Beautiful LEGO

by Mike Doyle

October 2013, 280 pp.

ISBN-13:

978-1-59327-508-2

Full Color

"Far from child’s play. An astonishing collection."
—Publishers Weekly

Look Inside!

Mix hundreds of thousands of LEGO bricks with dozens of artists, and what do you get? Beautiful LEGO, a compendium of LEGO artwork that showcases a stunning array of pieces ranging from incredibly lifelike replicas of everyday objects and famous monuments to imaginative renderings of spaceships, mansions, and mythical creatures.

You’ll also meet the minds behind the art. Interviews with the artists take you inside the creative process that turns simple, plastic bricks into remarkable LEGO masterpieces.

Why LEGO?

“Building is like making art while simultaneously solving a puzzle,
with the satisfaction of doing both.”
—Nannan Zhang

“Bins of thousands of pieces—that’s stored kinetic potential.”
—Lino Martins

“LEGO bricks let me create anything I can imagine.”
—Nathan Sawaya

As seen in The Wall Street Journal, Reader’s Digest, The Los Angeles Times, Slate, TODAY.com, Wallpaper, USA Today, MAKE, and more!

Now Available: Dark and Wild!

Beautiful LEGO 2: Dark

Beautiful LEGO: Wild!

Author Bio

Internationally acclaimed LEGO® artist Mike Doyle is known for his stunningly realistic, grand-scale designs. Contact, the majestic fantasy cityscape featured on this book’s cover, uses more than 200,000 bricks. His award-winning Abandoned House series has been showcased at Gallery1988 in LA and now has a home in Boston’s Museum of Realist Art. When not constructing unique LEGO art, Doyle works as a graphic designer. He lives with his wife and two children in New Jersey.

Table of contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Ramón and Amador Alfaro Marcilla
Chapter 2: Mmmmm
Chapter 3: Everyday Wonderful
Chapter 4: Attic Treasures
Chapter 5: Jordan Schwartz
Chapter 6: CubeDudes
Chapter 7: Go Ask Alice
Chapter 8: Nathan Sawaya
Chapter 9: Monsters, Aliens, and Creatures
Chapter 10: Tweets
Chapter 11: Plastic Menagerie
Chapter 12: Mike Nieves
Chapter 13: Quite the Character
Chapter 14: All Dolled Up
Chapter 15: Arthur Gugick
Chapter 16: Mike Doyle
Chapter 17: Urban Planning
Chapter 18: Nannan Zhang
Chapter 19: Mosaics
Chapter 20: On the Road
Chapter 21: Lino Martins
Chapter 22: Mecha
Chapter 23: The Final Frontier
Chapter 24: Striders
Chapter 25: MicroBots
Chapter 26: Meta
Chapter 27: Bad Days
Chapter 28: Iain Heath
Chapter 29: Pythonscape
Chapter 30: Faraway Lands

Contributors

View the detailed Table of Contents (PDF)

Reviews

"Far from child’s play. An astonishing collection."
—Publishers Weekly

Exhibit in The Wall Street Journal book review, "Brickloads of Art."

"A stunning array."
—Today.com (Read More)

"LEGO! It really doesn't get any better than this."
—Wired.com, Raw File (Read More)

"Jawdropping."
—Interior Design

"Elevating the preschool building toy to high art."
—The Horn Book (Read More)

Featured in the Slate Book Review.

"A stunning new book proves the versatile LEGO blocks aren't just kids' stuff."
—Reader's Digest (Read More)

"Lego fans, rejoice!" Read a Q&A with author Mike Doyle at CNET.

"This delightful new book features 360 inspired and astonishing LEGO models."
—John McMurtrie, San Francisco Chronicle (Read More)

"One man's quest to prove LEGO can be art."
—The Los Angeles Times

"Storm-battered houses and imagined galactic cities feature in incredible new art book of LEGO sculptures."
—The Daily Mail Online (Read More)

Featured in The Daily Beast gallery, "Block Party: From Freddie Mercury to Angkor Wat, Amazing LEGO Sculptures."

"Beautiful LEGO chronicles hundreds of fan-inspired artworks, all of which demonstrate the toy's enduring appeal."
—Wallpaper (Read More)

"Sure to amaze."
—Business Insider (Read More)

Featured in The Boston Globe

Featured on USA Today's Popcandy

"Every page will leave you in awe."
—PopSugar Tech (Read More)

"The ultimate compilation of LEGO art."
—Colossal (Read More)

"If you’re feeling like you need some LEGO inspiration to expand your horizons, this is definitely the book for you."
—MAKE (Read More)

"A compendium of amazing LEGO models."
—Laughing Squid (Read More)

"The new book Beautiful LEGO delivers on its nameproviding pages of stunning LEGO art."
—Fast Company Co. Create (Read More)

"If you still believe LEGOs are just toys for kids, a) you're dead wrong and b) try telling that to this sophisticated new coffee table book."
—Thrillist