Book IV Prelude Challenge: Category A: Minstrel Minotaur

[jtooker]

Minstrel Minotaur

Myndros the minotaur could always count on a warm welcome at the Batuhan Forest Stage. Nestled at a cross roads of trade an culture, a minstrel minotaur fit right in.

 

Spoiler

I built this concert for the Guilds of Historica’s Book IV Prelude Challenge: “Hometown Advantage”. Here the bard is a minotaur, which was inspired by the second part of the challenge, I figured a ‘bull in a china shop’ would be a fun take on “Antique Roadshow” - and a musical minotaur also sounded intriguing.

C&C welcome.

Background photograph by Joshua Mayer.

 

[T-86(swebrickLUG)]

Liking the taurus-bard! Saw your different takes on discord, it turned out nicely!

I like the  how dense the foliage feels with the background!

[Gideon]

Great with a brick-built character! Really like the vibrant and immersive scene too, especially the lighting!

[LordDan]

Very festive scene! The foliage, hanging flags, and brick built minotaur are all excellent! The lights in the lanterns and braziers are a great touch as well! 

[Seagull King of Vaughan]

I’m liking these Avalonian woodland builds! It’s interesting to see a lit-up one. I’ve never done that, and it creates a very compelling effect.

[mrcp6d]

Photography here is great!  Really gets the viewer into the build with the foreground elements out of focus.  I do wish there was another layer of trees in the back to add more depth to the actual build, but the editing work is effective too.

Did you take any pictures with lower ambient light?

[SimWies]

The scene really feels alive and fibrent. Great composition, lighting and photograpy skills! I also like the brick builtcharacter, I followed it's creation over on Discord and it is great to now see it implemented.

[jtooker]

 

On 8/31/2025 at 11:15 AM, Gideon said:

Great with a brick-built character! Really like the vibrant and immersive scene too, especially the lighting!

On 9/1/2025 at 12:28 PM, LordDan said:

Very festive scene! The foliage, hanging flags, and brick built minotaur are all excellent! The lights in the lanterns and braziers are a great touch as well! 

On 9/2/2025 at 9:45 AM, Seagull King of Vaughan said:

I’m liking these Avalonian woodland builds! It’s interesting to see a lit-up one. I’ve never done that, and it creates a very compelling effect.

19 hours ago, SimWies said:

The scene really feels alive and fibrent. Great composition, lighting and photograpy skills! I also like the brick builtcharacter, I followed it's creation over on Discord and it is great to now see it implemented.

On 8/31/2025 at 5:35 AM, T-86(swebrickLUG) said:

Liking the taurus-bard! Saw your different takes on discord, it turned out nicely!

I like the  how dense the foliage feels with the background!

Thank you for the kinds words. I'm pretty happy how the minotaur came out (thank you for everyone's feedback on the GoH discord).  I was happy I had time to get some basic lighting in.

 

On 9/2/2025 at 2:29 PM, mrcp6d said:

Photography here is great!  Really gets the viewer into the build with the foreground elements out of focus.  I do wish there was another layer of trees in the back to add more depth to the actual build, but the editing work is effective too.

Did you take any pictures with lower ambient light?

I was hoping the back would be denser too, but I ran of time time (and space, but with more time, that wouldn't have been a problem).

I had planned on a lower-light shot too, but again, ran out of time.

 

 

[Ben S]

Very charming build! As others have said, it's very immersive and full of life. Even if you didn't have enough time to make the background denser, it still looks deep enough to me! The lighting is a great touch, may I ask if those are real lights or photoshopped?

[jtooker]

On 9/7/2025 at 4:12 AM, Ben S said:

The lighting is a great touch, may I ask if those are real lights or photoshopped?

They are real

[Ben S]

On 9/8/2025 at 4:41 PM, jtooker said:

They are real

Good to know. They look great!

[Professor Thaum]

I love this brickbuilt character ! What a head ! 

 

Gorgeous scene too !

[Grover]

Very nice build!  I like the angle, the great density of the foreground with the slightly out of focus Lego shrubs, and the stage. The audience is a lot of fun, and the candles are great!  The Lego trees are well done, and the overhead banner is a nice decoration.  The ground is fine, although a varied elevation, even slight, may have helped show more of the scene.  I am not a fan of the background. I think it detracts from your tree builds and makes it too busy. Had you had a busy background with all Lego trees, I think it would have worked.  I would have also liked to have some more backstory and description of the bard, his home venue, and how he ties into your sig fig's hometown.  As is, it's a nice build, and the candles are a real stand-out in their use. The lighting from them is just about perfect, and you did an outstanding job photographing them and selling their authenticity. Well done!