Feathered Friends: Bram’s Beautiful Birds

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When LEGO bricks mimic the beauty of nature, they have the power to bring joy and inspiration. Few builders embody this as vividly as Bram, aka skabram.builds., whose LEGO birds soar with lifelike detail and artistry. A nature enthusiast from the Netherlands, Bram has turned his passion for wildlife into stunning creations that capture the essence of their feathered muses.

We had the pleasure of speaking with Bram to learn more about his creative process, the challenges of capturing a bird’s spirit in brick form, and his advice for taking your LEGO builds outdoors for a photo adventure. Prepare to learn about his aviary, craft, and deep appreciation for nature.

Ann: Hello Bram! It’s great to meet you and discuss your LEGO creations here at BrickNerd. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into LEGO?

Bram: Hey, I’m Bram from the Netherlands, and I rediscovered LEGO about two and a half years ago. My eldest son (now 6) got interested in LEGO and reintroduced me to these bricks again. I quickly discovered Stud.io and started building digitally (because we only have a small amount of LEGO). Since I’m a nature enthusiast with a love for birds, I chose to build birds. It wasn’t until LEGO announced the Icons Kingfisher last year that I realized more people might like what I do, so I started an Instagram account to share my MOCs.

Ann: I’m so impressed with your talent for cultivating your love of nature through LEGO. What inspired your love of birds?

Bram: I love to be outside in nature and really enjoy birds since you find them everywhere. Since birds are of interest to me, I started searching for LEGO birds online. LEGO Ideas 21301 Birds was not available anymore, so I had to build birds myself. And here we are…

Ann: Your birds look so realistic! Their wings and poses are able to recreate any movement of the original creature. What was the first bird in your LEGO collection?

Bram: The first bird I built was a Northern Lapwing. This is my favorite bird, so I just had to! This MOC is still on display in our home, with only minor color changes in the design. I’m still very happy with it, although I might revisit it in the future since I learned a lot of new techniques along the way.

Ann: Great design, not only the wings but also their eyes—they really come alive! It seems that you managed to give them their own natural behavior and character types, for example, distinguishing an energetic Great crested grebe from a timid robin.

Bram: Well, the eyes honestly give me a headache sometimes. They are an important feature of a bird and need to be right to make a model work. It’s hard to get the right placement, and LEGO has limited color options. When designing, I always start with the head, and getting the eyes and beak ‘right’ is what determines the scale of the build. For some builds, this means I use a permanent marker to color a stud. *hides*

Ann: We do what we need to, no shame there. Speaking of customization, what special props do you like to make for your birds? It’s so interesting to find out about the elements that make them look even more vivid.

Bram: I don’t have a default approach here. I want to build the bird, and it needs a way to stand upright. When I create a base, I want it to feel like it fits the bird and add little details like plants and flowers to make it less plain. Most of my builds are designed to be photographed outside in their natural habitat, so most of the displays are pretty basic. An exception is two builds designed to be displayed indoors, my Peregrine Falcon and European Goldfinch. Here I spent a good amount of time on the environment which is really making them stand out.

Ann: As someone who specializes in LEGO photography, I appreciate your “motion” effect. Your LEGO photos look very beautiful. What is it like taking photos of LEGO outdoors?

Bram: I like spending time in nature and taking some occasional wildlife photography, too. Getting my builds outside in their natural habitat and taking a photo of them felt like the right thing to do. It’s the perfect combination of my hobbies! It’s also great that LEGO birds don’t move. I can spend a lot of time getting the composition right (although clipping feet on a branch can be a challenge).

My aim is to create photos that look and feel like a real bird was photographed. When going outside, I often pack a bird that fits the environment and hope to find the perfect spot along the way. I really recommend taking your builds outside to take photos of them. From minifigure to spaceship, it’s a great way to let your models shine!

Ann: That’s very inspiring for everyone who enjoys photographing outdoors! Do you think you’ll start a series of other LEGO animals in their natural habitats?

For now, there are still plenty of birds to do. If I’m correct, there are over 11,000 species worldwide. I’ve done about 20 now and have a list of birds I really want to do. But never say never! 😊

Ann: What are you working on now? Do you have any birds next on your list? I’m sure that many of them are waiting for their own photo shoot!

Bram: I’m working on a raven at the moment and really want to do a pigeon, too. Taking photos in their natural habitat is a limiting factor here, so expect mostly European species because I have no holiday to the tropics planned… Oh, and my kids have a little say too. They have their favorite birds, so I already built a Pheasant and a Golden Oriole at their request. They will come up with new requests, for sure.

Ann: Do you build any official LEGO sets, too, or have any favorites?

Bram: I’m always interested in new parts and building techniques, but I don’t build sets. Only recently did I buy and build the small 75979 Hedwig set because I was interested in the wing mechanism. I might incorporate this moving wing technique in a future MOC.

If I had to pick a set in the LEGO portfolio, I would go for the Creator 31154 Forest Animals with the owl. All three models in this set look so good and are perfect to take outside for a photo!

Ann: Your art seems to get such a warm reception from LEGO fans. What are you most proud of as a LEGO builder?

Bram: I really enjoy the friendly online community and am still amazed by the amount of love for my creations. It’s awesome to get photos from people building my designs or receive messages from people who are inspired by my work. Also, my Peregrine falcon is in Billund at the LEGO House for a year!

Ann: Thank you so much for this amazing interview, Bram. It’s such a joy to chat about your gorgeous LEGO birds. We can’t wait to see what joins the flock in the future!

What other birds would you like to se ein LEGO form? Let us know in the comments below!

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