18 Aug 2013

On July 19 at Comic Con International: San Diego The 2013 Will Eisner Awards were announced and Inkwell Awards Special Ambassador and Inkwell Hall of Fame Award Namesake and Recipient JOE SINNOTT was inducted into their prestigious 2013 Hall of Fame Awards, as presented by Sergio Aragones.

Joe wasn’t able to attend the awards ceremony but he finally received his trophy and his son Mark Sinnott kindly forwarded this photo image to us.

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Photograph: Mark Sinnott

In 1995 Joe also received an Inkpot Award at SDCC and in 2008, besides the Inkwell Awards Hall of Fame named after him, he won the Favorite Inker (tied with terry Austin).

It’s well-deserved, my friend!  We are so happy for you! ~B~

30 Jul 2013

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After a few years’ absence, the Inkwell Awards organization proudly returns to the annual Boston Comic Con on August 3 and 4 at the World Seaport Trade Center (having been rescheduled and relocated after the Boston Marathon bombing crisis). The ever-growing, popular show has become a notable presence in the community served by the six year-old non-profit, which seeks to promote and educate about the art of comic book inking.

Founder and Director, Bob Almond, said, “Many of our members and half the active core committee are from the Boston area, so we’re thrilled to deliver our message so close to home. Though we will not have a formal booth, fans can still find some of our most-recent books (such as the Joe Sinnott Inking Challenge) and T-shirts available at my table in artist alley.” Also appearing with Almond is the Inkwells’ popular spokesmodel, Ms. Inkwell, who’s making her Boston debut. She’ll be taking photos with fans and seeking donations from creators and attendees to support the group’s vital mission.

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Jessi Durland

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Ms. Inkwell will be portrayed on Saturday by model Jessi Durland from Wilmington, MA. On Sunday, model and cosplayer Zeal Grace from Brighton, MA, will be the character. Ms. Inkwell was created by artists Bob Almond and Randy Green in 2009 and became an instant fan favorite, appearing at many Inkwell Awards-attended public venues every year since. Original model Chrissy Cutler returned to the role at the recent 2013 Charlotte, NC Heroes Con where last season’s live awards ceremony was held.

“We hope to add Boston Comic Con to our list of several supportive convention venues who share ongoing relationships with us”, Almond added. “We look forward to a great event this weekend and an enthusiastic reception to kick off our seventh season!”

 

The Inkwell Awards is an official 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to educate and promote the art form of comic-book inking, as well as annually recognize and award the best ink artists and their work. The organization is overseen by a committee of industry professionals and assisted by professional ambassadors and numerous contributors. They sponsor the Dave Simons Inkwell Memorial Scholarship Fund for The Kubert School and host the Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award.

Ms. Inkwell cover art by Ed Coutts inspired by Chrissy Cutler

Ms. Inkwell cover art by Ed Coutts inspired by Chrissy Cutler for the Regular Edition

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Franchesco and Scott Hanna cover art for the signed & numbered Special Edition with a Flip Book Cover and pull-out centerfold poster

16 Jun 2013

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Exerpted from my speech from the 2013 Inkwell Awards live awards ceremony at Heroes Con, June 8, 2013:

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We have two Special Recognition awards to announce this year.  It is very challenging to get volunteers every year for our separate and independent Nomination Committee so we added an incentive. For those members who return to serve for five years we offer one of our special silver inkwell trophies. This year the first recipient of this is the former associate director of the Joe Schuster Awards, Robert Haines.  Robert is not here today but I will make sure that he get’s his deserved award.

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20 May 2013

 

“Voting for the 6th annual Inkwell Awards has ended, the ballots have been tallied and the comic book inking advocacy now prepares for its third live awards ceremony at the 2013 Heroes Con June 7-9 to reveal the highly-anticipated results.  Voting was done online through the group’s web site and heavily promoted through Facebook, Twitter, comics sites and other outlets.

“After a long year of fundraising, programs, conventions, promotion, various duties and all of the passion and effort involved, the Inkwell family is always ecstatic to celebrate our goal of promoting the art form of Inking and the industry’s best Ink Artists” said Bob Almond, the non-profit organization’s founder and director. “We can never show enough gratitude to Heroes Con promoter Shelton Drum and his staff for making this mission an annual reality, supporting inkers in the community with the respect and recognition they deserve.”

(more…)

08 May 2013

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Three years after the passing of his wife, J. David Spurlock announced today on his Facebook page of the passing of the artist himself:

I went to Reading PA yesterday to buy Steranko and Adkins dinner. Neither Steranko nor myself had been able to reach Adkins. After dinner with Steranko, I hit the road back to New York only to be phoned by Steranko who had just received word from Adkins’ son that Dan left this world last week. In addition to many other credits, including T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Dr. Strange, lots of sci-fi illustrations, and much of the best inking ever done for Marvel, Adkins served as an art director at Marvel, was key to Wood launching Witzend, and he also mentored a number of young artists including Paul Gulacy, Val Mayerik and P. Craig Russell. He is missed.

— J. David Spurlock

For those not familiar with Dan and his career, Mark Evanier has posted an article on him. The Inkwell Awards extends it’s sincere condolences for his family and friends for their loss.

22 Apr 2013

We at the Inkwell Awards have received a couple of notes that people couldn’t access the official voting ballot page (https://inkwellawards.justsurvey.me/323041814f54).  Those sources that we heard from were using Mac computers. But other Mac users told us that they were successful.  So all we can deduct from this is that some Mac users may have settings that are not compatible or that your browser isn’t.  When these users used Safari and had a problem, going to Firefox solved the dilemma.  Or using one’s 4g phone or iPad or another venue did.  If you are one of the silent minority that have had issues with our ballot, please take a second to try the alternative plan.  We hope it works and truly appreciate your time and effort.

The Inkwell Awards Committee Team

22 Apr 2013

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While seemingly off-topic, it’s actually not, as many ink artists were effected.  I want to help circulate more attention for my friend Enrica Jang of Red Stylo Media who has formed We Win Con, a non-profit organization set up to help the artists who took a financial hit due to the cancellation of the Boston Con this weekend due to the recent threat of the Boston Marathon Bomber. Below is their statement:

The details: 
We Win Con is helping independent artists and fans who lost money and opportunities from the postponement of the Boston Comic Convention to be able to recoup a little of what they spent.

Artists who are out cash, travel and most importantly SALES this weekend can be featured in an online convention at wewincon.org. We’re also helping raise funds for charity in the process.

To help artists recover some costs so they can get through ’til BCC is back, visit http://wewincon.org/

Our goals:
•Bringing fans to the artists since artists couldn’t get to the fans.
•Gas Card Drive to reimburse artists that drove to Boston and had to turn back.
•Charitable giving for the organizations who were set to receive donations from the show.

Artists will get a FREE featured post, complete with links to their own online stores. Those without stores, Red Stylo Media is donating online space in their store to help promote sales. Any interested artist can email info@wewincon.org 

http://wewincon.org
facebook.com/wewincon
@wewincon on twitter

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