Susan L Markloff
Michaella's Process
Every artist has a process for how they complete their projects. Michaella tackles things in a very traditional sense, and below is a rough outline of what the stages of working with her look like. If you're interested in commissioning her, this will help you understand how she works, and let you know what questions to ask!
Step 1: Understanding the characters. Michaella will ask for descriptions of the characters she's drawing. Everything from their height to their eye color to the way they style their hair. What type of personality do they have? How old are they? The more information, the better! And if you have a Pinterest board ready to go, invite her to it, so she can study what you see this character looking like.
Step 2: Profile Sketch. First is getting the face right. She'll refine features, ask if eyes look correct. Is that the right nose? How's the jawline? Tell her what's working and what isn't: she can't fix it if she doesn't know what's wrong! She'll try multiple adjustments if that's what's needed.
Step 3: Body Sketch. She'll outline the character's physique, muscle structure, and get the basics of a pose down.
Step 4: Adjustments to the body. Tell her what needs to be changed. If the pose needs to be fixed. If the musculature is wrong. If the hand placement is wonky.
Step 5: Clothing and Refinement of Features. This is when you can let her know if any of the clothes needs to change.
Step 6: Lineart. Once everything with the sketch is finalized and you're happy with how the character looks, Michaella will draw up the line art.
Step 7: Initial Coloring. She'll do a flat color and verify that everything looks right. **Make sure you've given her very clear instructions, as once it's colored, she cannot go back.
Step 8: Final Product. Michaella will send updates as she colors so that you can see the character start to come to life. Minor adjustments to color can be made, but major color changes will be harder to accomplish once the color is on the page (especially with dark colors. Lighter colors are easier to work with).
