This week on The All Worlds Traveller we acknowledge the phenomenal work done by Michelle Rose Nobs as series makeup consultant on The People of Light and Shadow and ask a few questions about her life inside and outside the world of makeup.
Rose Nobs is a makeup artist and fantasy writer who I had the fortune to meet via my friend Megg Principe-Purdy, herself an extraordinary makeup artist and collaborator, who recommended Rose for a headshot session in early 2020 that Megg couldn’t make. At that session—I believe it was Nathan Randall Miller’s extraordinary creative portrait and headshot session, I mentioned the prospect of fantasy portraiture to Rose, and she said it was the kind of art she’d longed to do. We couldn’t know that all of this would be put on hold with the onset of the pandemic.
Rose did makeup for the only two full sessions we did in the first year of the pandemic: Liz Falstreau’s branding session and Erin Gallagher’s costume showcase. In the summer of 2021, as we began to plan the series that would be The People of Light and Shadow, I reached out to Rose to ask whether she’d be interested in doing that fantasy portraiture work we’d once discussed. She was on board. Rose had previously planned to create a fairy look with her friend (now my friend) Kristen McCabe, and thus Kristen joined the series in a portrait that would become “The Pixie.”
As series makeup consultant, Rose was available to answer questions or provide makeup for anyone who requested it, schedule allowing. Her work on The People of Light and Shadow spans more than a quarter of the series and includes “The Merrow,” “The Hidden One, Hel,” “The Pixie,” “The Queen of Air and Darkness,” “The Muse, Urania,” and “The Devil.”
Chill, relaxed, and easygoing, Rose is a pleasure to work with. In our downtime we catch up and talk about fantastical things and the books. I’m grateful to Rose for helping turn what can be a stressful endeavor into a fun one. Having Rose on makeup is a comfort and a blessing, and I am eternally thankful for her peaceful spirt and her lovely work.
This fall Rose is going back to school, where she plans to concentrate on literature, composition, and fiction, though she assures me this won’t stop our collaborations.
A Conversation with Rose Nobs
In which we speak of makeup, education, fantasy, and literature…
How did you get into makeup and specifically into fantasy makeup?
Rose Nobs: I got into makeup when I was living in Florida with an ex. I had searched in Youtube, “How to use makeup brushes” and found this channel called Makeup Geek. I started watching the tutorials and got utterly obsessed, (years later I applied for and had an interview with that same company at their Michigan location).
I moved back to Chicago to attend Makeup First, now relocated in downtown Naperville, and have gotten so lucky to be able to do makeup as soon as I graduated in 2014.
Fantasy makeup was always something I was interested in, especially since playing video games like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, World of Warcraft, etc. I wanted to do cosplay makeup but there was not much of a demand for that. I loved doing anything with special effects, and watching shows like Face Off was a huge inspiration to me.
Is there a particular effect you’d like to learn? What would be your ideal fantasy makeup project?
Rose Nobs: There is always so much to learn; I feel like I can adapt to anything easily. I learned the hard way on film sets that if the director wants something specific and you don’t have anything in your kit, you brainstorm for five minutes, find a solution, and do the application without complaining. I would like to get better at painting prosthetics though—I had to paint a werewolf mask on a set once, and it was so awesome!
What kinds of challenges do you face when designing a look? What’s your process for conceiving and designing such a look?
Rose Nobs: I would say my biggest challenge for any project is having the self-confidence to execute the look to the client’s or my vision. Usually, I get into my own head and overthink things. I like doing a lot of research, however if I still have a different idea of what I want to do and the client still has a different idea in their head, I chide myself for lack of communication on my end. Sometimes I just get carried away!
You’re going back to school this fall. What are you studying, and what excites you most about this subject?
Rose Nobs: I am pursuing my bachelors in English at ASU and my masters in librarian information and science. I am over the moon about going back to school. Right now I am taking General Education courses because my old transcripts were not accepted. For an in-depth rant about that we will have to schedule coffee. I love my English 101 class; I love writing papers, and my English 102 starts in October!
You’re also an avid reader. What are your favorite books you’ve read in the last five years? Favorite books ever?
Rose Nobs: My favorite books are: The Muse, by Jessie Burton, Circe, by Madeline Miller, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, by Domonic Smith, anything by Alice Hoffman, The Secret History of Witches, the Wheel of Time series, The Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter series, the Shannara Chronicles, the Legend of Drizzt series, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula.
There’s so many more, but those are the top in my mind right now!
Obviously, Harry Potter has always had a special place in my heart—my grandma took me to Sam’s Club when I was nine, and I remember running over to the book table because she always bought me one book. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was out on the table, and I grabbed it, not knowing it was the third book and did not care. Afterwards I was completely hooked and in love.
Watching the Lord of the Rings movies made me want to get into doing film makeup, especially special effects. I’m grateful to say I had been doing makeup for movies since 2014–2019. Then COVID hit and I just did not feel comfortable going back, and I had started my own pet sitting business!
Thank You, Rose
Great thanks once again to Rose for all the time and work she contributed to The People of Light and Shadow. It is no small thing to take on such an art project, coming to and from the sessions over and over again, lending one’s skill and talent and time to it. I am proud of this project, which would look entirely different without Rose’s unique touch, and for this Rose has my deep gratitude.
And while this is Rose’s dedication, I’d like to acknowledge again two other makeup artists on the series, Erin Gallagher and Dawna Chung, for their contributions on “The Harlequin” and “The King of Winter” respectively, and to everyone who did their own makeup. You made the series what it is, and I am so proud of what we all made together. Thank you.
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