Get to know Megan Lara, the extraordinary artist behind the Gen Con program book cover art.
How many years have you been showcasing your work at Gen Con?
I’ve been fortunate enough to show my work in the Gen Con Art Show for six years (including this one)! I haven’t been able to attend since the pandemic, though, and I am so incredibly happy to be coming back.
What inspired your work on this year’s Gen Con program book cover art?
My wife is a massive D&D and board game fan (I dabble, but it’s her thing), so she helped me brainstorm what I should create. In general, I usually draw more pop-culture-focused art nouveau work, but I knew for this one I wanted to do a more original fantasy-focused illustration that could be broadly enjoyed.
I wanted to showcase Gen Con’s mascot, Genevieve the Dragon, and also include a figure who could act as a guide to an upcoming adventure, which works both for D&D and for Gen Con itself. I included D&D elements and other little references in the piece since I love it when people find little easter eggs and things that I sneak in.
Genevieve and the mimic were the biggest challenges for me, as those sorts of things are not usually in my wheelhouse! I’m really happy with how they both turned out, though, and I’m glad I pushed myself to try something a little different.
Here is the sketch process for my Gen Con cover:
What has been the biggest influence on your art, your style, aesthetic, or creative process?
Alphonse Mucha and Drew Struzan have had the biggest and most obvious influence on my style. I’ve always been very design-focused, and I admire Mucha and Struzan for their ability to combine realism and a more painterly style with incredible design and graphic elements. Their intriguing compositions have always stood out to me as something I wanted to emulate.
I remember being gifted a Mucha art book back in 2010 and being fascinated by his patterns, lines, and the balance in all his pieces. I loved the blend of fine and commercial art and thought it would be really cool to see modern-day pop culture icons in a similar style, so I set about making them myself.
As far as my personal creative process goes, I’m one of those unfortunate people who can’t see things in their head. It’s definitely been a struggle for me, but I’ve found ways to work around it.
These are the first pop culture/art nouveau pieces I ever did, all the way back in 2010. This is what allowed my career to take off – it was posted on Reddit and blew up. I started making sales and people just assumed I knew what I was doing. I did not, so I had to learn real fast. I’d just gotten my AA at community college and was going to get my Bachelor’s at a university afterward, but decided not to and instead pursued art and it’s been a pretty crazy ride. No regrets. 🙂 
“Process” – my personal favorite piece. 
Some board game work I got to do because of Gen Con! 
When I start a piece, I either read or watch the material that it’s based on (if applicable) several times and take detailed notes. I write down abstract ideas, patterns, easter egg ideas, pivotal scenes, important phrases, etc. It’s a very stream-of-consciousness type document. Then, if it’s a movie or TV show, I put it on in the background and start researching references or taking photos if I can myself, or I use my little jointed mannequin figure to help with anatomy.
My work is the only area of my life where I am organized. I have an individual folder for the piece I’m starting, as well as subfolders for references for every item I’m planning on including. I include a ton of references in every piece, so I’d be a hot mess if I didn’t keep things organized.
Once I have everything gathered, I start arranging references with a loose idea of how I want the composition to look. That helps me overcome the “can’t see things in my head” difficulty. Once I have a messy idea of how I want it to look, I can do a sketch much more easily. I usually do a rough composition with references, an ugly thumbnail sketch, tighten up the lines, do a final pass of lines, and then finally add color. Planning easily takes the majority of my time.
What’s it like to be an exhibiting artist at Gen Con?
It’s both humbling and extremely fun. Everyone in the Art Show is fantastic, and it definitely puts a little pep in your step to know that you were accepted into a show with such talented folks. The camaraderie between the artists is really wonderful, and I’ve made so many artist friends who I look forward to seeing every year, whether it’s at Gen Con or other conventions as well.
In addition to the awesome artists, the crowd at Gen Con is easily one of my favorites. I’ve made more friends at Gen Con than at any other show, and these friendships have lasted for years.
The only part that kind of stinks is that I’m usually too tired to participate in any post-work shenanigans, but I will try to make more of an effort this year!
What are you most looking forward to at Gen Con 2025?
I’m most looking forward to seeing old friends and other artists! Some of my local friends–who I’ve known for literal decades–will be attending, so it’ll be nice to hang out with them and play some games. I also haven’t told them that I got to do the cover, so I’m excited to get messages from them about it when they figure it out!
I’d also love to get some more commissions/work from the Gen Con community. In the past, I was lucky enough to do the covers for the Rat Queens and The Revenant Society board games, so I’d love to do things like that again.
You and your family have a wonderful and inspirational connection to the LGBTQIA+ community at Gen Con. Would you share with us some of your favorite moments and memories at the show?
Gen Con 2019 was the first show where my wife really got to “come out” as trans and be herself, present femme, etc. It holds a lot of significance to both of us for that reason in particular–it was a huge milestone for her and was the first time I think she really got to feel free and comfortable just being herself in public.
Everyone at the show was very accepting and treated her like another girl. Before that, it was mostly just her being herself at home but still presenting neutrally or masculine outside of it.
We live in Missouri, and she worked in elder care, so it wasn’t really an accepting environment. Gen Con was the turning point, though, and she never looked back–when we went home, she continued presenting as femme full-time. It was really wonderful to feel comfortable in that space, around other welcoming nerds who love board games, D&D, and art.
Stef at the beginning of her transition – all of us at Pride 2019 in Missouri! The two kiddos are Stef’s sons/my stepsons. 
Stef and I cosplaying as Xena and Gabrielle in costumes we made ourselves (even the boots)! 
This is a photo Stef and I took together after we saw ‘The Book of Mormon’ in New York in 2019! We’re huge musical theater fans, and she surprised me by proposing after our first time seeing a show on Broadway. I was so concerned with how I looked after running to the show and getting sweaty, that I didn’t even notice she was proposing until I put down my phone. Then I said yes and cried a lot. 🙂 
Most recent pic of Stef and I (from Wondercon). 
I’m usually not a happy crier, but I was that day. 🙂 
Stef and Megan got married on November 6, 2021
Do you have any special upcoming appearances, releases, or prints you’re particularly excited about?
Aside from Gen Con, I am also excited to be exhibiting at SDCC again this year for the second time! I also have a couple of Marvel Snap cards releasing soon that I’m excited to share.
As far as prints, I’m planning on adding a lot of foil editions of my prints this year, so I’m looking forward to releasing them, as well as some pins and stickers (finally).
What can attendees look forward to seeing at your booth at Gen Con this year?
I will have my usual catalogue of prints with me, but for Gen Con specifically, I’m also going to have some limited edition foil prints of the piece I did for the program cover, as well as some pins/stickers of the mimic that is included in that piece since I really love how he turned out.
About Megan
Megan is a 36-year-old illustrator who lives in southern Missouri with her wife, Stefani. Her biggest fixation is pop culture, so most of her work involves homages to various pop icons in an art nouveau-influenced style.
In her 15-year career, she has been thrilled to create licensed work for clients such as Dark Horse Comics (Willow: Wonderland), Netflix (Rebel Moon), Crystal Dynamics (Lara Croft 25th Anniversary), Valve (Portal), Syfy (Firefly and Battlestar Galactica), Marvel (Marvel Snap), and a host of other amazing companies and individuals.
Outside of art, Megan’s hobbies and interests are listening to long-form video essays on obscure topics, history podcasts, and Final Fantasy XIV.
You can find Megan Lara at www.meganlara.com or follow @meganlaraart on Instagram. Stop by her booth at this year’s show, which will take place July 31 – August 3 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.