Building upon the work I did on "All This Will End Well", I now start on my next comic, "A Sparrow With White Scars". Here are some simple scene studies (with a bar set and pool table imported from Daz) and some basic figure looks. My male lead and female characters courtesy of Character Creator Stock Models and some additional Extras and Cast filtered in the background.

I wanted an old school bar and I've started to add to the overall ambience with noir posters in the background plus relatable street art and the like. I haven't set the lighting scheme yet - but it's going in the right direction.

I see these comics as 'mini-movies' using my cinema background to cover the scene as I would in film. The joy of comics is the ability to create alternate framing and build upon the gutter and white space/ negative values not afforded in cinema. The space and time is mandated by the real-time aspects of the movies - where in comics I can allow myself the luxury of time and emphasizing detail. I'll get a lot of action out of the pool table.

For me, this sort of set is invaluable - as a lot of the grimy stories I am attracted too are set in this kind of grubby milieu. The booths, the bar, the front door - all of them can be multi-use items so it's great to be able to use them like this. I am especially grateful that I've found a workflow that seems to flow for me - Daz + IC6 + CC (Rendered  at 4k) Output to Akvis and then Photoshopped and layout in Manga Studio or Comic Live. Am happy to answer any questions.

Looking great! What is the your thought process behind the regular-shaped and sized frames?

Mostly. I'm experimenting with shape and how panel size affects tone. Cinema traditionally frames horizontally (and I'm partial to a 2:35 aspect ratio - or wider as seen here). The vertical panels allow for a Close Up with space for dialogue balloons to be added - and it's one way I am approaching layout.

Here's a first look at the cover for the next Bar Scars story - A Sparrow With White Scars that I started work on today. Learned a lot from the first story - and am hopeful that the learning process will continue here. Another 'Noir" inspired stale written by Nik Korpon, This time out I am looking to the older pulp comics for inspiration - complete with stains, blotches and assorted ink splashes and drips to add continued grit to the story itself.