ARTIST RECREATES GREAT WAVE OF HOKUSAI WITH 50 000 LEGO BLOCKS

Japan-based artist Jumpei Mitsui, is not like any normal sculptor using normal materials such as clay.  He makes use of more unconventional materials. Mitsui is one of 21 certified professional LEGO builders, and specialised in making sculptures using colourful LEGO blocks which varies in size. Mitsui recently added another piece to his collection after completing an incredible large-scale 3D rendition of Hokusai's famous woodblock print The Great Wave Off Kanagawa. Using 50,000 LEGO blocks, Mitsui was able to depict the iconic blue waves which crashed over traditional boats.

This massive project required a lot of extra research and planning to pull off. In order to properly capture the original design, he poured over several academic papers that explained the science of giant wave formations and studied the movement of crashing waves in many videos.  Mitsui then continued to prepare several detailed sketches of the model and even included all of the recognisable elements from Hokusai's work, like Mount Fuji and the sailor-led rowboats. The final piece measures about 4 feet by 5 feet in total.