Hermit Hill | #48 | 12/31/08

New Year's Party.

Walter's thoughts : "When the hell is everyone LEAVING?"

Happy New Year everyone. I hope all your parties are festive, your drink glasses are full and the person you quickly find in the party crowd to kiss at midnight realizes you're doing it just for tradition's sake and doesn't think you're somehow committing to a long term relationship ... or something like that.

Much love all around! See you in 2009.

Hermit Hill | #47 | 12/29/08

The Journey.

I got this comic uploaded before midnight, so it still counts as an on time update. So there. I'm still on vacation with my family, but I did find enough time put together today's strip. I just wanted to finally wrap up the little Walter on a motorcycle story arc.

Christmas break

Well folks, I'm on vacation for the next few days with my family. I probably won't have any more Hermit Hill updates until after the holidays unless I can find some time to draw here and there. Rest assured that Walter and the gang will be back for more hijinks soon.

Hermit Hill | #46 | 12/22/08

Ol' Betty.

I used to ride a motorcycle myself. I sold it a few years ago though. I lived in Philadelphia at the time and sold the bike to someone in Florida. I rode the bike down myself, but took the local roads along the ocean all the way. I purposely avoided all the highways and spent 4 days on the trip as one last, long ride.

How Comic Cartoons Make Fortunes

The cartooning blog Three Men in a Tub posted a series of scans from an article out of the magazine Modern Mechanics dated November, 1933. The article goes into detail about how cartoonists of the day were making their money.

From the opening paragraph to the article:

"The 'funnies' you read every day bring $8,000,000 a year to a small group of 200 cartoonists. How they rose to the top and how you can enter their select circles is told here by leading comic artists."

The money quote from further in the article:

"At this point you make your first acquaintance with the syndicates, organizations which take your original product and have it reproduced several hundred times. They then sell the mats to client papers throughout the country.
"This is what is called in the craft as being on 'Easy Street'. You sit in your studio and turn out your copy, send it to your syndicate manager and the rest takes care of itself. You don't have to worry about collecting the money or any other phase of the book-keeping. The syndicate does it all."

Wow. How the times have changed.

Hermit Hill | #45 | 12/19/08

Inner Workings.

I'm not sure if I went a little too realistic on the brain there. It might be a tad too gross. Oh well.

Comic strip inking action shot

Comic strip inking action shot
Originally uploaded by natebramble

Here you can see a little into my inking process. The first panel there is only outlined. After I get all the basic lines down I go back over the drawings with a thick outline and then add the hatch work. Also, I work right to left, so the last panel is inked first. I do this because I am left handed and I don't want to smudge the ink as I go.

Office Caricature

Office Caricature
Originally uploaded by natebramble

I work in an office during the day and when word got out that was drawing cartoons I started getting requests from people. I've illustrated office manuals and flyers and birthday cards for my co-workers. Recently I was asked to do a caricature as a gift for someone heading out on a long vacation. I don't do a lot of that sort of thing, but I gave it a shot. Here's the result.

Hermit Hill | #44 | 12/17/08

That is so Funny.

I tried to come up with more of those little sayings, but that's as far as I got. I think they're enough.

LIFE Photos Online, Cartooning History

I've been playing around in the LIFE photos archive recently uploaded to Google. I did a search for the term "cartoonist" and found a lot of very interesting photos of cartoonists, illustrators and animators in their studios and at their drawing boards. I've been examining the tools that have been used and the objects around the various studios. Very fascinating to look through all this stuff.

This photo is of David Low, famed New Zealand-born, political cartoonist for London's EVENING STANDARD & COLLIER'S, at work in his studio, taken in 1939.

Hermit Hill | #43 | 12/15/08

Lookin' Young.

There's something about that forced grin in the last panel that makes me laugh.

Kickass Webcomic Centric Christmas Ornaments

When your family knows you draw cartoons on the web this is the kind of awesome Christmas ornaments you get as gifts for the tree. My Christmas tree rules this year!

Hermit Hill | #42 | 12/12/08

Stupid Time.

This is the thought that enters my head after watching any recent episode of Heroes. Changing your own diapers? REALLY? Ugh.

Hermit Hill | #41 | 12/10/08

Flying Toaster Attack!

If you ever wondered what happened to those flying toasters from that After Dark screen saver from the 90's ... watch the skies. They are out there. Beware.

Sketch Post : Walter wearing goggles

Sketch Post : Walter wearing goggles
Originally uploaded by natebramble

I'm sketching out an idea I have for an upcoming strip and wanted to see what Walter looks like with big silly goggles. I think the dangling straps from the old fashioned leather helmet is a nice touch.

Hermit Hill | Vol. 2 | 12/08/08

Flailing Rage of Frustration.

Walter comes through again ... whether he wants to or not.

Hermit Hill the Comic Book

I got a shipment of the Hermit Hill comic books from my printer yesterday and I think they look pretty good. Very professional quality. This book collects the first 24 full page Hermit Hill comics in glorious ink on paper, how retro! You can see the front cover, back cover and the inside in these photos.

If you're at all interested in helping out an indie cartoonist like myself and would perhaps like to support my endeavors here at Hermit Hill you can buy a copy of Hermit Hill #1 over on IndyPlanet.com. They're handling all my orders for me.
(if you're feeling especially generous you can see my full Bramble Vine Comics online store!)

I will be using the shipment of books I got to sell at Staple! this coming March. I already have my table reserved. If you're in Texas and a comics/cartooning fan you really can't miss that convention. It's a great chance to meet all the local talent here in the lone star state and there is a lot of it.

Hermit Hill | Vol. 2 | 12/05/08

That Depends.

I like the hint of danger and adventure that Wushu has. He's some long lost samurai always ready to jump into action. Of course, this annoys Walter to no end who just wants him to leave. I think drawing Wushu's hands are my favorite part of him. He should always be ready to judo chop someone.

Hermit Hill | Vol. 2 | 12/02/08

A Vision.

Daily Doodle - Ninja

I needed to come up with a ninja character for a brief scene in my comic strip and this doodle was a first stab at it. What's a confused ninja doing on Hermit Hill? Keep reading the comic to find out.

How I spend my lunch break

Here's a scene from my lunch break today. I get most of my work done for my comic strip during the day at lunch time. I'll sketch out the comic then ink it while sipping coffee at a nearby coffee shop. At home I'll scan this in and add the text and panel boxes.

Hermit Hill | Vol. 2 | 12/01/08

A Whiff of Company. It may have been a holiday weekend, but I've been able to stay on top of my comic strip.