In the Studio: Original Art | Megan Coyle: Artist & Illustrator

June 9, 2010January 29, 2017

Dinner for Two

And it’s done! I thought about adding more to the background, but when it came down to it, I decided that a simpler background could draw more attention to the couple.

In other news, I’m feeling a great deal better. Slept for a good chunk of time yesterday, and I suppose my body has a tendency of feeling weary and sick as a way to tell me to slow down and take better care of myself.

These next few days are going to be busy ones. I’m pleased to say that all my figurative pieces are complete for my exhibitions scheduled for this year. Next on my list is to finish about ten or more animal collages for a show in August and about eight landscape/cityscape pieces for a show in September. To add to the workload, I also need to get started on planning out my next artist talk for my solo show in July as well as a lecture on blogging for artists that I’ll be giving in mid July.

June 7, 2010December 6, 2017

Character Study

This is a collaboration I worked on with my brother. I did the concept drawing, he took the sketch and modeled/uv unwrapped it, I collaged the uv flats, and he put it together for the final look. I think the next step is that we’ll start working on a background for this little guy.

Birdy by collage artist Megan Coyle

Here’s the concept sketch I did

Birdy model by Brendan Coyle

And my brother’s interpretation of the sketch with a 3d model. Next I collaged the uv flats which he took and was able to use to put together the clip that you saw at the top.

Once I get a spare moment, I’d like to work on my own 2d animation piece. Also, that children’s book has been in my backlog of things “to do” for quite a while now. Hopefully I can get started on that as well in the near future.

June 1, 2010February 18, 2017

King of the Jungle

Here’s the completed version of “King of the Jungle.” I’m realizing that as opportunities present themselves, I’m working away trying to make sure I can meet all the deadlines. Looks like I might have a couple more exhibitions to start preparing for. Goodness, apparently I don’t have enough on my plate already.

I’m really enjoying my time as a Visiting Artist and I’ve only just begun. I enjoy interacting with the public and seeing which pieces visitors respond to more. When I’m busy working away in my apartment, I don’t have a live audience and I rely entirely on what I think of a piece. It’s nice getting a feel for what others think.

Every time Ben has walked into my studio, he’s given me more great ideas on what I can do to make it more intriguing for visitors to come inside. I’m in the middle of working on a few adjustments for my set-up. Soon I plan to take a few pictures of the new layout so I can post them for you all to see.

I hope you’re having a great week – time sure does fly when you’re busy and having fun!

May 10, 2010January 29, 2017

Leisure Day

This is the last piece in the figurative series for my upcoming solo show. I’m installing the show on Wednesday morning, so this week will be a busy one of marketing the exhibit and making plans for the reception in a couple of weeks.

I’m also beginning to prepare for my work as a Visiting Artist at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. I’ll have to plan out how to present myself while I’m working in an open studio there. I’m thinking of using Blurb to create a quick book filled with images of my work so I can have a more professional looking portable portfolio. Hopefully I’ll have enough time to get organized for this…goodness, so many upcoming events coming up all at once.

May 6, 2010January 29, 2017

Afternoon Conversations

They look like they’re having quite a serious afternoon conversation. I just have one more finished collage from this series to post. Before long, I’ll get to go back to working on animal collages.

While looking through my artwork the other day, I noticed that I don’t have that many landscape or still life pieces. Looks like I’ll need to work on building those sections of my portfolio out some more sometime in the future. Yes indeed, there’s always work to be done.

I hope everyone has had a lovely week – it’s almost the weekend!

May 3, 2010February 20, 2017

These Crowded Streets

Another scene inspired by one of my trips to NYC. I’ve enjoyed working on different angles of figures – by doing so, you can come up with some interesting narrative images. This was a piece that I revisited to edit and add more detail to it. Sometimes, when working on a collage, I can have a tough time getting into the piece. Although by setting it aside for a little bit of time, I can return to it later on with renewed energy and fresh eyes.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I somehow managed to hurt my foot the other day so I’m doing my best to rest up so I can move around like normal soon.

May 1, 2010February 20, 2017

Windy City Walks

This piece is pretty thick in some areas from layering lots of magazine cut-outs in order to get the figure looking right. It’s funny how that happens with some of my collages – if I have to focus a lot of energy and time on one area, the collage will feel heavier in that area when I lift the piece up.

In other news, Carly from MommyGarten.com mentioned me on her site in an article, “Art & Work of Creative Parenting: Field Trip Friday.” She discusses using collage as an art project for your child.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I’m taking care of quite a few errands, working on a new collage for my show in July, and of course, having some fun.

April 27, 2010February 20, 2017

Stroll in the Park

I’m excited to say that I’ve finished my series of collages for my show in May. I have yet to post all of them, thus I’ll go ahead and do that within the next couple of weeks. The past few days I’ve spent a lot of time editing this series as well as touching up frames. Now I just need to do a couple more figurative pieces for my show in July, and then I can take a breather on all these people collages. As much as I like collaging people, I’m getting a bit burnt out from the subject matter. Thus I’m moving on to animals next.

Anyway, I’m off to do some late night sketching. I had an interesting day – spent a good chunk of time trying to get my internet working again (it was down practically the entire day). I always forget how much I rely on the internet until it’s not working like it should. But isn’t that the truth with so many things?

April 21, 2010January 29, 2017

Bar and Bakery

I think I’ll revisit this collage in a few days to sharpen up a few details. For the most part it’s complete. I’m actually just about finished with this series for the show in May, and I’m beginning to go back through my work to clean things up.

Then it looks like I’ll just have to work on a couple more figurative pieces for my show in July, and then I can finally change gears by working on animal collages. I’d also like to get started on making a weekly mini collage to add to my Etsy shop again, and possibly introduce another art project to my blog.