Yessss, more than half (or nearly all?) of my preparation before starting to draw is staring at relevant google images. :D

Thank you for spending the time sharing all these details with me! It's one of my favorite things to find out how other people do things. :) For me re: coloring, I kinda just... color, without preparation, but I don't know if it means that I do it intuitively or if I'm simply going to like the end result even if the color palette is "objectively" weird. I tend to love weird color combinations even in real life, not just in art, so it might be the latter. ;D And I'm honestly in awe that you're a composer, as someone who doesn't even have any basic idea about making music. It sounds so complicated and super cool, and completely nowhere near my talents. :D