Happy New Year! February 1, 2022 marks the beginning of a new year of the Lunar Calendar. In the Chinese Zodiac, each year is related to an animal. The 12 zodiac animals are, in order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. 2022 is the year of the Tiger. As we usher in the new year, we bring together some ferocious (and some not-so-ferocious) LEGO tigers to celebrate with. (Did you know that a group of tigers is called an ambush?)

Stretching Tiger by Ian Hou (DOGOD)

Ian Hou is an absolute master at sculpting with LEGO (read our creature feature with him), and this newest build is no exception. How does he manage to make LEGO animals look so alive?! This tiger is caught mid-stretch and has a lazy, half-lidded, almost contented expression. One could almost imagine it’s a real tiger, stretching after it has had a nice long nap.

Year of the Tiger Folks Paper - Cutting Art by Marco Gan

Marco Gan combines the traditional art of paper cutting with LEGO to create this ingenious sculpture of a “paper-cut” tiger. Paper cutting is one of the oldest and most popular folk art in China. Marco’s work has given this tradition a modern twist by using LEGO bricks while staying true to its beautiful form. Marco even photographed his build glued to a door which is how paper cuttings are often displayed to symbolize luck and happiness. With art such as this gracing your door, how could anything but good luck come your way this 2022?

Ink Painting - White Tiger by Joe Lam and Eric Mok

Currently on exhibit at the East Point City Mall in Hong Kong, this LEGO “Ink Painting” by Joe Lam and Erik Co is breathtaking. Chinese painting is a highly regarded art form and is one of the oldest artistic traditions in the world. Joe and Eric have translated the art perfectly into LEGO, even building paintbrushes, a paintbrush stand, and an inkstone to complete realistic the scene.

Tiger Festive Portrait by Artisan Bricks

This pretty little mosaic by Artisan Bricks from Singapore was inspired by LEGO Dots and the Brick Sketches series. That alert, goofy expression is just perfect, and the build makes excellent use of the quarter tiles from the Dots packages. We hope Artisan Bricks makes a series of all the Zodiac Animals because we’d love to see portraits of the other animals in this fun style!

Chinese Year of the Tiger by Qian Yong Jie (qian yj)

How adorable is this cub?! Qian Yong Jie (aka GS) of Lego Masters China built this winged tiger as part of his Chinese Zodiac Animals series which also includes the Rat and Ox. For a build that is relatively small, it captures so many details such as the stripes, furry face, and little tail!

My Little Tiger Play Ball by Herbert Lee

Speaking of adorable cubs, there’s another one! Herbert Lee managed to make LEGO look cuddly and soft with this particular build… which is definitely an amazing feat!

The Year of the Tiger by Herbert Lee

Herbert Lee built these excellent anthropomorphic tigers having a game of football to celebrate the New Year. You can tell it’s a friendly game — the tigers seem to be smiling! The scene is dynamic and fun, and we like the way the orange tiger looks ready to kick the ball and score a goal.

Tiger Font Painting by ArzLan

The “tiger” in this photo is the character on the scroll which is Chinese calligraphy, seal script style, masterfully done by ArzLan. Strictly speaking, this isn’t a “tiger” in the usual sense of the word. But since we are celebrating the Lunar New Year, we decided to include this one, too! We love how serene the photo is, and the brick-built flower and pot added a lovely spot of color. ArzLan has several builds featuring Chinese calligraphy, and if you want to see more of this traditional art in LEGO form, we highly recommend visiting his Flickr page.

Tigers by LEGO

Before we end this round-up, let’s not forget LEGO’s newest Tiger models: Majestic Tiger (Set No. 31129) and Year of the Tiger (Set No. 40491). These sets have had awesome reviews and with good reason. Majestic Tiger truly deserves the description “majestic”, and Year of the Tiger is uber-cute and a worthy addition to the fantastic Zodiac Animals series of LEGO.

And there you have it! Tigers of every style from realistic to cute, covering various art forms and all made from the bricks we love. We hope you enjoyed each one. Happy New Year!

P.S. Special thanks to fellow contributors Ted and Gwyneth whose suggestions made this article possible! :)

Have you built anything to celebrate the New Lunar Year with? Tell us about it below!

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