figurative | Megan Coyle: Artist & Illustrator

August 29, 2022September 12, 2022

Twyla Sands

The other night, I finished the eighth portrait in my Schitt’s Creek portrait series. This will be my final portrait for now, however, I may revisit the series in the future to add a few more characters. For the last piece, I figured I’d tackle a portrait of Twyla so I’d have a portrait of each of the Levy’s that starred in the show.

Working on this series was a lot of fun. Some portraits turned out better than others, although that’s only to be expected when you’re feeling rusty with a particular subject matter. Or actually, that’s only to be expected with art in general. Some works of art you’ll really like, while others, not so much.

So, what’s next? I’m planning to work on another series inspired by another favorite TV show of mine. So stay tuned for some more portraiture 🙂

August 2, 2022August 2, 2022

Patrick Brewer

I only have one more portrait to go (for now) in my Schitt’s Creek series. Working on Patrick Brewer’s portrait was a lot of fun. I did a little bit of live streaming for this piece, but for the most part tried to work on it here and there. I ended up using more solid colors than I expected to, but that’s just how my process goes sometimes. Sometimes, my work seems to have a mind of its own…

In other news, I may be a little slow to create new art in the upcoming weeks. I’ve been going through a couple of personal issues right now, so I may need to dedicate a little more time than usual to self care and a different sort of routine. But don’t worry, I’ll be back at being an art-making machine soon enough 🙂

June 19, 2022August 2, 2022

Ted Mullens

And the sixth portrait in my Schitt’s Creek series is complete. I have two more portraits that I want to complete for this series before I shift to another portrait series, but I may revisit Schitt’s Creek again to make collages of more characters at a future time.

This piece was a bit of a struggle for me. I thought I was getting the hang of portraiture again after being rusty for a while, but I kept struggling with getting the shaping down right. Also, his facial hair changed a few times before I was able to get it in a good place. Sometimes the creative process can take a while…

June 3, 2022September 12, 2022

Stevie Budd

The fifth portrait in my Schitt’s Creek series is now complete. In this picture, Stevie’s shirt looks a little more neutral than the actual piece looks like in real life – it’s actually a little redder. And when I started off with this portrait, my sketch was pretty rough, so I had to work on reshaping a lot of Stevie’s features with magazine cutouts to get things looking the way I wanted them to.

I’m excited to continue this series with about three more portraits. It’s been fun diving back into portraiture and exploring getting the likeness of different figures. It’s been challenging, but it’s also been a lot of fun.

May 28, 2022September 12, 2022

Moira Rose

This Schitt’s Creek portrait series is really demonstrating how the more you practice something, the better you get. I was feeling really rusty when I tackled the first portrait, and now on the fourth one, I’m really happy with the result. It’s still taking me quite a bit of time to complete these, but I’m happier that I’m feeling more confident with getting the likeness of the characters down properly.

I think I’ll make at least two more collages for this series. I may make four more, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Once I’m finished with the Schitt’s Creek portraits, I’m planning to tackle a New Girl series.

May 13, 2022September 12, 2022

Johnny Rose

This is the third collage I’ve completed thus far for my Schitt’s Creek portrait series. I’m beginning to get a little more comfortable with portraiture again, but it will probably take several more portraits before I feel more at home with it. I’m planning to tackle at least three more collages for this series before I turn to a different character series.

Getting back into portraiture after spending years away from it has definitely been a challenge, but I’m liking the routine I’ve gotten into. As an artist, I think it’s important to find different ways to challenge yourself, let that be via unfamiliar mediums or subject matter. I think after I complete several new portraits, I’ll start to revisit still life and landscape pieces.

March 31, 2022April 6, 2022

David Rose

Life has been hectic lately – I’ve shifted my focus on some of my other interests, so I haven’t been as active with my art-making. I picked up running recently, and have spent a great deal of time training for upcoming races.

However, I’m still planning to at least make one new collage per month this year. I completed this piece just the other night. It’s inspired by the show Schitt’s Creek, and I’m hoping to do more portraits of other characters soon. I started off with a portrait of David since he’s one of my favorite’s on the show. This portrait was definitely a bit of a struggle, and if you were to see it in-person, you’d notice that some sections have been built up with more layers than others. That’s a common occurrence when I’m struggling with a particular subject matter.

The tricky thing about making a portrait of a well known figure, is that it’s very easy to screw up the details and have the portrait not actually look like the person it’s supposed to be. I’m hoping that by picking up portraiture again, this process can only get easier over time.

July 10, 2021July 10, 2021

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.

November 3, 2020November 3, 2020

Taylor Swift

The other day I completed a portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which inspired me to start working on portraits again. Previously, I hadn’t focused much on portraits. My first few solo shows consisted of bodies of work that were entirely made up of portraiture/figurative pieces, and I burned myself out on that subject matter. I haven’t revisited portraiture much other than when I’m commissioned to make a portrait for a client, and I thought it would be great to delve back into the subject matter that I haven’t really focused on in years.

This portrait of “Taylor Swift” took more time than my pieces generally take, since I’m rusty with the human form and I wanted to get her likeness down properly. I’m excited to continue working on portraits and see how much I can improve with the process.

September 28, 2020September 28, 2020

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

When Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away the other day, I was inspired to work on a portrait to honor her memory. I haven’t tackled a portrait in nearly three years, so I felt rusty when I started this one. The tricky/intimidating thing about portraiture is getting the likeness of a person down properly. Sometimes I’ve struggled with it quite a bit, and this piece was no exception. It took me about a week to work on layering everything until I felt it was complete.

I think this portrait has inspired me to work on portraiture once again. Since it takes me longer to make these since I am a little rusty, I don’t plan to film any time lapse videos for my next few pieces. Once I’m able to speed up the process, I’ll consider filming my process again.