the moment I'm technically living in Canberra - but my Lego is on the NSW South Coast where I build during the week... it's complicated! (I think you asked but must have edited the comment?)

I think i actually asked on another thread!  That's hard being away from your bricks for periods of time - i know i would struggle with that. 

[soccerkid6]

Builds don't need to be complex to be beautiful, and this is a perfect example of that
Best use of yellow plates ever! The autumn atmosphere is stunning, and the combination of stone and wood for the cottage is masterfully done