Blog | Megan Coyle: Artist & Illustrator

January 12, 2025January 12, 2025

Coach

This weekend I finished the sixth and final (for now) collage portrait in my series inspired by the TV series New Girl. “Coach” (played by Damon Wayans Jr) was definitely a fun portrait to tackle. I’m noticing that when I actively work on several collages in a week, that I don’t feel as rusty when I make artwork. So here’s a reminder to all the other artists out there, that practicing your craft consistently truly is important. When I’m feeling rusty, it’s definitely a bigger struggle to complete these works of art.

With this particular piece, I focused a lot more on using solid colors with only some slight texture from the magazine cutouts selected. I also managed to complete this piece in a couple of days, instead of my usual process of slowly working on a piece over the course of a month (and by slowly, I mean only occasionally pouring time and energy into a piece).

So what’s next? I’m not sure what my next portrait series will be, but I do know that I’m going to work on a still life series on the side, outside of these portrait pieces.

January 11, 2025January 11, 2025

Nick Miller

This is the fifth collage portrait in my series in spired by New Girl, “Nick Miller” (played by Jake Johnson). I only have one more piece to go in this series before I move on to the next one. I’ve really enjoyed working on these portraits, although at times I’ve struggled to stick to a consistent art-making schedule. I’m hoping that this year I can get more consistent with my art. And I’m looking forward to continuing to work on several different series this year.

I’m excited to see how my process and technique improve this year by sticking to a better art-making routine. After all, that’s half the battle to being an artist – making time to actually make your art.

January 5, 2025January 5, 2025

Apple of My Eye

I can’t believe it’s already 2025. Last year I didn’t get to focus as much energy as I wanted to on creative projects, but this year will be different. I’m planning to focus more energy on making new work, marketing my work, creating more video content (both short and long content), as well as finally starting to experiment with different mediums and styles. Back in college as an Art Major, experimenting with different mediums was built into my weekly schedule. But since then, I’ve been bad about experimenting with my craft if I’m not taking a dedicated art class. So this year I have plans to roll up my sleeves and get messy with making mistakes, learning new creative skills, and seeing where experimentation takes me.

Already with the New Year, I’ve completed three new collages. This apple piece is one of my recent works, and it was an extra collage made in a series I just started that focuses on food as the subject matter. I’m working on a project that I’ll share more details on when it’s finished, but in the meantime, you most likely won’t see other food collages like this one unless they’re extra collages that were made in the series that won’t be used.

Here’s to a New Year, and I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!

December 28, 2024December 28, 2024

Cece Parekh

The last couple of months of this year have been a bit busy with travel and celebrating the holidays. I managed to complete this portrait in between my trips down to Virginia. And this is the fourth portrait completed in my series inspired by New Girl, “Cece Parekh” (played by Hannah Simone).

This piece was a bit of a struggle since it’s been a while since I sat down and completed a portrait. In the New Year I’m planning to focus more energy on my creative work so hopefully these portrait will come easier to me in the future (with a lot more practice). I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and has a chance to start 2025 off wonderfully!

November 26, 2024November 26, 2024

Schmidt

Lately, I’ve been enjoying the challenge of tackling different portrait series. I’ve been pushing myself outside of my comfort zone, and I’m also excited to start some new still life and landscape pieces that have been in my backlog for a while.

This is the third portrait in my series inspired by the TV show New Girl: “Schmidt” (played by Max Greenfield). He’s one of my favorite characters from the show, which made it especially enjoyable to take my time and focus on capturing his likeness. I’m planning to create at least three more portraits in this series, making it a much smaller body of work than the one I created inspired by The Office.

September 17, 2024September 17, 2024

Winston Bishop

The other night, I completed the second portrait in my New Girl series: “Winston Bishop” (played by Lamorne Morris). I had a lot of fun working on the colorful pattern of his shirt and enjoyed the overall challenge of tackling another portrait.

Winston is one of my favorite characters from the show, so naturally, I had to create his portrait early on in the series. I’m planning to make at least four more for this collection. Right now, I’m aiming to complete one new collage each month, since my schedule has been pretty hectic lately. Keep an eye out for more New Girl-inspired collages!

August 14, 2024August 14, 2024

Jessica Day

New Girl has always been one of those shows that I can rewatch and still find myself laughing out loud. The characters are so unique and relatable in their own weird ways, and I knew I wanted to capture that in my art. So, I decided to dive into a new portrait series inspired by the show, and I kicked it off with none other than Jessica Day.

Creating this portrait was a bit of an adventure. I used upcycled magazines to piece together the vibrant, quirky essence of Jess. There’s something really satisfying about taking old materials and giving them new life in a way that captures the spirit of a character I’ve enjoyed watching for years. This portrait took some time, but it didn’t feel like a grind—probably because Jess’s infectious energy kept me going.

While I don’t plan on making as many portraits for this series as I did for my The Office collection, I’m excited to see where this journey takes me. I’ve got a few more New Girl characters in mind, and I’m looking forward to bringing them to life with this technique. Stay tuned—there’s more to come!

August 7, 2024August 7, 2024

Bosty goes to Monterey, CA

Bosty goes to Monterey by collage artist Megan Coyle

Bosty recently decided to visit the West Coast for a few days. He’d heard great things about the beaches in Monterey, so he decided to take a look for himself. He spent a good amount of time walking on the beaches, admiring the beautiful ocean.

But sometimes, he needed a break from all that sun, so he also swung by the Monterey Bay Aquarium a couple of times.

He loved taking a look at all the different fish.

Especially some of the creatures that would have scared him if he came face-to-face with them in nature – like this school of jellyfish!

And before he left, he had to stop by the otter exhibit to say “hello.” Otters do look a lot like sea dogs…

For the remainder of the trip, he explored different beaches. Some were sandy, while others were rocky, perfect for tide-pooling. He had so much fun finding crabs and small fish in the puddles of ocean water.

He even got to see sea lions sunbathing on rocks by the ocean.

Overall, Bosty enjoyed exploring a new area in California and getting to see some wildlife – both in an aquarium and in the wild.

July 24, 2024October 22, 2024

Hands-on Collage Workshop

Afternoon in the Park collage by Megan Coyle — “Afternoon in the Park,” Collage on paper, 5″x7″
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October 16th, 2024
Phillips@THEARC, Washington, DC

I will be running a collage workshop at The Phillips Collection’s THEARC location. The workshop will begin with a presentation on collage, exploring the concept of “painting with paper.” Then, participants will create their own “painting with paper” landscape artworks. All materials will be provided by The Phillips Collection.

Learn more

July 23, 2024July 23, 2024

Andrew McMahon

Andrew McMahon has been one of my favorite musicians for years. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve put many of his albums on repeat. Even now, as an adult, I continue to enjoy listening to his new and old music, as well as seeing him perform live. I thought it would be great to create a portrait of Andrew since his music has meant a lot to me.

It took me a decent chunk of time to complete this piece, although it wasn’t as much of a struggle as some of my other portraits. I think it would be fun to work on a series of musician portraits, although I might start working on another series inspired by a TV show soon. We shall see…