Tag Archives: Chris Doyle

Miles “Mosaic” Morales

The Brothers Brick contributor Chris Doyle has conspired with  Alyse Middleton  on another large-scale LEGO mosaic. Visiting the Spider-Verse, they created a mosaic tribute to Miles Morales.

If you’re like me (and I know I am), then you probably love the Into the Spider-Verse movie. Miles Morales quickly became my favorite take on the Spider-Man character, and I’d started (and abandoned) more than a few attempts to pay tribute to the character in LEGO form. Still, when I wanted to challenge myself and try a mosaic style that varied from the LEGO Art format I’d been working in, I decided Miles had to be the focus. Then I teamed up again with Alyse to make this new challenge a bit easier. Built on a 96×64 base of Technic brick, this images uses layers of plate and other elements to create an image in line with the animation style from the movie.

Doin’ the things a spider can

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Making the impossible possible

A couple of years ago, I (Brothers Brick contributor Chris Doyle ) gifted the important people in my life with Impossible Bottles – sealed decks of playing cards somehow placed inside unaltered glass bottles. Recently, prompted by a WisLUG building challenge, I decided to create my own version. It’s not quite the same scale of impressive – LEGO bricks are a lot easier to cram down the neck of a bottle, after all. But it was still a fun exercise into just what is possible if you put your mind to it.

Deck in a bottle

And, of course, there’s a tiny little mosaic on the front of my deck of cards. Because sometimes you have to stay on-brand.

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Batman needs his Robin: Rebuilding LEGO Art 30125 into the Boy Wonder [Instructions]

We recently shared an early look at the LEGO Art 31205: Jim Lee Batman collection, one of the new additions to the LEGO Art theme. The set comes with three main images to choose from: Batman, the Joker, and Harley Quinn, all based on iconic Jim Lee art. There are also “ultimate builds” that feature a larger look at the Bat, and a showcasing a quiet moment between Batman and Catwoman. But we were left wondering…where’s Robin? Well,  The Brothers Brick contributor Chris Doyle decided to see if it was possible to build a Jim Lee-style Robin out of only the parts in the 31205 kit. Spoiler alert: Yes, you can. And we provide the instructions if you want to give it a try yourself!

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Why another mosaic? It’s a mystery (science theater).

The Brothers Brick contributor Chris Doyle is back with another large-scale LEGO mosaic. This time he leaves the superheroes behind to celebrate a recent highlight of live-performance pop culture.

I’m a big fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and have spent a lot of time recreating the robots and scenes from the show in LEGO. Last December I was lucky enough to be treated to VIP passes to the MST3k Time Bubble Live Show, and was really taken with the new host, Emily Marsh. So much so, that I wanted to immortalize her role with a big ol’ mosaic. Read on after the jump for more about the process, and just what that stuff along the bottom edge is…

Emily Marsh MST3k Mosaic - some context

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A LEGO mosaic tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther

The Brothers Brick contributor Chris Doyle adds to his Super Heroic mosaic collection with a tribute to Chadwick Boseman as the Black Panther.

This image is based off of a publicity still, run through the LEGO Remix website a few times, modified to lower his hands, then hand color-corrected. This mosaic is 96 studs by 46 studs  – 6,144 studs total in the image. (Plus a bunch more for the frame and Technic pins to hold everything safely together.) You can read more about the construction after the break!

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Glow-in-the-dark spookiness intensifies with this LEGO skull mosaic

The Brothers Brick contributor Chris Doyle returns yet again with more Mosaic Madness.

Just in time for Halloween, I’ve adapted artist Christopher Cooper‘s Voodoo Glow Skull image into LEGO form. And, yes, it glows in the dark. Keep reading to see it in action, and learn a bit about the build.

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Octopus time! An alternate build for LEGO 31203 World Map [Instructions]

The Brothers Brick contributor Chris Doyle is back with more mosaic madness! This time, he’s reworked the LEGO Art 31203 World Map into a vibrant octopus. He also shares the instructions necessary to build this version of the World Map yourself. You know. If you want to.

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Holy LEGO mosaic, Batman!

Brothers Brick contributor Chris Doyle is back with another heroic pop-culture mosaic in the LEGO art style. Completing his “Trinity” of retro DC superheroes is Batman as portrayed by Adam West. Because of course that’s the version he’d build.

The 1960’s Batman was a far cry from the grim and gritty versions on the screen these days. This was a Batman who was always looking for the best in people, who was always quick to lend a helping hand, and who’s level of violence was limited to “Biff!” and “Pow!” and the occasional “Splatt!” This is the Batman who I’d want to see in my dream Justice League, along with the Lynda Carter version Wonder Woman and Christopher Reeve’s Superman.

batman
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This mosaic is just super, man.

Brothers Brick contributor Chris Doyle is back with another heroic attempt at a mosaic in the LEGO Art style. What’s his reasoning this time?

Thanks to the LEGO Art sets, I’ve been on a real mosaic building kick lately. My last two (Wonder Woman and Kinga Forrester) were collaborative builds, but for my next effort I wanted to do one that was just by me.  For a subject I decided on Christopher Reeve’s unforgettable role as Superman. Why? Because this is the sort of superhero the world really needs these days. The total build is around 5,400 parts (5,376 1×1 plates/tiles in the 48×112 stud image).

Christopher Reeve as Superman - LEGO Art Mosaic Style

Once again I made use of the LEGO Art Remix web site to generate several different sets of instructions. My first attempt was…well, let’s be charitable and just say “it didn’t quite work out as planned.” But once I settled on a better alternate image things went together pretty quickly. (It took the same time to build as it takes to watch Superman, Superman II, Superman II: The Donner Cut, and Superman III. I was worried it might stretch into Superman IV territory, but not quite.).
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That’s when an evil woman trapped him on the dark side of the moon

The Brothers Brick contributor Chris Doyle once again builds something based on Mystery Science Theater 3000. What’s his excuse this time?

One of my favorite escapes from reality is Mystery Science Theater 3000. People riffing on bad movies just makes the world seem less bleak, somehow. The best part, though, is that my wife Jennifer is also a big fan. She’s usually more of a “build a LEGO set” person than a “make something new out of LEGO” person, but I was able to tempt her into collaborating on a  LEGO Art style mosaic of the latest MST3k head-honcho: Kinga Forrester. (As portrayed  by a Felicia Day.)

PXL_20201127_161428053~2

The techniques we used were very similar to the ones I helped develop for my Wonder Woman collaboration. We bought a couple of LEGO art sets (Beatles and Warhol this time.) We used the LEGO Art Remix site to create several prototype images. We threw away our first few attempts, and combined at least three different versions of instructions for the final image. And then hand-built all the fine details anyway.
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This mosaic is a Wonder (Woman) [Feature]

A little while ago,  Alyse Middleton and I (Chris Doyle) shared the process behind our Wonder Woman LEGO Art mosaic. We didn’t have the time (or parts) to finish our vision then, but as promised we’ve returned to share the completed project – a 48 x 144 stud tribute to Lynda Carter. Consuming over 7000 pieces, (6,912 of them 1×1 round plate/tile), this has the same form-factor as the giant Darth Vader and Iron Man “Ultimate” builds.

Wonder Woman on display.. With better props
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Idea to actual: How we made some Wonder Woman LEGO Art [Feature]

Once a year, my long-distance partner Alyse Middleton and I, Chris Doyle, try to take a week of vacation together. With the realities of life in the USA in 2020 limiting the potential destinations, this time we opted for a “Quarencation” at my place. Kind of a bummer, but staying here kept us within easy reach of my LEGO workspace…and that paid out some nifty results. We were able to take an idea we had been kicking around all the way from concept to physical model. Working in the style of the new LEGO Art sets, we created a mosaic of Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman.

Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman - LEGO Art Style

I’d built a number of mosaics in the past, so I had a few ideas on how we could approach making a new one. And while that experience was helpful, we ended up taking a very different route to reach our goal. Come along with us on our journey of highs, lows, seemingly endless moments of “I guess we’re starting over again“, and, yes, eventual triumph.

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