AoM Farm Phase 1: Clearing Fields

[The Stad]

Because he was the second son of the Lord of Forstlys, Makny's father was often responsible for helping expand and improve the lord's holdings.  This meant everything from bolstering defenses to tilling new fields, and he always made sure the Makny was around to learn what he could.

When he was very young, Makny's father would send him out before a new field was plowed.  He would find the rocks and stack them along the side of the field, protecting the plow blades and fencing the field to keep the animals from trampling the crops that would be planted there.  The walls he stacked as a child were crooked, with many small rocks; but as he grew, his fences became straighter, and the rocks he stacked unaided were much larger.

This is my first build for GoH, and I'm looking for critiques.  From here I'm thinking that I'll run through as many of the AoM categories as I can by starting with vignettes or small builds, as my Lego time is highly limited these days.  But I'm hoping to get out enough freebuilds to crank out something for the fifth anniversary challenge.  I've followed this story from the beginning (as a lurker in the shadows, while away from my collection in college), and now I'm really excited to participate!

Spoiler

A closeup of the less-than-enthusiastic Makny gathering rocks.

And a photo of just the scene.

Edited August 1, 2018 by The Stad

[Garmadon]

This is another nice vig here - that spreading tree works very well, and I like the stone wall too; that little curve adds so much!  I can't say I can blame Nakny for not being overly enthused with his job, though   

If I had a critique, it'd probably be that the border's got those two different designs going there, which looks a bit odd in such a small setting - I see you were trying to get the Mitgardian colors in there ( ), but I'd probably just pick either the tiles or the slopes and run with it the whole way (you'd probably still need a brick on the corner though, of course, either way).  And once again, welcome to the Guilds!  I'm looking forward to more AoM builds from you! (I should really get around to working on some more of those myself here sometime soon!)

[Gideon]

Nice start, I particularly like that little stone wall. Looking forward to seeing this grow

The photography is clean and fairly well lit, which I like but I'd advice you to make sure that you fit your whole build into the frame (if not taking a deliberate closeup shot of some detail in the build of course!)

[The Stad]

22 hours ago, Garmadon said:

that spreading tree works very well

Thank you!  I've been playing a lot with ways to build a small-to-mid-sized tree without the trunk being disproportionately bulky.

16 hours ago, Gideon said:

make sure that you fit your whole build into the frame

I may have gotten a little overzealous with my cropping...

[The Maestro]

Excellent scene, we do not see many farming scenes such as this. I would recommend extending the border to all four sides for a cleaner look. However that tree is truly fantastic and that touch of olive really adds to the Moc.

[TitusV]

I really like that the wall has a slight curve to it  

Nice vignette!

[Henjin_Quilones]

The border on this one, like on the fighting one on the cliff, should be wrapped around the whole thing, too, but I love the wall and the tree is very nice, too. A few more patches of foliage at the top would fill it out better, I think, but it looks nice now. The kid looks unhappy, though...

[soccerkid6]

The tree is excellent, and the little stone wall looks quite realistic  Neat hoe design too.

And as someone who has picked rock out of fields, I fully understand his expression