G'Ettin there, my son!

Pencillings for the cover of Oubliette 8 are now finished. Pete's gone for the Ettin .

When I do the covers for Oubliette, I constrain my drawing with one question: How will it look as a thumbnail when it comes to sale?

About twenty years ago, I used to cartoon for a multi-cultural magazine called Dost (means friend in Hindi). One of things that they liked about my cartoons was that they could blow them up or shrink them down, and they wouldn't lose detail. I honestly don't know how that works, it's one of the weirdo features of my style.

Anyway, it may be of interest to note that the figures on the covers have deliberate geometric symmetry, for example, Issues no5 and no2 are based on a cross shape, Issues no7 and no3 are based on right-angled triangles. These shapes appear to translate well when shrunk down in size.

Right, enough bumf. Back to work. Mouse Watch time. Ye olde D&D-ers may particularly enjoy what I have planned...

Oubliette Issue 7 Giveaway Results

The Oubliette Issue 7 giveaway is now over.  I'm delighted to report that we managed over 1,500 downloads.  A big thank you to eveyone who has taken the time to read Oubliette and helped us grow the magazine's circulation.

iPad-ding

The last couple of months I have been toying with buying an iPad2 -specifically for my artwork, but also because it's a beautiful piece of tech. I've visited youtube in order to watch other people use their iPads in an artistic capacity, and have found myself much impressed.

I've also begun looking at what stylus I might use and the Wacom Bamboo stylus with its perfect weighting and elegant looks has me in the thrall of its promotional draw.

In a recent Radio Times article, there were paintings by David Hockney entirely manufactured on his iPad, and even my technophobe mother has expressed a desire to have one herself. In an effort to achieve a balanced view, I have flirted with the cheaper android equivalents, to little effect. For pure luxury and effortless art production, the fates seem to be pointing me in the direction of an iPad.

With the internet ablaze with rumours concerning the immanent launchdates of the iPad3 (February 2012-possibly Steve Jobs' birthday, or March at the latest) and iPad4 (October 2012-this rumour is seriously dubious), I feel I would be foolish to indulge myself and simply buy an iPad2 without waiting to at least see what will replace it. Even so, I'm close to licking my computer screen and drooling on my keypad everytime I look at an iPad, which is hardly attractive and rather hazardous for my keyboard's electrics.

It would appear I am Eve, lusting for the latest Apple. Will I regret buying one in due course? I'm sure I'll moan about it when I do, either unhappily or with inappropriate lustiness.

LOTR Lego Coming Summer 2012

In December, Lego announced that they had secured a licence to produce LOTR themed sets.  The first sets, due this summer, will feature characters and locations from the LOTR trilogy.  Later in the year, we'll also get hobbit-themed sets to coincide with the release of The Hobbit movie.

Here are the provisional details of the first sets:
•9469 Gandalf Arrives – Minifigures: Gandalf, Frodo
•9470 Shelob Attacks – Minifigures: Samwise, Frodo, Gollum
•9471 Uruk-hai Army – Minifigures: x4 Uruk-hai with a siege crossbow, x1 Rohirrim Soldier, x1 Rider Of Rohan with his horse
•9472 Attack On Weathertop- Minifigures: Samwise, Frodo, Aragon, x2 Ring Wraiths
•9473 Mines Of Moria – Minifigures: Frogo, Gimli, Legolas, Boromir, x2 Goblins, x2 Skeletons, Cave Troll
•9474 The Battle Of Helms Deep – Minifigures: Aragon, Gimli, Legolas, Theoden, x5 Uruk-hai

I think these sets could be very popular with collectors and investors - and a few may even actually get played with as toys by children.

The other 2012 Lego releases which caught my interest were a Star Wars Lego game (Battle for Hoth), and four (possibly 5) further Heroica sets.  All of these look like Autumn/Winter products, but there's a chance they might be earlier.