Mosaics, murals, large advertisements, and graffiti are great ways to add custom touches and fun colors to your LEGO city displays. Just like in real life, they can decorate bare walls, back alleys, paved roads, and other exterior and interior spaces.
LEGO DOTS, LEGO Mosaics, and LEGO Art sets introduced a large variety of small pieces and lots of new colors that can be used for mosaics and murals. In fact, LEGO themselves have been including mosaics in several recently released sets, like the artwork in the #10297 LEGO Boutique Hotel and the #41711 LEGO Friends Emma’s Art School.
Occasionally, LEGO also includes special printed tiles with artwork, like the small printed piece in the #21333 LEGO Ideas Vincent van Gogh – The Starry Night set, or the large 8×16 printed wall mural in the #41748 LEGO Friends Heartlake City Community Center.
LEGO DOTS sets are an excellent resource for small LEGO elements, printed pieces, and beautiful colors. In addition, the instruction books for these sets often feature alternate building instructions and patterns for mosaics that are just the right size for minifig-scale builds. Although LEGO DOTS are no longer available directly from LEGO, you can still find them on Amazon.
Another resource I like to use for small mosaic patterns is under the #mosaicsonmonday hastag on Instagram. This is where talented LEGO fans regularly share their mosaic builds. You will find tons of interesting designs and patterns that should give you ideas for your own minifig-size mosaics.
There are also several LEGO customizers who print custom patterns, murals, and graffiti-style art on LEGO elements that can be added to your LEGO city. EclipseBricks.com is one of my favorites with a great selection and wonderful LEGO-compatible style.
I also found some gems on eBay and Etsy, like these beautiful murals by BrickBuildersPro. (They also have their own website and Instagram page where you can see more of their custom work.)
One of my other favorite customizers for murals and graffiti is PriBri.com. They sell custom-printed elements on their website and also via Etsy. In addition to murals, they carry a wide variety of other custom-printed elements, so it’s worth browsing their shop.
If you don’t mind stepping out of the LEGO brand universe, FunWhole.com, a Chinese company that makes LEGO-compatible sets, specializes in adding elaborate light kits and a large number of printed parts in all of their sets (including murals and graffiti). Even if you don’t want to mix your LEGO pieces with an off-brand like this, you might still consider using their printed elements. This bus stop set is especially loaded with graffiti pieces. You can find their products on their website and their Amazon shop.
Whether brick-built or printed, adding such artwork to your city displays adds a special touch. I hope you find this list of resources useful for your own builds! Comments? Questions? Feel free to share them below!
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