13 May 2019

Posted yesterday on social media:

“**AT LAST! INKWELL AWARDS FUNDRAISING AUCTIONS ARE BACK! Starting today we have 16 original art donations on the block on eBay for the next 7 days! Much kind thanks to the generosity of several donors and supporters such as Jae Lee, Elias Chatzoudis, Tony Kordos w/ Paul Pelletier, Joe Prado w/ Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Joe by himself, Brian Stelfreeze, Tom Raney, Walden Wong w/ Keith Giffen (2), Josef Rubinstein, Bob Camp, Mark Farmer, and a few past Inkwell Joe Sinnott Inking Challenges that weren’t run previously such as a Neil D Vokes embellished job over Loki, and for Erik Larsen’s Spotlight#3 Savage Dragon inks by Marc Deering, Scott James and Tom Schloendorn. These will be gradually leading up to the upcoming 4th Sinnott Inking Challenge Spotlight on…David Finch! PLEASE SHARE AND LOOK (BIDDING WOULD BE GREAT, TOO!) And thanks as always to my team that makes this all happen! https://www.ebay.com/sch/theinkwellawards/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=&rt=nc&LH_Auction=1

06 May 2019

The winners, Danielle Farino, AJ Cassetta & Adam Quinones with presenter Erick and Adam Kubert

On May 4 the Kubert School had their annual scholarship awards ceremony and the Inkwell Awards awarded their 10th Dave Simons Inkwell Memorial Scholarship Award with veteran core committee Erick Korpi representing our non-profit organization to AJ Cassetta. Special Inkwell ambassador, author and advocate Clifford Meth, who has represented us several times previously, was in absentia this year. So Erick assisted for disbursing his scholarships. Erick shared his experiences and details from this special event.

Thanks much to Michael Chen for the photos and info. And to Erick for taking the day to attend this event on behalf of us and the late Dave Simons and his sister Bette Simons Rock.

2019 Award Winners:

Danielle Farino — $1000 Dave Cockrum Scholarship
AJ Cassetta — $1000 Dave Simons Inkwell Memorial Scholarship Award
Adam Quinones — $250 Gene Colan Scholarship

Presenters:

Adam Kubert, Kubert School Co-President
Carol Thomas, Kubert School Associate Director
Erick Korpi, representing the Inkwell Awards
Lloyd Briggery, Kubert School Events Coordinator
Mark Monahan, representing the Dave Monahan Family
Tyler Chin-Tanner, President & Co-Publisher of A Wave Blue World
Lisa Y. Wu, VP of Sales & Marketing of A Wave Blue World

From left to right in the back row, Erick Korpi, Adam Kubert, Adam Quinones, Armand Bodnar, Kenneth Nsidinany, Gabrielle “Gabby” Weber, AJ Cassetta, Peter Clinton, Tyler Chin-Tanner, Maddie Chin-Tanner, Adelia Gunderson, Lisa Y. Wu, Mark Monahan; and from left to right in the front row, Zackary Kalogaropoulos, Danielle Farino, Isadora “Sid” Venturini-Blu, Elena Morton, and Callum Monahan

(Left to right) Adam Kubert, Danielle Farino, Erick Korpi and Carol Thomas

(Left to right) AJ Cassetta, Erick Korpi, and Carol Thomas

Adam Kubert and Carol Thomas addressing student assembly

(Left to right) Adam Quinones, Erick Korpi, and Carol Thomas

 

 

20 Mar 2019

2005 Bob & Joe (pre-Inkwell Awards) at the Boston Comic Book & Toy Spectacular (photo: Mark Sinnott?)

As reported at CBR and on Joe Sinnott’s Facebook page on March 18, first Inkwell special ambassador, Hall of Fame namesake, award recipient, Eisner Award winner, inking God and all-around great guy, JOE SINNOTT, is officially retired after 69 years of a continuous, prosperous and impactful comic book career in his life. Much-deserved relaxation for the Joltin’ One! He retired officially from Marvel Comics from monthly comic book deadlines back in 1992 (attached photo) and has worked on inking the Spider-man newspaper strip until this month as well as doing commissions, small assignments and convention hopping. Post retirement, only the convention attendance will continue and they will be limited and tentative dependent on Joe’s health. He’ll be doing limited signings at these shows but no sketching. How does this effect his association to the Inkwells? Not significantly. We will join him at two shows: at The Undiscovered Realm Comic Con in White Plains, NY May 4-5 we’ll be sitting beside him and we’ll both be in attendance at the Terrificon at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT August 9-11 (only 9-10 for Joe). We have the 6th Sinnott Inking Challenge Book & 10th Anniversary Album being produced after a three-year absence by new, incoming Book Production Editor Renee Woodruff. It will contain Joe’s “Sinnott Soapbox” and he will tentatively sign copies of this final edition to the Inkwell series. After giving Joe a season off, the 9th Joe Sinnott Inking Challenge has been discussed and is tentatively being considered with help from good family friend, handler and Inkwell senior contributor Jim Tournas. One thing is ultimately clear: the most important and shared goal of us and Joe’s family and friends is Joe’s health and wellness. Shows, signing and his Challenge, these are all subject to change and we will not put pressure on him about anything is he’s not up to it. After witnessing how Stan Lee’s final year played out we aim to be concerned and cautious about our loved one in our family first and foremost. He loves the medium and community but he still deserves to enjoy life in his twilight years. We hope you all understand.

(L-R: back row) Tom Brevoort, Bob Budiansky, Nel Yomtov, Mike Rockwitz, Mark Gruenwald, Carl Potts, Virginia Romita, Renee Witterstaetter, John Romita Sr. (L-R: front row) Barry Dutter, Ralph Macchio, George Roussos, Tom Defalco, JOE, Jack Abel and Allen Milgrom (photo by ?)

06 Mar 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Bedford, MA/USA—March 7, 2019) The non-profit Inkwell Awards has put their weekly fundraising eBay auctions on hold until after their annual awards show in April.

“We really appreciate the support from our regular bidders and buyers over the years,” said Inkwells founder and director Bob Almond. “We depend on them to support our advocacy and support efforts. But our tiny committee is made up of working professionals who volunteer in their spare time. Lately we’ve all been swamped with work as well as family issues which have forced us to put things on hold for now.”

The 501(c)(3) advocacy changed their awards venue and date to the The Great Philadelphia Comic Con on April 12-14, which is two months earlier than their previous setup at Heroes World in June, causing them to move up their awards schedule. “The time-consuming work of nominations and tallying the winners had to be compressed into a shorter window, making us lose even more valuable auction time,” added Almond. “Thankfully, Special Inkwell Ambassador (and international rockstar), Jim Starlin, went above and beyond to raise funds for us last August. So we’re okay for now. But we’ll need the fans’ support again soon.”

According to Almond, auctions should resume either the final week of April or the first week of May. The first new ones will tentatively resume with the Sinnott Inking Challenge Spotlight on David Finch. Specific details will be announced as those events draw closer.

14 Feb 2019

VOTING HAS ENDED. THANKS TO ALL WHO TOOK THE TIME TO PARTICIPATE. THE AWARD WINNERS WILL BE CONTACTED IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. AT THE GREAT PHILADELPHIA COMIC CON! (April 12-14) THE RESULTS WILL BE REVEALED AT THE INKWELL AWARDS LIVE AWARDS CEREMONY (date/time TBD).

2019 Ballot Voting for the 2018 Inkwell Awards categories is now open.

Click HERE to vote!

24 Dec 2018

<Copy/pasted from my Facebook page>

To celebrate the 501(c)(3) non-profit INKWELL AWARDS 10th anniversary just before the year ends here is the 11”x14” anniversary limited print on 100lb. cover stock! It is the first time spokesmodel Ms. Inkwell co-creator RANDY GREEN has rendered the character since he designed her with me in 2010. We were also fortunate to get Inkwell special ambassador and multiple award winning color artist LAURA MARTIN to do her palette magic on it. Asst Director and artist MIKE PASCALE handled the copy and design. All related parties, including me and senior live spokesmodel HAILEY SKAZA-GAGNE have signed the signed & numbered Artist Prints limited to only ten (pictured) which comes with a certificate of certification. There are also unsigned but numbered regular prints limited to 50. These will not be offered for sale once they sell out. If you find us at a show Hailey, myself and spokesmodel KATHY DENISE TAYLOR can sign the regular editions.

I hoped to have these for sale earlier as an option for holiday sale but all participants had assignments and obligations to fill up their time. At least it was finished in 2018, unlike the 6th and final Sinnott Inking Challenge/Anniversary album as mentioned a few days ago. Thanks to all involved, and especially GOOGLEPLEX COLLECTIBLES who turned these around and shipped them quickly! They came out GREAT!! Owner Dean Morris has been my vender, a supporting vender of the non-profit and is producing something special for us in 2019! #googleplexcollectibles

*Regular numbered version = $10 donation +s&h
*Limited numbered/signed version w/ CoA = $20 donation + s&h

These are available immediately and will soon be added to our website store or straight from me (at shows or to ship) dmralmond@gmail.com. Our next show will be the GREAT PHILADELPHIA COMIC CON! April 12-14! #greatphiladelphiacomiccon!

While supplies last! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Bob Almond

24 Dec 2018

<copy/pasted from Facebook> I’d like to apologize for the 6th (and intended to be final) JOE SINNOTT INKING CHALLENGE book which dually acts as a 10th anniversary album. It was delayed in 2017 for our anniversary in 2018 and it missed the June host show release. With only days remaining the completed sections put together by many gracious and supportive members and associates have barely been collected and developed beyond a proof. The buck stops with me and I apologize to not only anyone looking forward to seeing it but all the Challenge artist participants, the authors Cliff Meth and Tim Lasiuta, the various folks who fed Mike Pascale celebratory statements, Michael Netzer who painted a cover portrait of Joe Sinnott and Joe and Mark Sinnott themselves. We are making plans to try to get the book produced for 2019, preferably early on, through contacts. It will be something special so it’d be a shame if it were to languish in limbo indefinitely. I’ll report any updates here and please contact me if you can help or know someone that can!

Bob Almond

dmralmond@gmail.com

05 Oct 2018

Hello–

BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT! After 10 years and much feedback, the one-of-a-kind, non-profit Inkwell Awards is changing its nominating procedure so everyone gets a fairer shot. 

Now YOU, the ink artist (or your agent/publisher), can submit your work for nomination in any of our five categories. (Unlike some other awards, we will not charge a fee.) While our volunteer nomination committee (“NomCom”) can still submit their choices, they just can’t see all the wonderful work during the year from all publishers large and small. So it’s up to YOU! The specifics:

WHO WE ARE: 

In case you still haven’t heard, The Inkwell Awards (inkwellawards.com) is an official 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the public and promote the art form of comic-book inking, as well as annually recognize and award the best ink artists and their work. Now entering our 11th year, the organization is overseen by a volunteer committee of industry professionals and assisted by various pro ambassadors, numerous contributors and supporters. We sponsor the Dave Simons Inkwell Memorial Scholarship Fund for the Kubert School and host the Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award.

WHAT TO SEND:

  1. Up to THREE interior pages of professional comic-book ink work you’ve done from any USA-published comic book (per categories below) COVER-DATED 2018. Send links to your sample(s) (not general site links), or low-res image files. Do not send large 300ppi files–we’re not a printer!
  2. (Make sure you read and understand the ADDITONAL RULES below before sending.)
  3. Your NAME, preferred EMAIL ADDRESS, the TITLE/ISSUE #(s) and PUBLISHER.
  4. The CATEGORY(-IES) to which it belongs. (You may submit the same or different work to different categories, EXCEPT “Favorite Inker” and “Props”–pick one or the other.) Categories are:

1) Favorite Inker: favorite ink artist over the pencils of another artist. (Can’t be nominated for “Props.”)

2) Most-adaptable: showing exceptional ink style versatility over other pencil artists. (Minimum TWO pages, up to three.)

3) Props award: ink artist deserving of more attention for their work over other pencillers.

4) The S.P.A.M.I: for favorite Small Press And Mainstream-Independent comic book ink work over another pencil artist (Non-Marvel or DC).

5)All-in-one award: for favorite artist inking his/her own pencils.

WHERE TO SEND: Email samples to inkwellawards@yahoo.com, with the Subject “2018 Inkwell Awards.” (Questions? Same email or ask us on Facebook or Twitter @inkwellawards.)

WHEN TO SEND: The deadline is DECEMBER 31st, 2018 (we’ll post reminders, but earlier is better).

Since this is our first try at this, we have to be strict. PLEASE help us help you by following the directions specifically. If not, your work cannot be considered. We are merely a few working professionals who volunteer when time allows so we don’t have the time/manpower to micro-manage. 

ADDITIONAL RULES: 

-Inks can be with traditional or digital tools (e.g., brush, pen, marker, stylus, Apple Pen, Wacom, etc., but NOT pencils darkened/manipulated via Photoshop or other software).
-Our volunteer NomCom may also submit their choices. All entries will be considered equally and tallied. 

The core committee is not permitted to nominate, nor vote, for anyone (so save your bribes). 

-All links sent must be to the specific pages being considered. Any general site links will be ignored.

-If work does not meet the criteria above or is not submitted in accordance with these rules, it will not be considered. Fraudulent entries will be voided and will result in your not being considered for any future awards (and any awards won will be forfeited and given to the runner-up.) 

-The Inkwell Awards is not responsible for any power outages, server issues, software or hardware malfunctions, human error, acts of God, zombie apocalypses and any other stuff beyond our control. 

Again, if you have questions or need more info, send an email to either inkwellawards@yahoo.com, or to me directly at the address below.

Thank you and good luck!

Sincerely,

Bob Almond (and The Inkwell Awards Committee)

dmralmond@gmail.com

inkwellawards.com

@inkwellawards

25 Aug 2018

Photo by Pat McGreal

As reported by Newsarama yesterday on August 24, 2018, Russ Heath has passed away after a battle with cancer. Russ had just received the lifetime achievement award, the Stacey Aragon Special Recognition Award, this past June 15 at the final live awards ceremony at Heroes Con. Bob Almond shared the following at his Facebook account timeline:

Sad way to start a day. My only memory to share regarding Russ Heath was fairly recent and, apparently now, during a serious decline in his health this year. Russ was living at home last January when we contacted his close friend Steven L. Wyatt (who unofficially acted as a handler for conventions) that he had won the Inkwell Awards’ Stacey Aragon Special Recognition Award. Russ was in a wheelchair but he wanted to attend Heroes Con to receive it and Steve hoped he could travel with him. Promoter Shelton Drum was ready to assist in any way for us to get him there. After some communication delays regarding travel plans I finally reached Steven in early April to sadly hear that Russ had to go to assisted living in Long Beach 140 miles away due to some mobility issues and would not be able to attend shows anymore. Communications were few and infrequent after that but we were able to ship the trophy to Steve and then waited for a follow-up. A pal of Steve’s, Pat McGreal, later contacted me saying that he lives near the home and Steve asked him if he could record on video Russ receiving the award. The recording was ultimately not used because Russ couldn’t think of anything to say and he was also dealing with hearing problems and confusion. So Pat captured a shot from the video to be used as a photo for the award ceremony slideshow by Inkwell contributor Ray Burke who was able to add it like 2 days from the event (shown below in comments). Much like Dick Giordano, Bernie Wrightson, Dick Ayers and Murphy Anderson before him, the Inkwell Awards were so relieved to be able to show appreciation for these masters’ works through a lifetime achievement award while they were still around to appreciate it. (Due to technical problems we weren’t able to add his name to our site yet so he wasn’t credited for our award on Wikipedia. That is being handled now.) Rest in peace, Russ!

The Inkwell Awards organization sends it’s sincere condolences to Russ’ family and loved ones.

01 Jun 2018

In our efforts to continue to promote the art form of inking and to educate the public on exactly what it is that we do and the quality standards we bring to the comic book sequential medium, as a service we are always willing to run an ink artist’s instructional classes ads here as an FYI. On Facebook I found this ad being sponsored by the London-based Orbital Comics posted by veteran and award-winning (and Inkwell nominated) inker Mick Gray yesterday and offered a helping hand which he enthusiastically approved. Hopefully some of you in the UK region or artists interested in doing the traveling for the event will consider attending this. Any questions? You can either ask them at the Orbital Comics website or Mick himself through his Facebook page/Messenger. DISCLAIMER: Otherwise we are not in any way affiliated with this event or the sponsor.