Blog | Megan Coyle: Artist & Illustrator

December 6, 2021June 9, 2024

Alamance Winter

The other month my alma mater, Elon University, reached out to me about making a custom work of art that they could feature on their holiday cards as well as print in their calendars for donors. They sent me a reference photograph that I used to create an original collage made entirely from magazine cutouts. In addition to creating a composition similar to the reference photo, they also requested that the sky be a starry one.

It had been a while since I’d tackled a cityscape collage, and working on the intricate details of the building, which required cutting and pasting very small pieces of paper, was a challenging project. I enjoyed working on the intricacies involved with the snow-covered tree branches, as well as finding fragments of paper that could make up the starry sky.

Overall, I was pleased with the collage and very happy to hear that the university’s president really liked the artwork. It was a lot of fun working on a custom work of art for the school where I went for undergrad.

November 28, 2021June 9, 2024

Eye of the Tiger

It’s been a while since I’ve made something new – life has been pretty busy these days. A couple of months ago I moved to Manhattan, and moving can be a bit hectic. Aside from that, I’ve been getting organized with my life and exploring other ways to be creative. I’ve been making these collages for years, and although I enjoy the visual art process, sometimes it’s helpful to take breaks from my art so I can revisit the medium again later with a renewed appreciation for it.

So after a couple months away from art-making, I decided to get back into the groove of things by working on this tiger portrait. I had a lot of fun working on this, and I just about live streamed the entire process. Lately that’s been my go-to when I comes to making art. It’s fun chatting to viewers as I’m working on a work in progress.

July 20, 2021June 9, 2024

Don’t Lose Your Head

And I’m back at it with my anatomy series. This was yet another challenging yet interesting piece to work on. Again, I live streamed my process from beginning to end, and I really enjoyed focusing on using a more colorful background. This was my first time working on a skull made entirely from magazine cutouts, and a lot of the detailing (as well as the outline of the skull) proved to be a bit of a challenge. I like to work with scissors, and often times when I’m cutting extremely small and thin pieces of paper, it can be a little difficult to cut and adhere the pieces to the support – usually because they can easily stick to your fingers.

July 16, 2021July 16, 2021

Our House in the Middle of Our Street

The other day I completed a new custom art order. It has been a while since I’ve done a landscape/cityscape collage, and this piece surprised me by coming together pretty easily. Perhaps I need to start exploring landscapes more?

These days it really does feel like there’s never enough time in the day to complete all the things I want to do. But no matter what, I’m extremely grateful that I get to practice my craft every week 🙂 Stay tuned…more art and more variety of art will be posted in the future.

July 10, 2021September 12, 2024

Lizzo

I’ve taken a bit of a break from collage-making, but now I’m back at it. At the beginning of the year, I completed nearly twenty collages within a short period of time. I was live streaming my process almost every night, and I burned myself out a bit. After taking some time off to focus on my creative writing and other creative endeavors, I’ve been well-rested and ready to return to collage.

This is a portrait that I initially started at the beginning of the year, but finally tackled completing it just the other day. Portraiture is a tricky subject to work with. It’s often difficult to get the likeness down of the figure, especially if it’s a well-known or famous figure. I used to only enjoy making portraits, but years ago I made too many portraits within a short period of time, and since then, I’ve distanced myself from portraiture. Although lately, I’ve been itching to challenge myself again. So here’s yet another portrait that I was able to complete recently. I definitely feel rusty, but it felt good to stretch those artistic muscles that have been out of shape for a while.

March 28, 2021June 9, 2024

It’s in Your DNA

This was another challenging piece that’s part of my new anatomy series. Again, I’m not quite used to working on more abstract pieces. The challenge has made my process more interesting. I really enjoyed using more fragments of photographs for the background for this one. I also worked on adding touches of texture within the foreground.

I think I’m getting close to the end of this series for the meantime. I may tackle one more related collage, but otherwise, I think I’ll start working on portraits soon. Again, this was a piece where I live streamed my process. I’ve really enjoyed chatting with followers as I’ve worked on my artwork. Previously, making artwork was such a solitary process for me, and as someone who really enjoys the company of others, live streaming has made me more motivated to work on artwork since it no longer feels like something that’s solitary, but more of a group activity.

March 10, 2021June 9, 2024

It’s in Your Blood

This piece was a challenge since I’m not really used to working on abstract and geometric pieces. It’s interesting how abstract red blood cells look, and I initially tried to incorporate some texture but realized that it was taking away from what red blood cells are known for – having a smooth surface. This was another collage I worked on while live streaming my process, and I’ve really enjoyed the small community I’ve found on TikTok.

Overall, I really like how this new anatomy series has energized me. I’m getting more excited about my art and my process by working on these pieces. I think previously I wasn’t challenging myself enough or really focusing my craft on any one subject. I had a tendency of tackling a subject here and there. I think I need to work on more of these cohesive bodies of work in the future.

March 3, 2021June 9, 2024

I’ve Got Your Back

A couple of my followers on Instagram suggested that I make a spinal cord collage, so I decided to make a piece that focused on a section of the spine (since the entire cord would be a little too intricate for the size I was working in). This piece was challenging for a number of reasons – it was my first time working on this kind of subject matter, and the pieces I cut for it were extremely small. Even the outline of the spine consists of small strips of paper.

Overall, I really enjoyed the challenge of working on something new. I’m having so much fun this year working on art. And I’ve surprised myself with how much work I’ve been able to complete within a short period of time.

February 25, 2021June 9, 2024

You’re an Animal…Cell

One of the most challenging things about working on this piece was working with all the tiny pieces. Since this animal cell collage is in one of the smallest dimensions I work in, often enough the pieces I cut would stick to my hands when I tried to glue them to the surface. I could work with tweezers, although I think I prefer gluing pieces of paper directly with my hands. For whatever reason, it makes me feel closer to my work. And thus I’m fine with the challenges involved with the process.

Again, this is another collage in my anatomy series. It really has been a breath of fresh air working on something new. I’m looking forward to continuing to tackle this series.

February 23, 2021June 9, 2024

I Beleaf this is a Plant Cell

When I was a kid back in school, I was always drawn to art and being creative, but I was equally drawn to science. I was fascinated by how things work and all the cells that make up various organisms. This plant cell collage is another piece in my anatomy series, and I’ve really enjoyed tapping into that love of science that I had as a kid.

I am having so much fun exploring anatomy with art. And if anyone out there has any suggestions for what I should try to tackle next, let me know. I am always looking for new ways to push my creativity.