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For this comic, I wanted to play with the art conventions of film noir. I referenced normal stills of film noir as well as some of the legendary black-and-white photographs of Ansel Adams to inspire the style of this comic. What’s really interesting about film noir composition & Adams’ photographs is because they ARE in black and white, they often span both extremes of contrast and include pure white and pure black in the same composition. No pastels if all you have is grayscale! Also, film noir’s stark lighting is really fun to play with.

For all this talk about the artistic merits of film noir, though, I’ve never actually SEEN any of the movies that make up the genre. Can any of you recommend me some film noir I should watch? I need to get a noir-ducation!

Also, the title of this strip is an homage to Théophile Steinlen’s legendary ad illustration for the “Le Chat Noir” cabaret in Paris.
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check out Emma T Capps new web comic SUNNY, The League of Fonts THE LEAGUE OF FONTS is where typefaces are born. Every time a font is created in the world, it manifests as a living, breathing, Font – human for all intents and purposes, but unable to age or die unless their typeface falls into disuse. They live together on the League of Fonts, which serves as a secret island hub, bustling corporation, and home. It’s a world full of its own internal intrigues like any office, and Times New Roman is its powerful CEO. He’s got a lot on his plate lately: planning the League’s famous Decennial party, struggling with modern technology, and hiding his embarrassing addiction to the Twilight movies. Times New Roman is confident he can keep everything under control…but what’s an old font to do when a young boy named Louis Pepping accidentally stumbles onto the secrets of the League? Find out every Wednesday!