Why Do Artists Create Self Portraits?

The New York Diner by collage artist Megan Coyle

A self portrait is a representation of an artist created by that artist. Self portraits have been made in every medium imaginable – photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures, and many more. If you’re an admirer of art, and have frequented museums and galleries, you’ve most likely seen quite a few self portraits – and I have to admit that I have made quite a few self portraits over the years. So, why exactly do artists make self portraits? Here are a few reasons why:

1. Practice

Self portraits help artists tackle the figure. The more an artist can render a portrait, even if it’s just of her or his self, the better an artist can get at depicting people. The human form is a pretty complex subject to tackle, so the more practice, the better.

2. A Convenient Model

It’s common for artists to draw from life, which means using models. Hired models can be pricy, and that expense can add up, so drawing from life by looking in a mirror is a lot cheaper. Also, making self portraits is really convenient – you can always pose for yourself whenever you want to, while hiring models or having someone pose for you means you’ll have to figure out scheduling.

3. To explore themes and ideas in their artwork

Self portraits can also be used for a series exploring various compositions with underlying meaning, such as the exploration of the artist’s self.

4. Record the artist’s self

Self portraits can also be used to record the way the artist looked at the time the portrait was made.


So there you have it, a few reasons why artists make self portraits. If you’re an artist and have another reason why you make self portraits, feel free to reach out to me and let me know what it is!

How to Make a Paper Collage

Pretty as a Peacock by collage artist Megan Coyle

Pretty as a Peacock by collage artist Megan Coyle


Here’s how you can get started:

1. Decide what you want to collage


2. Find your inspiration


3. Gather your materials


  • Glue
  • Varnish
  • Scissors
  • Pencil and eraser

4. Plan your collage


Pretty as a Peacock sketch by collage artist Megan Coyle

5. Start collaging


Pretty as a Peacock work in progress by collage artist Megan Coyle

6. Varnish your collage


Pretty as a Peacock by collage artist Megan Coyle

7. Frame your collage


Now you’re ready to share your artwork with the world!

How to Handle Criticism as an Artist




1. Take note of the critique and push it aside.


2. Analyze what was said and figure out what was useful




4. Remind yourself why you’re an artist and keep creating.


10 Ways to get Inspired

Inspiration is something that can find you at the most unexpected times, but it’s also something that you need to pursue. Inspiration won’t always come looking around for you. Often enough, admiring the work of others can help inspire your own ideas.

Here are a few things you can do to help increase your chances of getting inspired:

1. Go on an adventure

Getting a change of scenery can give you a new perspective on the world. This can be as simple as going on a local excursion or traveling to an entirely different city. When your surroundings are different, you notice the details more than you notice them in familiar places.

2. Read a book

Reading a book is like taking your mind on an adventure. You can lose yourself in someone else’s words, and find yourself walking away from the writing with a new spin on the world. That new spin, can generate new ideas.

3. Watch a critically acclaimed movie

Critically acclaimed movies can be works of art that make you think. By watching a more artistic film, you can get your own artistic ideas.

4. Go to a concert

Beautiful music, especially when played live, is a wonderful experience. The way your senses interact with the sounds and your surroundings, can trigger your own ideas.

5. Watch a documentary on a successful person

There’s no better motivation to stop sitting and start doing, than when you hear about the struggles and successes of a successful figure. If you find that you’re in a bit of a rut, it can help to hear about how other successful people have hit their own rough patches in life.

6. Write creatively

Writing can help you with brainstorming and the creative process.

7. Go for a walk or on a run

It can help to get away from whatever you’re working on, and start taking care of yourself more. And exercise can do precisely that.

8. Surprise someone

Doing something kind for someone else can help you look at life a little differently. So often we’re focused on ourselves, that when we shift that focus, it can change our outlook, which helps us creatively.

9. Go dancing

Similar to #7, dancing puts you in a different environment which can help you find inspiration. Sometimes having fun and getting outside of your head for a little bit, is all you need.

10. Just practice your craft

If you practice your craft even when you’re not feeling motivated or inspired, you can get a gust of inspiration simply by sitting down and making time for it.

How to “Paint with Paper”

Commuters is a collage by Megan Coyle



1. Gather your materials

You’ll need:

  • a stack of magazines
  • pencil and eraser
  • scissors
  • UV-protective varnish

Materials that Megan Coyle uses for her collages

2. Pick a composition


3. Sketch our your composition


Sketch of Commuters by collage artist Megan Coyle

4. Select colors and patterns


Materials that Megan Coyle uses for her collages

5. Cut and paste shapes from the magazine pages


Work in Progress of Commuters by collage artist Megan Coyle

6. Keep piecing it together


Commuters by collage artist Megan Coyle

7. Varnish your collage


8. Frame your collage




How to Develop a Creative Support Network



Here’s how you can build your own creative network:

1. Ask for Help


2. Surround Yourself With Your Champions


3. Give Back to the Community


4. Network




How to Become an Artist

"The Daydreaming Fish" by collage artist Megan Coyle


1. Start making art


2. Take classes


3. Evaluate your work and ask others to critique it


4. Make time for your art


5. Build a portfolio


6. Find a marketing strategy


7. Connect with other artists


8. Never give up




7 Ways to Make Time for Your Artwork

Daytime at the Capitol by collage artist Megan Coyle

Trying to find time to make artwork can be an intimidating task at hand. If you’re like me and have a full-time job, enjoy spending time with your family and friends, and also want to have time to make artwork, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by everything.

In an effort to make art making easier to fit into your schedule, here are a few ways you can make time for your creativity:

1. Make a schedule and stick to it

It’s easier to have time to do something when it becomes part of your weekly routine. Try carving out a few minutes a day during the week or on the weekend where you’ll devote some time to artwork. Even if you’re only devoting ten minutes a day, at least you’ll spend a little time at it. Plus, the most difficult part is getting started. Often times what was initially going to be ten minutes of creative time, can easily turn into a couple of hours once you find yourself getting caught up in your work.

2. Limit the time you spend on your smartphone or on social media

If you’re one of those people who checks his or her phone numerous times an hour, try to get into the habit of turning off your phone, or turning it on silent and hiding it, so you won’t get distracted by push notifications and other in-your-face alerts. It’s easy to get caught up in whatever is trending for a given hour when you’re constantly tied to your device. But when you set it aside for a while, it’s easier to have more time to do other things like make artwork.

3. Brainstorm the activities you want to do each week and map them out on a calendar

I like to come up with a rough idea of what I want to do each week. Then I map out what I plan to do every day of the week. I used to have a never ending to-do list, which quickly got out of control and got easier to ignore. I found that adding only one or two tasks for a given day was an easier way to cross items off my to-do list without getting overwhelmed. I found that this especially worked well when I wanted to make sure I did something art-related every day.

I also like to use an online calendar to manage these tasks, since digital calendars make it a lot easier to move things around if something comes up. You can always (and easily) reassign tasks to another day.

4. Take a class

Sometimes it’s not necessarily a matter of not having enough time to make artwork, it’s more along the lines of not being inspired enough to find time to make artwork. When you’re lacking motivation or inspiration, it can be difficult to set aside any time at all for art. By taking an art class, you can give yourself a little push to find time for art every week. You could also get some ideas from my post on 10 Ways to Get Inspired with Your Artwork.

5. Find ways to ease art into your schedule

There are times when making a schedule for your art seems too structured and intimidating, and you’d prefer other ways to work it into your life. One way is to ease art into your life gradually. If you enjoy watching the news or a little bit of TV at the end of the day, one way to start incorporating art-making time into your life is by working on a project while the TV is playing. That way, you can not only follow along with the news or other TV show, but you can also get some art done.

6. Have a designated space for making artwork

If you have no real workspace for your art, then making artwork will become more of a hassle when you have to recreate your studio environment every time you want to work on a project. If you set up a space where your supplies and work in progress are set out, it will make it a lot easier to continue working on a piece. In fact, any work in progress sitting in your studio space can serve as a reminder that you should get back to art making at some point in time.

7. Set goals

Without any concrete goals or a tangible vision, you can easily get lost. By defining your goals and what you want to accomplish with your artwork, you’ll have an easier time setting aside time for art when you have an end-goal in mind.


The art making process is indeed a process, and you should keep that in mind when making artwork and working on refining your style and technique – art making takes time. And the only way you can continue to grow as an artist, is if you work on finding that time to develop your craft.

10 Exercises to Help you get Inspired with Your Artwork

Puppies in Jail by collage artist Megan Coyle

Inspiration can take work, just like being an artist takes work. As an artist, you need to consistently schedule the time to practice your craft. When it comes to inspiration, you need to be dedicated to discovering and exploring different ways that you can jumpstart your creativity.

I usually find that getting myself out of my comfort zone helps energize my mind and makes me ready to tackle new and exciting things. So if you’re having trouble getting inspired, here are a few ideas of things you can do:

1. Walk around your neighborhood and challenge yourself to take ten creatively cropped pictures

This will help you start thinking creatively about common, everyday things and settings by looking at them in a new light.

2. Make a claymation inspired by a dream you had

Working with clay and thinking creatively about illustrating different moments in time, even if they can seem silly and nonsensical like dreams, will help you find the art in moments.

The Ewok Terrier by collage artist Megan Coyle
“The Ewok Terrier” Collage on paper. 5″x7″
Order a print

3. Play with your food

Find different and unique ways to rearrange the food on your plate. This can help you find the fun in everyday activities. And who knows, perhaps this could inspire a fun new series.

4. Find ten different items in your room and create characters inspired by them

This is another exercise in finding the art in common, ordinary things. Our lives can’t always be really exciting or inspiring, so it’s up to you to find that inspiration in what might otherwise be drab or dull.

5. Write a poem where the first line comes from the first thing that pops into your head

Brainstorming ideas can sometimes feel like a chore. Turning it into more of a game can help you find inspiration, and get into a brainstorming rhythm.

6. Take a series of photos to make a flipbook

It’s great to look at things you’re used to and might normally overlook in a new way. Making a flipbook can help you focus on making mundane actions interesting.

7. Make a collage entirely from cutting and layering text

This allows you to look at typography in a new way – by focusing more on the shape and color of text than the actual content.

Portrait of a Dog by collage artist Megan Coyle
“Malachi” Collage on paper. 9″x12″
Order a print

8. Make a painting without using a paintbrush

Again, this gets you thinking outside the box. Without a brush, what kind of shapes and strokes can you make with other objects or tools that are dipped in paint?

9. Find the music in normal sounds and dance to it

Avoid succumbing to the humdrum of routine and the ordinary, by training your ears and mind to find the music around you.

10. Pretend you are someone else – what kind of work would you make? Try it!

Learning to see things from someone else’s perspective is a useful skill to have. If you’re making art from someone else’s point of view, it could help you think more about the messaging behind your work.

How to Build a Wall of Positivity for Your Creative Self




