Deck of Fools

Oops

2011-08-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

I've accidentally left my tablet pen 100 miles away... so no update this week.

Very sorry, oops

No update July 30th (probably) Edit: Nevermind!

2011-07-28T16:51:00.000-07:00

Just a heads up for anyone reading this, there won't be an update this Saturday (probably).
Various forces have conspired to prevent me from finishing the page (most prominently perspective) so it'll have to wait for next week.

Thanks for your patience

Edit: Cancel that, I got it done!

Version 2.0 In Colour!

2011-04-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

Ha ha, alright.

Coming tomorrow! A year and a day after this enterprise failed!

Deck of Fools: The Return

Version 2.0 in full colour.

It's back, I'm back, and hopefully to stay this time.

Starting over with updates on Saturday. Join the Jester as he searches a fading world for death.

Page 10!

2010-04-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

Finally, finally, a page!

I'm thinking of eschewing the fancy titles and just nmbering the pages, I'm having a hard time thinking up titles that aren't lame puns. If I decide to stick with the titles then I'll go back and change this one later.

I can't decide if I'm getting better or worse with my colouring. Overall I really like this page, but I'm not as happy with that establishing shot as I would like to be.

Also, as you may have noticed, the site is pretty now!

"So Very Wrong" in Colour!!!

2010-02-03T16:15:00.000-08:00

After missing three updates in a row I have returned!

I come bringing a new page, a new page in colour!

I'll take this moment to warn you, I'm partially colourblind so things may look a bit off. I tried my best, and I used photo references for most of it, but I'm afraid it's not quite perfect. Despite my best efforts things may be glaringly wrong, if that is so please tell me and I'll work to make things fit better next time.

For the time being though, please enjoy the new page!

TDC

Edit: Oh yeah... I should probably warn you that there's going to be some nudity in the near future. There's even some on this page.

Late and/or Missed Updates

2010-01-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

I'm really sorry about this, and I don't have an excuse.

But I do have a good reason.
I'm a full time University student, as such I have a lot of work and projects to do. Unfortunately that means that when I have to push some things back this comic will definitely be one of them. Alas, that is the fate of personal ambitions when one is paying for their education. I hope you can understand that.

As such I'm going to instate an anecdote to my Thursday schedule: If I miss an update there will not be a make-up update, come back next Thursday. I'm sorry, that's just the way it has to be during the school year. When May rolls around I'll probably be able to increase frequency but we'll have to wait and see.

Thanks for sticking around,
TDC

"A Fall"

2010-01-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

I finished the latest page in time to kick start my new schedule before the week was out!
That means you get the first update of 2010 almost half a week early!
It also means that you won't get another page on Monday because we'll be going directly to the Thursday schedule.

I also went back and revised the dialogue on the previous page, it just didn't seem to flow right to me.

Impending Return

2010-01-04T11:06:00.000-08:00

Hello all!

I'm pleased to announce the return of the comic in exactly one week's time! I'm planning on adopting a Thursday schedule for updates, but I don't want to make you wait too long un-necessarily! So next week you'll get two updates, then one every Thursday!

We'll see how it works out. This is my first attempt at a regular schedule for anything, so I may have to make some adjustments.

Hope you had a great Holiday Season, see you soon.

Hiatus

2009-12-01T16:45:00.000-08:00

Alas, though it has only just begun I am afraid I must take a break. Not to worry, the comic will resume updates in January. Hopefully with a regular schedule too.

This break is necessitated by the fact that I make this comic on a desktop and will have to travel home for Christmas break. Not having access to a computer with Photoshop (not to mention a scanner) means I can't make any more comics. Though I will be working on scripts and the paper portion of the pages, as well as trying to fix up the site.

There might be some more blog posts here before the next comic, and you can expect me to complete the "About" and "Cast" sections on the main site over the next month. I can understand if you don't want to stick around waiting on nothing, but I do hope that you come back in January.

See you then!

So How's it Done?

2009-11-29T11:54:00.000-08:00

I think every webcomicer makes their comics in a different way. I know that in preparation for making Deck of Fools I read a lot of tutorials and advice from various other artists, and not just the best ones either. It's always useful to find out how something you don't like was made so that you can avoid making the same mistakes.

I'll leave it up to you to decide whether I'm producing something to emulate or avoid, but here's my process.

First I start with the script, I've got a rough script of the first four chapters written out that I detail as it gets closer to drawing time. For example: before I started the prologue I had fully scripted and named the pages as well as including some brief stage directions. I had chapter one sectioned out into pages and named, and I had detailed outlines of chapter two and three. I've also got bare bones scripts for four and five in development.

My next step is to make some thumbnails, I do these in my shetchbook. I usually do thumbnails for a few pages at once, it helps me get an idea of how they'll flow together when they're done. I'll then take my thubnails of my upcoming page and make the proper one.

The real page is made on 11" x 14" smooth bristol paper. I've got a tsquare that I use to measure out approximately 1"borders all around, and a triangle for the straight lines inside the page themselves. I'll also sometimes make use of a protractor, though I've got some other tools those are all that I've used so far. I pencil my lines with .7mm HB mechanical pencils (oh I know, I'm a bad girl), and I use one of those white erasers if I have to make corrections.

When the page is finished I'll scan it into photoshop in sections then create a photomerge to give me back my full page.

The next step is to merge all visible layers, change the mode to grayscale, then adjust the levels until I get the lines I like.

I've got a pre-made template that I use for the background and titles, so I duplicate my page layer into this template. From here on it gets a bit more complex, but I basically color in my blacks and shade the shadows and highlights.

Last but not least I put in my speach bubbles. I've learned that it's much easier to fit the bubble around the type than it is to fit the type into the bubble, so I put my letters down first. I make the bubbles themselves using the paths functions.

Then I resize my image, save for web and devices, ftp the comic to the site and wait for it to update! Not quite easy as pie, but it's a lot of fun.

Welcome!

2009-11-28T16:11:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Deck of Fools! The Blog of the Comic!

This is where you come if you want to know what's going on behind the scenes. I'm your host The Demonic Comic, TDC if you're too lazy to type it all out, and I hope you enjoy your stay!

If you've stumbled upon this blog by accident and are wondering what in the world is going on I'll be happy to tell you.

Deck of Fools is my Webcomic, it's brand new, just five pages as of this post and probably dosn't yet need a blog. Alas, this is necessary. You see, DoF was started as a project for my university drawing class, a project which is due in slightly less than two days.

Now I know, you're thinking "But TDC, you can't finish a webcomic in two days." I know. I'm not planning to finish it in two days, I just need to show the work I've done.

And don't worry, I'm not going to drop it at the end of next week. DoF has been in the works for two years now. It has a developed and detailed plot, a beginning, middle, and end, and far too many of my hopes riding on it. It will however go into a short hiatus over the month of December while I'm on holidays and build up a buffer. DoF will return in mid January if you care to stick around.

Just FYI, I really hope you do. I promise it'll be good.
and in case you missed it, here!