Wednesday, 29 February 2012

Want to Reach Over 1,500 OSR Customers?

Over 1,500 copies of Oubliette Issue 7 have been downloaded, making Oubliette probably the widest read publication in the OSR.

Issue 8 of Oubliette is scheduled for release in May, and will once again be available as a free download for a limited period.  In addition the printed version of Issue 8 and a printed compilation of Issues 5-8 will be available as print-on-demand titles from Lulu.com.

If you would like to book an advertisement, here are the rates, deadlines and specifications:

RATES: Full Page $60.00,  Half Page $35.00,  Quarter Page $20.00,  Full Page Inside front cover (page 2 of the PDF) $70.00,  Full Page back cover (penultimate page in the PDF before the OGL) $70.00

DATES: Issue 8 Spring 2012, Book by 30th March, Copy by 15th April.

SPECS: 300dpi JPEG, TIFF,  in Black and White or Greyscale (all colour ads will be converted to greyscale for the printed editions).

SIZES: Full Page: 178mm wide x 265mm high, Half Page: 178mm wide x 130mm high. Quarter Page: 86mm wide x 130mm high.

PAYMENT: At time of booking by paypal


If you are interested in booking an advertisement please get in touch with me by email: oubliettemagazine@yahoo.co.uk


Tuesday, 24 January 2012

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...

Monday, 9 January 2012

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.

Friday, 6 January 2012

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.


Friday, 30 December 2011

Just 1 Week Left to Grab Oubliette 7 for FREE!

I normally run the Oubliette giveaways for 1 month, but as it's holiday time, I'll leave it open for an extra week. 

A big thank you to everyone that has already downloaded a copy.  And an even bigger thank you to everyone that has bought back issues or printed versions.

Sunday, 11 December 2011

Oubliette 7 Print Edition Out Now

The print edition of Oubliette Issue 7 is now available to purchase from lulu.com

Lulu have been offering some generous discount codes over the last few weeks.  Presently, the code COUNTDOWN will give 25% off any order until 14th December.

Lulu also has all the back issues of Oubliette along with a compilation edition of the first four issues.