23 Oct 2015

Murphy Anderson: 1926-2015

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It was reported today that Murphy Anderson passed away this Friday morning at the age of 89. He was recognized by the Inkwell Awards with a Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award in 2013 (alongside Dick Ayers) but he was not well enough at the time to travel to the host show at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC.  Mike Pascale wrote up a wonderful tribute article on account of this accomplishment at our website. Inkwell director Bob Almond wrote the following today on his Facebook page:

My sincerest condolences to the family of Murphy Anderson who it’s been reported to have passed away this morning at 89. I was always more of a Marvel guy growing up so I didn’t follow a lot of the silver-bronze age DC artists/inkers but he was recognized even by me at that time as the top tier of their house assortment of talent since the ’50s. Perhaps their DC inker version of Joe Sinnott….or he was to Curt Swan (as ‘Sanderson’) what Joe was to Jack Kirby as a team. I met him a couple of times at conventions, always professionally dressed in a suit, and he was a true gentleman in public. My son Nathan Almond sat next to him at a Boston Comic Book & Toy Spectacular show from 2005 (the same show he posed with Joe Sinnott) and Murphy was gracious about letting his play make believe and sketch alongside him. He was recognized with a prestigious Inkwell Awards’ Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame award in 2013 and Mike Pascale wrote up a wonderful tribute on his life and career. Rest in peace and thanks for all of the accomplishments and entertainment, kind sir.

Joe Sinnott w/ Murphy at the 2005 Boston Comic Book & Toy Spectacular Show

Joe Sinnott w/ Murphy at the 2005 Boston Comic Book & Toy Spectacular Show

A 9-year old Nathan Almond side-by-side with Murphy at the same show.

A 9-year old Nathan Almond side-by-side with Murphy at the same show.

15 Oct 2015

BOB’S BLOG: INKBLOTS: Introducing the Sinnott Inking Challenge SPOTLIGHT on JIM LEE!

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It’s been mentioned from time to time and images have begun appearing on Facebook but some of you may be asking exactly what is the Sinnott Inking Challenge Spotlight?

It’s an Inkwell Awards spin-off of the popular and successful original Joe Sinnott Inking Challenge that has been an annual event since I introduced it in 2011.  Named and focused on the Inkwell special ambassador and Hall of Fame namesake, Joe Sinnott renders a character in tight pencils and another in loose pencils (breakdowns) and the challenge is for other inkers to interpret his work in ink. This idea has worked on two fronts. First, the artists donate their page, inked over blue lines of the pencils and signed by both Joe and the inker, to the Inkwells and we auction them off on eBay for fundraising. Second, between the event and the subsequent book collection we visually reinforce what the ink artist brings to the table in a ‘before & after’ comparison. The goal meets our mission state about educating what the art form of inking is. The first collection debuted in 2012 and the fifth and latest came out this past June 2015. All are available in our Store (with free signatures by Joe). (more…)