So, to better my skill set and continue my growth with IC6 and related content, I've optioned a number of short stories from friends of mine for developing as a limited manga series of crime noir comics. Have figured out a nice workflow and carving out the time now to begin. Here's some WIP scene studies today and some B/W pages as well for you to see. Nothing finished fully yet - just thinking out loud and seeing where I shall go for my final look.

I like the 20mm lens here and it's a good look for a hideout space. I'm just getting my head around the props I have available and the style of lighting I want to use.
Here's the same room with a 35mm lens - and it's a fairly simple illustration in IC6 with minimal Photoshop tweaks (just some dirt and stain work). The toolset in IC6 is robust so I can have a lot of fun lighting these digital sets. As comics were my gateway to cinema, you can see how I try to make the frame tell a story - we know there are bad guys around - there's a tactical shotgun front and center - but what's the deal with everything else?

What kind of monsters have a bicycle, a kid's rocket ride and religious iconography spattered about? This is how I find my characters sometimes - I build their rooms and then grow from there. In the case of "Bar Scars", the series I optioned - I have some fully fleshed out scenarios so imagery like this is just an exercise in world-building and color palette finding. I cannot underscore how important it is for me to warm up and do exercises before starting any work of greater significance.

With the B/W ' manga work, I'm finding the tonal range and seeing how far I need to push detail and how well the Med Rez characters hold up. I'm happy with this kind of staging and look for a monochrome comic and it will probably end up as the look of choice for Bar Scars and the noir world.

Panel orientation, breaking the gutter margins, screen direction and tonal range tests allow me to see how best to approach the finished work. IC6 makes manipulating the new CC models a joy and adding Manga Studio 5 to the mix (I can't bring myself to calling it Clip Studio - yet) helps me define the structure I need to begin.

Looking forward to new CC hair tools and the opportunity to delve deeper into the tool kit and continue my work. Thanks to everyone here - especially Rampa - for the continued advice, insights and ideas. Any feedback, hints on IC assets I should look at and other ideas will be most appreciated.