Fishery and Shrine at Prenmôr

[Grover]

The Tales of Lady Gwenllian

0. Introduction

1. The arrival of Lady Gwenllian aboard the Cedar Serpent

2. Scouting a Site

3. Early Spring in Prenmôr

4a.(Prelude) Restoring the Shrine

4. The Fishery and Shrine at Prenmôr

From her high rock outcropping, Lady Gwenllian had a good view of the coast and had watched throughout the spring as the villagers from Flewd had moved to their new home in Prenmôr.  Now that it was early summer, Lady Gwenllian wanted to see how the villagers from Flewd were settling into their new life, and wanted to inspect the work that the elves and dwarves had completed on the shrine to Neptune. 

She and Lady Seren rode their horses the half mile or so to the rocky escarpment that defined the edge of the land, separating it from the beach.  She found that the villagers had sailed their boats laden with their meager belongings down the coastline from Flewd, had assembled lean-tos for drying fish and set up a small net repair station on the beach.  The dwarves and elves had done an excellent job on the statue to Neptune, which sat overlooking the sea and was already laden with offerings and gifts from the villagers. 

Lady Gwenllian smiled as she saw the villagers hard at work.  Because most of the young men had been lost during the drow raids, the remaining elderly, women, children and the local village idiot all had jobs, from killing and gutting fish to shooing away the seagulls that inundated the fishery.  The locals greeted Lady Gwenllian and Lady Seren warmly, happy to have a new home in a safer location.

This is the original build that I had envisioned with the shrine that didn’t get completed in time.  I think it was a little too ambitious.  On the other hand, it’s nice to see the idea finally come to fruition.

Spoiler

 

I’m not entirely happy with the ocean.  I usually like the darker colors, but in trying to make some depth along the beach, I think it got too dark. I originally wanted to use some trans blue under the trans black tiles, but didn’t have enough, so I had to use the trans black under trans black tiles, which I think is a tad too dark.  I’m also so-so on the grey cliffs.  I tried out a new technique (new for me anyway) with the stone cliffs near the water, holing plates with a ball joint, but I think I need some more practice with that, as there are holes.  I did like how the dark orange cliffs turned out, though, and I think they made a good contrast with the green above.  Amusingly, you can see my ‘filler’ bricks are a good amount of old light grey 2x4 bricks.  The bulk of my grey bricks are old light grey, as I used to buy them in the bulk brick packs from TLG as a kid.  Maybe I’ll build something all in old light grey one of these days.  As for the gulls, I don’t belong to a LUG and don't live near a Lego store, so I had to brute force buy them individually on bricks and pieces, although I think they help to make the scene realistic since there would likely be a swarm of them around an open air coastal fishery.

Easter Eggs: can’t see it much, but there’s a bottle of “Brick Daniels” as a sacrifice at the shrine.  There’s also a crab just under the upside down boat on the beach.  More pictures on the flickr album that's linked to each of the pics.

C&C welcome of course.  I am experimenting and am interested in suggestions that folks have for rockwork, etc.

 

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by Grover
Fixed picture

[MaasEffekt]

Nice moc you got there! Congrats! All hail Neptune! 

[mccoyed]

Grover, this is great! I especially like the ambitious rockwork. No it's not perfect, but I don't have the guts to even try that stuff so good on you. There are a lot of fun details here, including the huge army of seagulls. Haha. I also like that little shrine quite a bit. Choosing black for the statue really makes it stand out. As to the water, I prefer using trans blue over trans black personally. I think that trans black probably looks more realistic in a way, few of the colors in Lego are truly realistic so I feel like leaning into the aesthetic of Lego with really, really blue water probably works best. Maybe dark trans blue would have been perfect?

[Kai NRG]

There's for sure a lot to like about this MOC, the dark orange cliff for instance (the brown vine pieces look great there!), the impressive slant with the grass, and your magnificent flock of gulls!  The grey rockwork is a little gappy and unfinished - I like the shape out on top toward the boat though and it provides a nice backdrop in terms of color for several of your close-ups.  It does seem somewhat geologically strange to have dark orange and light grey lining up vertically like that.  And I think the brightness is a touch too high on the overview particularly, it kind of washes the gulls out.  But you did a really nice job with the overall layout of this build, the height variation really makes it enjoyable to look at!  

[Basiliscus]

Really nice work on the shrine, I like the black statue and the brown frame, goes well together.

I like what you've tried to do with the grey rockwork but as @Kai NRG said, it's a bit rough looking for my tastes.

The seagulls and minifigs are perfectly posed, I like the way the seagulls in particular are crowded round exactly where you'd expect them to be.

The little lean-to is well done too. Nice work!

[TheLordOfBricks]

Sweet! Wonderfully detailed scene here. The landscape is definitely interesting, the colors work nicely as well. :) The wedge plates in the front of the rockwork isn't my favorite, but the rest of the rockwork looks good. :) Keep it up!

[W Navarre]

Nice work, I like the orange rock cliff! 

[Henjin_Quilones]

The first pic in particular is too bright, from a presentation standpoint, but the build itself is pretty cool! I love all of the gulls around, making the coastal scene believable; I'll have to get some gulls before I ever try a harbor scene now. The abrupt vertical transition from dark orange to light grey is strange, but I don't hate it; I think if you had angled the transition slightly it would have improved the look a bit. I like the dark orange bit a bunch though; it reminds me of something I saw SK do a while back, and looks good here. I don't really like the lean-to; it seems too heavy and bulky for the supports, but perhaps that is just me. The figs here are spectacularly posed, especially the kid with the broom and the fish-whacker. The final thing I'll comment on is the water: as you say, it is too dark. Water, on its own, has no real color (unless it has dissolved minerals in it), but it shows what is beneath it or reflects whatever is over it- we commonly associate blue with it because of the reflection of a blue sky, but skies come in all colors. Deeper down water looks blue, too, but that is because blue wavelengths of light penetrate deeper into the water, so the reds are all gone under the sea. The dark grey water here is believable, but only (to me) as stormy water, with dark and overcast skies, which does not match the sunny depiction of the rest of the scene. Something brighter and bluer - maybe even trans-light blue, with the proper undertones - might look better. The scene as a whole is very lively, though, and is very enjoyable to look at! Good work. 

[en_zoo]

My my! nice job here, Grover I guess the rocky part could be a tad more regular and while I love the dark orange there, it looks a bit odd being so separate from both the rocks and the grass above. This being said, it's lovely to see the shrine scene expanded, plus very nice to know Prenmore is expanding too! You said it was a bit ambitious - it's good to be sometimes, so that we may push some borders a bit and be better prepared next time --> keep going!

[LegoModularFan]

Wow, you’re improving very fast! The whole thing looks very nice, I’m seeing some great ideas everywhere such as the angles and the small waves!   As what to improve, I think the others said everything. I would just recommend you a few builders (who aren’t very active here) who have very innovative landscaping rockwork ideas that may inspire you (and anybody else):

Spoiler

 

https://www.flickr.com/people/138986803@N03/

https://www.flickr.com/people/davidhensel/

https://www.flickr.com/people/emillide/

https://www.flickr.com/people/52616397@N04/

https://www.flickr.com/people/124546590@N03/

https://www.flickr.com/people/45244184@N04/

 

I hope I didn’t spam this thread too much...  Anyway, keep up the great work!  

Edited December 7, 2018 by LegoModularFan

[Muakhah]

This looks pretty good. So many gulls! I like the dark sea but as others have said it is a bit too dark for such shallow water on a bright day. If you ever do a deep harbor it will be great.

The orange cliff and rocks might work better as horizontal layers. Overall though it’s a very good gull infested scene.

[Grover]

Thank you all for your replies and comments!  I noticed right after I posted that the main picture was really washed out by comparison to the others, but hadn't had a chance until today to get another one.  My photo editing around the edges is kind of sloppy on this, so please forgive me, but here is the main picture again:

On 12/3/2018 at 3:22 AM, MaasEffekt said:

Nice moc you got there! Congrats! All hail Neptune! 

Thanks!  I'd be happy to incorporate your sea-god stories into my coastal builds--I think it would be fun to tie stories together.

On 12/3/2018 at 12:09 PM, mccoyed said:

Grover, this is great! I especially like the ambitious rockwork. No it's not perfect, but I don't have the guts to even try that stuff so good on you. There are a lot of fun details here, including the huge army of seagulls. Haha. I also like that little shrine quite a bit. Choosing black for the statue really makes it stand out. As to the water, I prefer using trans blue over trans black personally. I think that trans black probably looks more realistic in a way, few of the colors in Lego are truly realistic so I feel like leaning into the aesthetic of Lego with really, really blue water probably works best. Maybe dark trans blue would have been perfect?

Thank you!  This build was an interesting hodgepodge for me.  I had this idea for the shrine and story, but then it morphed into playing with new rockwork techniques that I hadn't tried before.  The gray rockwork up front (sadly the most visible) I think looks the crappiest, and I definitely haven't figured out how to do that yet.  The orange clay to the left I think turned out better, and amusingly, the rockwork you can't see much (the gray in the back) unless you go to the album, I think turned out pretty well.  I had to try something new!

Yeah, there's a lot of ways I could have gone on the water, and as I mentioned, I wasn't super happy with it, but the trans black was all I had enough pieces of, so it was what I had to use (I also had trans-neon orange, but I don't think that would have been very good).

On 12/3/2018 at 12:46 PM, Kai NRG said:

There's for sure a lot to like about this MOC, the dark orange cliff for instance (the brown vine pieces look great there!), the impressive slant with the grass, and your magnificent flock of gulls!  The grey rockwork is a little gappy and unfinished - I like the shape out on top toward the boat though and it provides a nice backdrop in terms of color for several of your close-ups.  It does seem somewhat geologically strange to have dark orange and light grey lining up vertically like that.  And I think the brightness is a touch too high on the overview particularly, it kind of washes the gulls out.  But you did a really nice job with the overall layout of this build, the height variation really makes it enjoyable to look at!  

Thanks!  It's kind of a weird experiment piece for me, trying new rockwork techniques.  My flora and landscaping need the most work, so that's what I'm focusing on.  The grey rockwork up front is definitely not good, but it was a new technique that I haven't figured out yet.  Oddly, having grown up in the midwest, we actually have strange places where orange clay lines up with grey limestone just like this, so it seems normal to me, but having lived about the country, it's definitely a weird juxtaposition if you're not used to it.  I was more happy with how the orange worked with the green than with the grey, even despite my strange childhood.  Fixed the first pic, too, see above.  It's not the best photo either but way less washed out.

On 12/3/2018 at 3:50 PM, Basiliscus said:

Really nice work on the shrine, I like the black statue and the brown frame, goes well together.

I like what you've tried to do with the grey rockwork but as @Kai NRG said, it's a bit rough looking for my tastes.

The seagulls and minifigs are perfectly posed, I like the way the seagulls in particular are crowded round exactly where you'd expect them to be.

The little lean-to is well done too. Nice work!

Thanks!  I agree, the grey rockwork up front is kind of crappy.  I need more experience withe the ball and hinge plate method for sure.  I had a lot of fun with the gulls.  They are usually obnoxious at the beach and I wanted to make it seem that way.

On 12/3/2018 at 5:11 PM, TheLordOfBricks said:

Sweet! Wonderfully detailed scene here. The landscape is definitely interesting, the colors work nicely as well. :) The wedge plates in the front of the rockwork isn't my favorite, but the rest of the rockwork looks good. :) Keep it up!

Thanks!  I'm going to keep working with the plates.  I think there's something to be had for rockwork there, but my execution was not very good this time out.

On 12/4/2018 at 6:15 AM, W Navarre said:

Nice work, I like the orange rock cliff! 

Thank you!

On 12/4/2018 at 2:14 PM, Henjin_Quilones said:

The first pic in particular is too bright, from a presentation standpoint, but the build itself is pretty cool! I love all of the gulls around, making the coastal scene believable; I'll have to get some gulls before I ever try a harbor scene now. The abrupt vertical transition from dark orange to light grey is strange, but I don't hate it; I think if you had angled the transition slightly it would have improved the look a bit. I like the dark orange bit a bunch though; it reminds me of something I saw SK do a while back, and looks good here. I don't really like the lean-to; it seems too heavy and bulky for the supports, but perhaps that is just me. The figs here are spectacularly posed, especially the kid with the broom and the fish-whacker. The final thing I'll comment on is the water: as you say, it is too dark. Water, on its own, has no real color (unless it has dissolved minerals in it), but it shows what is beneath it or reflects whatever is over it- we commonly associate blue with it because of the reflection of a blue sky, but skies come in all colors. Deeper down water looks blue, too, but that is because blue wavelengths of light penetrate deeper into the water, so the reds are all gone under the sea. The dark grey water here is believable, but only (to me) as stormy water, with dark and overcast skies, which does not match the sunny depiction of the rest of the scene. Something brighter and bluer - maybe even trans-light blue, with the proper undertones - might look better. The scene as a whole is very lively, though, and is very enjoyable to look at! Good work. 

Thank you!  I agree, that first pic was way too washed out, so I took another that's at the top of this post.  The gulls were a lot of fun to work with.  B&P for the win!  Good call on angling the transition.  I will try to do some incorporation next time I use that--maybe some eroded rivulets running down onto the bedrock.  I didn't even think of the supports on the lean-to--I appreciate the catch, as I try to make things realistic in my builds; I think it helps the eye find things more natural.  I think I'm going to have to get some trans blue for water in the future.  The trans black is fine for deep water, but it's too dark for the shore, and the trans-light blue just looks like the carribean to me.  I really wish that TLG would make a trans light grey--the trans clear looks like ice or snow (or in this case the froth of the surf) and everything else is too dark.  Trans green is nice for ponds and other such, but I'm not really enamored with any other trans pieces for water.  The only other trans color I have in abundance is trans neon orange, so I think I probably made the right call with the trans black between the two! lol

12 hours ago, en_zoo said:

My my! nice job here, Grover I guess the rocky part could be a tad more regular and while I love the dark orange there, it looks a bit odd being so separate from both the rocks and the grass above. This being said, it's lovely to see the shrine scene expanded, plus very nice to know Prenmore is expanding too! You said it was a bit ambitious - it's good to be sometimes, so that we may push some borders a bit and be better prepared next time --> keep going!

Thank you!  The rocks up front are kind of crappy for sure.  I was hoping to achieve something else, but I really need to work on that technique.  The dark orange was meant to be like a hard clay, but not entirely sure that made it through.  I did try to incorporate it as part of the path on the way down, probably better seen in the album pics.  Thanks for the encouragement!  I'm trying to add builds for HSS in a logical progression since Prenmôr is new (i.e., it's new, so there's no way there's a town hall yet).

4 hours ago, LegoModularFan said:

Wow, you’re improving very fast! The whole thing looks very nice, I’m seeing some great ideas everywhere such as the angles and the small waves!   As what to improve, I think the others said everything. I would just recommend you a few builders (who aren’t very active here) who have very innovative landscaping rockwork ideas that may inspire you (and anybody else):

  Reveal hidden contents

 

https://www.flickr.com/people/138986803@N03/

https://www.flickr.com/people/davidhensel/

https://www.flickr.com/people/emillide/

https://www.flickr.com/people/52616397@N04/

https://www.flickr.com/people/124546590@N03/

https://www.flickr.com/people/45244184@N04/

 

I hope I didn’t spam this thread too much...  Anyway, keep up the great work!  

Thanks!  I'm experimenting as I go, so hopefully these techniques will just improve from here.  The rockwork that I was impressed with was things like this:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/91596610@N03/15700718561

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5554/14808138020_7486250ec1_z.jpg

I wanted to emulate stuff like that but I don't think I used the same technique.  Tried something and it didn't really work.  Oh well, first attempts.

3 hours ago, Muakhah said:

This looks pretty good. So many gulls! I like the dark sea but as others have said it is a bit too dark for such shallow water on a bright day. If you ever do a deep harbor it will be great.

The orange cliff and rocks might work better as horizontal layers. Overall though it’s a very good gull infested scene.

Thanks!  I had a lot of fun with the gulls.  I tried to put them all facing the wind or at least the food as best as I could, since they typically face into the wind when they can.  I had a lot of fun making the whitewash for them too.  I'll take a look at a horizontal for the clay next time.  I hadn't thought about that but you're right, it may look really good.

Edited December 7, 2018 by Grover

[soccerkid6]

Great to see you complete this scene the way you originally intended. The updated overview picture shows the build off much better, and highlights the nice color combinations you have in the landscape
All the sea gulls fit the scene nicely, and the fishing details are top-notch