Hermit Hill | #149 | 07/31/09

Have You Heard the Word?

This dude is clearly barking up the wrong tree. There's something funny to me about Walter putting on this little show though. It's as if he's saying, "I want to be left alone, go away" and "I'm lonely and need to perform for you in order to entertain myself" at the same time. Plus, getting one of these door to door soul savers to roll their eyes in frustration is quite a feat. They're usually quite oblivious to non-believer protestations on their doorsteps. Shooing away these people off one's property can be problematic, which is why I think Walter's fein here is probably the right move.

Hermit Hill | #148 | 07/29/09

What You're Missing.

Poor Joe. He tries so hard.

Hermit Hill | #147 | 07/27/09

All thumbs.

You've heard those "this guy!" jokes too, I'm sure. They're usually told by drunk dudes at the bar who think they are way more clever than they really are or by the guy in the office who doesn't understand what "inappropriate" means. The moment you hear the opening line to these jokes, "what has two thumbs..." I know exactly what you're thinking every time. You're thinking, "I'm about to sign for a great big shipment of hilarity." Yes you are. Admit it. That's what I thought.

Hermit Hill | #146 | 07/24/09

Heavy Thoughts.

The anvil was something that was always falling out of the sky in the cartoons I watched growing up in the 80's, which were mostly cartoons produced in the 50's and 60's. But, even back then were anvils that common? Was the town blacksmith such an iconic figure that a massively heavy anvil would be such an immediately recognizable object in these cartoons? Yes, these are the things I think about. Often.

Hermit Hill | #145 | 07/22/09

The Magic Door.

I am using this week to set up the precedent of Hermit Hill performing classic cartoon gag homages so I can throw these into future strips at random times in the future. They're fun to do and I like putting my own Walter inspired spin on some old jokes. There's more to come.

Also, note that I'm playing around with the site design, so if you notice anything wonky that's why. Along with a few new design changes I'll soon be offering some Project Wonderful ad space on the site, so be sure to look for that in the coming weeks.

Hermit Hill | #144 | 07/20/2009

Twitch, Twitch.

Many moons ago, when HBO was a brand new cable channel, they used to play these crazy and weird animated short films in between the movies they showed. One of the the first ones I remember, from the early 80's I think, was Bambi vs. Godzilla. If you've never seen this short I recommend trying to track it down. Animation history right there.

Hermit Hill | #143 | 07/17/09

Joe Knows Comedy.

I am a big fan of stand up comedy. I actually think there's some close ties to stand up and cartooning. Both involve a single person honing their comedic timing, crafting characters, creating worlds with their words (or images). I'm fascinated by how comedians write their jokes and practice their sets. My current favorite is Bill Burr. I've been listening to a lot of him in the car on my way to work. He also reminds me of when I used to live in Philadelphia.

Hermit Hill | #142 | 07/15/09

The Nerdiest Way.

I recently discovered a very funny online show called The Guild. It's a comedy about one lonely gamer girl's experience having her online world and her real world suddenly slam together. If you've ever played an online computer game or know someone who does you should appreciate the humor in this series. I think season 2 starts soon. Looking forward to it.

Hermit Hill | #141 | 07/13/09

Enough is Enough.

Seriously, News Networks everywhere, we all get it. The poor guy passed away. Consider us all informed. Now, can you please get back to talking about something important? At this point you're all just embarrassing yourselves. Stop it. Please.

Hermit Hill | #140 | 07/10/09

Close Quarters.

The last of the epic "box" strips. This was a hard one to design actually. It's not easy to squish characters together and still have them distinguishable. The artwork here is actually my third attempt. A tricky one to draw, but I enjoyed the challenge.

Doodln' : A Cartoonist Sketchbook now available on Amazon

A little over a year ago I put out a book containing scanned pages from my sketchbooks titled Doodlin' : A Cartoonist Sketchbook. It contains about 140 pages of drawings, doodles and character sketches from my various sketchbooks over the past few years. I've been selling it at conventions along with my other comic books and online here, in my own site store.

Well, now you can find it on Amazon.com. I got word just recently that my sketchbook is now available through Earth's largest book store. If you're at all interested in the process a cartoonist goes through up to the final print you might be interested in checking this out.

Hermit Hill | #139 | 07/08/09

Tight Spot.

This is what he gets for being an early adapter. Technology in the "beta" stage is not to be trifled with. Be warned!

Happy Birthday Hermit Hill, 1 Year down, more to come

This week marks one year since I started drawing Hermit Hill. It doesn't feel that long to me for some reason, but it has been a lot of fun. When I first started I wasn't sure I would be able to keep it up. I didn't know if I could stick to a schedule and keep coming up with ideas and all the anxiety that comes with starting a new project with an indefinite end date. But, here I am still plugging away and it feels good.

Over the course of the first year of my strip I suppose the biggest change is in how I draw my characters. Anyone reading through the HH archives of strips will notice that Walter and Francis' character designs go through a few sudden changes. My original concept for Hermit Hill was to be a series of full page comics designed for print in comic book form. When I started posting them to the web, however, it became clear that this format was not great for the web. Having to scroll down the page in your browser really ruins the experience of reading a comic. So, early on I decided to switch to a classic comic strip format, which is far more browser friendly.

Once I decided on the layout design change I wanted to change how I drew my characters too, especially Walter. I wanted them to look more… well, comic strip-y. I wanted a simpler design, a more iconic look. What I was doing before was too sketchy for a comic strip, I felt. So, I went through a series of changes with my characters and I think I've settled on a comfortable design. I really wanted to be able to fit the whole character in the panel, which was key for me. The floating torso, talking head look I see often in comic strips doesn't lend itself to as much physical comedy as I want to include in Hermit Hill.

The great thing about doing a comic strip on the web is all the freedom I have to experiment like that. Go to any of your favorite strips on the web, the ones that have been out for a few years, and go back through the early archives. It's more than likely you'll see a huge difference in how the strip is drawn. Starting from the first strip up to the most recent strip will reveal the evolution of an artist growing, changing styles, getting better. I think it's so cool to be able to watch that process and it's certainly happened here with Hermit Hill.

To mark the first year of Hermit Hill I spent the last few weeks finishing a book that collects all the strips I've done for the site. I've also added a bunch of extra content you won't find online, like sketch pages where I was working out my character designs and several of the full page Hermit Hill comics. I just finished everything yesterday and uploaded the files to the printer. I should be getting a proof copy back within the next two weeks and if everything looks good the book will go on sale here at the site. I'm really excited to see it all put together and I hope readers will like it.

It's been a real satisfying experience writing and drawing the first year of Hermit Hill and I appreciate all the comments and emails and posts I get from you guys, the readers. After all, entertaining you, the thought of putting a smile on someone's face with my doodles, is what this whole endeavor is about. Thanks for reading!

Now, back to work. I have the next week's worth of strips penciled, two weeks ahead scripted, and tomorrow's strip half inked on my drawing board. Time to get started on year 2…

Hermit Hill | #138 | 07/06/09

The Prototype.

That second panel was fun to do. I love putting cartoon 'devices' into the strip, those little lines that indicate active movement. The motion cloud is like one big tangle of devices. Those kind of lines add an energy to any cartoon I think. They make the strips feel more active and alive then they otherwise would.

Hermit Hill | #137 | 07/03/09

Thou Dost Protest Too Much.

Here's the last one with our new villain friend. I know what you're thinking, who or what is in the sack? That, my friend, is a tale for another day... Or not. Depends on my mood.

Next week ... boxes!

Yay!!

Greetings from Wonderland nods towards the Hill

Yesterday a friend of mine and fellow Dallas area cartoonist, Grant Sutherland, reached 300 strips in his comic strip Greetings From Wonderland. For his 300th he drew into his strip one of my Hermit Hill characters. It shows Francis making a delivery to Wonderland Studios and then bragging to Walter about his experience, which leads perfectly into the mention of his strip I drew a couple weeks ago.

Grant's strip follows the mis-adventures of two guys that work on a Sci-Fi TV show called Dogstar Pirates about dog like aliens, which is really a government operation to acclimate the public to the characters on the show so they can later reveal that they really are aliens. It's a clever concept, so I encourage everyone to go check out Grant's work.

Congrats on 300 strips, man! Here's to 300 more.

Hermit Hill | #136 | 07/01/09

Gut Instinct.

You don't see a lot of the black cape and top hat look any more. Too bad. Wouldn't it be so much easier if the people you're supposed to avoid in life looked this obvious? I guess it's culturally relevant to remember that the villains who looked like this in all those old silent films were bankers and mortgage holders. Did Bernie Madoff ever wear a top hat? Hmm...