The non-profit Inkwell Awards cap off their 2013 convention tour with their return to the sophomore year of the Rhode Island Comic Con in Providence on November 2-3. The group continues its goal to promote the art of comic-book inking and educate the public about what inkers do.
“Right now my health and living situation keeps me from doing much-have went from child to childs home the last 2 yrs-now in a cheap hotel and broke- last November they told me my kidney transplant had failed and I have been on kidney dialysis 3 times a week since-in February our youngest daughter, Jane,who was 21,died from a condition commonly associated with the spina bifida she had-this past weekend I was admitted to the hospital because I couldn’t breathe and found out I had congestive heart failure on top of everything else-these last 12 months have been, by far, the worst year of my life- I have people who have tried to contact Todd for me but he is unresponsive-as have been Ron Lim and Bryan Hitch-haven’t tried the convention thing but may give it a shot when my living situation is more stable– I am on social security and ssi- they are supposed to raise it either this month or next-then it will hopefully be enough to support me and my wife-until then,till the first of the month, I am begging money here on face book-now that I have the chf, I no longer have the stamina to panhandle— as for the big 2- what can I say-my connections in both companies say to continue sending new samples and they will pass them around— hero initiative helped me thru a 7 month unemployment stretch 5 or 6 yrs ago-as well as buying us a van for Jane for her appointments-so when I went to them about a year and a half ago when everything went south,they said that they had to help new clients since their funding was low-which I totally understand— if you can help every little bit helps-my paypal is col.jimbo3rd@yahoo.com thank you for answering me and taking the time to talk-its frustrating when you see that someone saw your message and they don’t answer back-it makes me feel like I am beneath contempt— be well an be blessed. Jim Sanders III”
I DIDN’T EDIT JIM’S MESSAGE. PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS FOR AN ARTIST WHO’S FALLEN ON DESPERATE, HARD TIMES AND GIVE IF YOU CAN. Jim has private messaged myself and assistant director Mike Kellar for money over time with snippets of his condition and need. Then he sent this to artist Josef Rubinstein who sent it to me and we’ve circulated it at our social networks. I emailed Jim back for further details and from what I understand, he is collecting social security and SSI and has health insurance to tackle the medical bills. The problem is trying to get by financially in regards to his living expenses like food, shelter, clothes, gas, etc. Him and his wife will be moving into his brother’s place after taking a trip from Florida to South Carolina in mid-November so things will stabilize a bit at that time. He hopes that is he can raise funds to cover his present needs he can resume doing commissions next month and be open for new clients and any job offers and try to get past the worst of this time in his life. The Inkwell Awards intend to set up auctions for donors who have art to donate to help Jim. We will follow-up when we have more info to share on this. Bob Almond
(Sorry about the sub-title, but I’ve always been a die-hard Avengers fan:-))
Almost every season here at the Inkwell Awards there’s a change of some sort from our team associates, some major and others more minor in their nature. The latest season that ended in June and the new, sixth one that began this summer, however, was a bigger shake up than usual. So I figured I should summarize our status for those keeping a roster checklist.
For some time now we have published two book projects annually: The Inkwell Awards Donation Drive and Results Book (which debuted as a sketchbook in 2009 by committee member Bob Shaw and was further developed and enhanced in 2010 by committee member Jim Tournas) and the Joe Sinnott Inking Challenge book (which debuted in January 2010 as conceived by me and produced by Jim). You can see every edition’s covers in our website Store and all regular editions are still available. The initial printing expenses of these books were usually sponsored by an advertiser whether it be Harrison’s Comics & Pop Culture, Blaq Books or Rhode Island Comic Con. But sometimes there were additional costs to us like when and advertiser couldn’t be found, errors were made and the book had to be printed again. Or when the initial run, sometimes minimal, ran out and we had to print up more. Jimmy looked into different routes of funding for the program over the years but nothing materialized. Sure, we’re “non-profit” but, c’mon! We’re still a business;-)
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.
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~
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.
Jessi Durland
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 for the Regular Edition
Franchesco and Scott Hanna cover art for the signed & numbered Special Edition with a Flip Book Cover and pull-out centerfold poster
Exerpted from my speech from the 2013 Inkwell Awards live awards ceremony at Heroes Con, June 8, 2013:
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.
The Results for the 2013 Inkwell Awards are in! Please visit our awards page and FCN for all the details.
*2013 INKWELL AWARDS DONATION & RESULTS BOOK: besides the regular edition we mentioned earlier with sexy cover art of Ms. Inkwell by Ed Coutts, we have another fantastic version available! A Special Edition of this book will sport front and back cover art by the fan-favorite good-girl/pin-up artist, Franchesco, with his own *stunning* rendition of our spokes model character! (The “partial image” is the inventive flip cover–are we clever or what?) 🙂
“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.”
