Noir Style Tutorial, Pt. 1 - Introduction

I've been working with a dramatic noir style for a while now and a few people have asked me to write a tutorial on my workflow. I do think this would work better as a video, but I really don't have the time to commit to making the four or five parts I predict it would take to do it justice. So, for now, I'm going to outline the process here and (hopefully) get around to the video late this year or early next.

My noir style, based on
Brian Haberlin's process.

First and foremost, I need to give credit where it is due: This style is based on the work of a very talented and generous artist, Brian Haberlin. He is known for his work on Witchblade, Spawn, Anomaly, and Faster Than Light. Brian is very forthcoming about using Poser and other digital tools like Z-Brush in his work. I was fortunate enough to attend an online webcast he did for Anomaly Productions, which focused on using these tools to create comics.

There are very few single incidents that I can look back at and say, "This changed the way I work." There are a few teachers and classes in college, one particular issue of a fanzine (I was editing the Collectors' Club Newsletter, and I abruptly changed from just trying to get it finished on time to being very mindful of the way I approached it to create something as good as I could possibly make it). The Anomaly Webcast was one of those events.

After this event, I completely changed the way I approached digital comics and using digital tools to create line art. I found a combination of tools and an approach for using them that energized me and my art. And, at the risk of blowing my own horn, other people noticed a change in my work and began to comment favorably on what I was doing.

And that's why we're here – so I can share with you what I'm doing and how I do it. With all that being said, I'm not going to pretend or delude myself into thinking I'm an expert. But this is my workflow, and it works for me because it is relatively fast and repeatable. In other words, I have been able to get consistent results so that I can combine the images into a comic book, which has been my goal ever since I started down this particular path.

NEXT: Tools of the Trade