Megan Coyle | Megan Coyle: Artist & Illustrator

May 25, 2017May 23, 2017

Wine Glasses

I made this mixed media piece back when I was in college. The assignment was to pick an object, and then repeat it multiple times while treating each version of the image in a different way. Since I was studying painting at the time, whenever I had assignments in my other studio art classes, I turned them into opportunities to work with collage. Here I used magazine cutouts, as well as fabric, thread, acrylic paint, color pencil, graphite, and oil pastel. I also remember having a lot of fun trying to come up with different ways of tackling the same subject. This might actually be a good exercise for me to explore sometime this year, just to kickstart and inspire my art-making process.

May 24, 2017May 29, 2017

Animal Collages from Japan

Coyle-inspired collage made by a student in Japan — Collage by Bella

Erica’s Grade 3 class from Japan made their own animal collages after using one of my online collage lesson plans. It was wonderful getting to see images of their work – I like how several of the students incorporated magazine cutouts that had bits and pieces of text.

I always enjoy hearing from students and teachers who study my work in school, and I enjoy it even more when I get to see what the students have made. It’s a lot of fun seeing how each artist has their own unique style and adds their own bit of personality to their art.

I hope these students continue to make artwork. Their work is already very impressive, just imagine what they could accomplish in a few years!

May 23, 2017June 5, 2024

Foxy

The other day I had a chance to finally finish a new collage – this fox portrait. I also was able to make another time lapse video, which was a lot of fun to put together:

What’s actually a little amusing is that for the previous time lapse videos I made, I used to sit underneath a tripod that held the video camera, trying with all my might not to bump into it while working on the collage. With this one, I realized I can just film the whole process upside down, then flip it when I edit the video. That way I’m free of working under a tripod. In the future, I’d also like to work on using better lighting for these to make it easier to see my process.

May 18, 2017May 19, 2017

Brokenhearted on the Floor

This is a mixed media painting that I made back when I was home for the summer during college. I used magazine cutouts, acrylic paint, a broken CD, thread, and felt. I made this during a time when I was going through a phase where I’d stitch cloth or other canvas onto paintings, sort of creating a collaged painting in a way. This painting has always been a favorite of mine, and to this day it hangs on a wall in my home.

May 16, 2017May 16, 2017

Bosty goes to San Francisco (Again!)

Bosty went to San Francisco again so he could escape the humidity on the East Coast. He decided to start his trip off by visiting the seals at Pier 39.

Then he stopped by the Aquarium of the Bay to see all the underwater creatures. He’s always curious about what other critters look like.

Next, he strolled around outside and got to see Alcatraz Island in the distance.

Then he walked along the Embarcadero, where he stopped by the huge Ferry Building.

There were all kinds of food stands to take a look at. It sure made Bosty feel hungry!

At the end of the day, he sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed the view of the bay. The sun looked beautiful as it was getting ready to set.

The following day, he got to ride a trolly car across town.

And after being lazy on the trolly, he just had to hike across the Golden Gate Bridge again. Just look at those views!

Next, he rode one of the cable cars across town to see the San Francisco Zoo. He was really excited to see all the giraffes there, but didn’t know what they were looking at just now. Are you trying to find me? I’m right here!

After wandering around the zoo for a few hours, he walked up the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps to enjoy the gorgeous view of the city.

But why stop there? Bosty wanted to take a look at a few museums, so he stopped by the de Young Fine Arts Museum to see the Stuart Davis exhibit.

And since he was so close to the Golden Gate Park Japanese Tea Garden, he figured he might as well take a look at all the beautiful plants and flowers there.

He ended his excursion by heading over to Ocean Beach . He noticed that he could see one of the Golden Gate Park windmills from the beach, and just had to get his picture taken in front of it.

Overall, he had one exciting West Coast visit. And he was pretty exhausted after checking out so many touristy places in the city.

May 11, 2017May 11, 2017

Self Portrait – Pondering Walk

Here’s a self portrait mixed media painting that I did during my freshman year of college. If you look closely, you can see that I incorporated magazine cutouts in the hoodie. I also layered paper and painted over it to add texture to the street, buildings, and background. I used a lot of thick paint, and added even more texture with my palette knife.

This was made during a time when I was trying to find ways to incorporate collage into my paintings. At my college, I had to pick a specific concentration in art, and since collage wasn’t an option, I went for the next best thing – painting.

May 4, 2017

Reflective Still Life Study 1

This was the first painting that I did in a series of still life paintings back in college. I call them the “Reflective Still Life Studies,” since I played around with painting glass and the reflection of objects in mirrors. Since this was the first painting in the series, you can see that the strokes seem a little forced and uncertain. I was just getting the hang of mixing colors and painting still life, so it wasn’t until I got to the second painting in the series when the compositions flowed together a little better.

April 27, 2017April 27, 2017

Color Pencil Figurative Study

Back in college I kept a few sketchbooks where I’d work on studies of various subjects. This color pencil drawing is from one of those sketchbooks, when I was studying different expressions for my upcoming series of collage portraits for my senior thesis. I was also playing around with different color schemes, which is why this is done with cool colors.

April 20, 2017April 19, 2017

Still Life Oil Painting

This still life oil painting is a piece that I made back in college during my freshman year. I made this back when I was studying painting in school, although I still worked on collages in my free time. I remember that this was made during a time when I was still learning the ins and outs of mixing and blending paint colors, so it isn’t as expressive as some of my other paintings.

April 13, 2017April 12, 2017

In the Garden

“In the Garden” is a collage that I made back when I was in high school. It was made when I first started experimenting with collage. I had deemed the collage “finished,” and set it aside for some time. Then a couple of years later, when I was in college, I came across the collage and decided it wasn’t finished yet. So I proceeded to add in some more detailing with shadows and highlights, and then felt like it was closer to being “done.”

This might sound odd, but I never really feel like a work of art that I’m working on is ever finished. I simply give up on it after a certain amount of time. This is the only collage I’ve ever revisited after some time, however, I’m thinking it might be a good idea to start getting into the habit of reworking my older artwork.