Independent Road w/Peter Palmiotti episode #29

Here is my first podcast with Independent Road hosted by Peter Palmiotti, episode #29 to be exact, talked about inking, comics, movies, Inkwell Awards, Heroes Fallen Studios Inc and a few other things as well. Go take a listen while you do some artwork or clean the house. 

The Joe Sinnott Inking Challenge via Inkwell Awards

Joe Sinnott. The name immediately evokes to mind many things: legendary inker, community-respected veteran artist, gentleman, fan-favorite and art partner of Jack Kirby. For the non-profit organization the Inkwell Awards, Joe is their Hall of Fame namesake and recipient, a living representation of what the art form of inking is really about with a decades-spanning career of work to prove it.

This year The Inkwells wanted to try out a new, additional way of expressing their mission of promoting, educating and recognizing inking and its artists. Utilizing two of Joe’s original penciled images of Namor the Sub-Mariner and Dr. Doom, the organization offered a variety of ink artists in the community a rare opportunity to ink over the pencil art of an inking legend, The 2011 Joe Sinnott Inking Challenge. Both characters are instantly familiar from Joe’s long run on Fantastic Four, where he inked a number of artists, including a career defining run over Jack Kirby, along with Rich Buckler, George Perez and John Byrne.

The art, previously donated on blank variant cover comics for fundraising, was enlarged and converted to blueline on comic-sized boards before being sent out to the chosen inkers. “Some of the inkers challenged themselves to capture the feel of Joe’s clean line work while retaining their own individual style,” Bob Almond, founder & director of the Inkwell Awards, stated. “Others, especially those inkers known for their finishing work, took the spirit of the drawing and amped it up to the next level, bringing in their own sensibilities and drawing skills. Neither approach is ‘wrong’ and seeing both methods actually enhances the experience.”

By posting the images side-by-side in their ComicArtFans gallery, this will allow the public to compare the pieces and see what each artist brings to the table and educate people about what inking involves. “This was a concept inspired by promoter Steve Morger’s annual Inking Panel which takes place at his ‘Super-Con’, now the ‘Big Wow Comicfest’ (http://www.super-con.com/),” said Bob Almond, “and he gave me his enthusiastic blessing about using the idea for our needs.

“We hope that this will become an annual event,” continued Almond, “and Joe, in anticipation of upcoming films, will be penciling two more cover pieces, Captain America and Thor, as donations and we will use those images for the 2012 Sinnott Inking Challenge. So check out our gallery and you can be the decider on who led the challenge in inking Joe Sinnott!”

The list of inker participants all lending their generous time and effort spans from the legends of the bronze-age right on up through the modern-age and today’s hot talents: Mike Allred, Kent Archer, Terry Austin, Rick Bryant, Ernie Chan, Klaus Janson, Jay Leisten, Pablo Marcos, Jose Marzan, Jr., Mark McKenna, Bob McLeod, Al Milgrom, Dan Parsons, Sean Parsons, Jack Purcell, Josef Rubenstein, Tom Schloendorn, Jim Tournas and Bob Wiacek. Some of the inked pieces are already posted at the gallery, with more being added as they come in:

Dr. Doom:http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryRoom.asp?GSub=110821,
Namor:http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryRoom.asp?GSub=110820

Another aspect to this project is fundraising. This June marks the scheduled first live awards ceremony for The Inkwells at Heroes Con with Inkwell committee, ambassadors, contributors, and spokesmodel Ms. Inkwell in attendance and with all of the public invited to attend and join the fun. The organization is co-sponsoring the costs of the event with Heroes which will especially include all travel expenses of the award recipients who will be announced exclusively that weekend. So besides the usual ongoing fundraising achieved through their online auctions, this is another opportunity to do so. The pages of original blueline-inked art will be up for auction at ComicArtFans starting Sunday March 20 and will probably run for more than one week. They can be found at the Inkwell Awards auction page at http://www.comicartfans.com/auctions/AuctionProfileAuctions.asp?GCat=35444

The Inkwell Awards (http://www.inkwellawards.com) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and educate about the art form of comic book inking and to annually recognize and award the best ink artists and their work. Now in the midst of their fourth year, the organization is overseen by a number of industry professionals such as founder & director Bob Almond, Jimmy Tournas, Bob Shaw, Nathan Massengill, Daniel Best and Kris Fenol who make up the IA core committee and Adam Hughes, Mike Marts, Ethan Van Sciver, Mark Brooks, Sal Velluto, Mike McKone, and Trevor Von Eeden who make up their IA ambassadors, and numerous contributors such as Mark McKenna, Dan Panosian, Louis Small, Jr. and Randy Green among others. They sponsor the Dave Simons Inkwell Memorial Scholarship Fund for the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon & Graphic Art and host the Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame.

Joe Sinnott with Ms. Inkwell (Chrissy Cutler) 2010 Pittsburgh Comicon

The 2011 Inkwell Awards ballots go live April 1st-30th so please vote!

UPDATING AGAIN...

Well, it has been a long while since I updated my blog, I want to try and keep my blog up to date at least once a week, but sometimes I get so busy with life, kids, school and trying to find the time to ink that my blog is usually the last thing on my mind...but alot of times, I can usually be found wandering around deviantART or checking out a Inker's website.

What have I been up to lately you ask...just the everyday normal things in life spending time with the kids, going to work, doing school work (which I should be doing instead of updating my blog), spending time with my lovely girlfriend and inking as well as making plans for NC Comicon in Mooresville, NC on November 13-14, 2010...but before then I will be going to Big Apple Con in New York from October 1-3 as a spectator taking in the sites and sounds.
And with that being said, here are some pieces I have inked as of late...enjoy!

DESCRIPTION FOR THE FOLLOWING INKED PIECES OF WORK -
1 - The Zombieland piece was originally pencilled by Dave Faught and inked by Michael W. Kellar (ME)
2 - The Zombies piece was originally pencilled by Brian Rogers and inked by Michael W. Kellar (ME)
3 - The Ares piece was originally pencilled by Bob Raymond and inked by Michael W. Kellar (ME)
4 - The Batman piece was originally pencilled by Tony Vassallo and inked by Michael W. Kellar (ME)

"Until Next Time...Keep on Drawing & Inking"

Comics Mentor - What’s Your Story?

Comics Mentor - What’s Your Story?#comment-353

Scroll down to get to my name and you can read my story.

Updating...

Well, it has been a long while since I updated my blog, I can usually be found wandering around deviantART or checking out a Inker's website.

What have I been up to lately you ask...just the everyday normal things in life spending time with the kids, going to work, doing school work (which I should be doing instead of updating my blog), spending time with my lovely girlfriend and inking as well as making plans for Free Comic Book Day at The Comic Monstore in Salisbury, NC.

And with that being said, here are some pieces I have inked as of late...enjoy!

My 24 Hour Comics Day...RECAP!!!

Here is a recap of my first 24 Hour Comics Day Event. What is 24 Hour Comics Day you ask...well it is where a artist is supposed to create a 24 page comic in 24 hours...for myself on the other hand being A INKER and NOT A PENCILLER, I would think that an inker should be able to ink 12 pages in 24 hours since in some cases it takes a tad bit longer to ink a page especially if you have to do any finishes or correct anatomy.

So, on Saturday October 3, 2009 several artist descended on The Comic Monstore in Salisbury, NC for 24 Hour Comics Day...these artist that decided to undertake this challenge are the guys from Vanguards of Comics (Jay Gobble, Charles Underhill & Jason Carr wearing the white t-shirts) and myself (wearing the Batman t-shirt).

My first 24 Hour Comics Day at The Comic Monstore in Salisbury, North Carolina was a blast to say the least...listen/watched ALOT of movies (300, Ghostbusters Animated, Ghostbusters, Spirit, Superbad, The Simpsons Movie, Deathproof, Japanese Anime and a few more that I can't remember), listened to alot of music (Lordi, Distrubed, Guns & Roses, Judas Priest & many more), LOTS and LOTS of laughs. The guys from Vanguard got about 20 pages done EACH, I am NOT a Penciller...I am AN Inker and I inked 12 of Charles Underhill's pages in 23 hours...I think I did pretty good for my first ever event.


Here is one of the pages I inked for Charles Underhill...this is the Ice Princess.



Shane Peoples (Store Manager) from The Comic Monstore (seen here chillin at 8:16am)









who was a really great host...kept suppling us with Bawl's energy drinks for the 24 hours and paid for all our meals (I personally ate Chicken Hibachi for lunch, Wendy's Chicken Club Combo for dinner and Jay bought all of us breakfast from McDonald's at around 6:15am)...all around I had a really great experience, I would do it again.


Here are some pictures of Charles, Jay, Jason & I at the START of the event -


Here are some pictures of Charles, Jay, Jason & I near the END of the event -

Jason & Charles still cranking out pages, me looking for 12 noon and some sleep, Jay and all his BLUE BAWL's...these guys are the greatest, I look forward to hangin' with these guys more often.

Here is an AWESOME Freddy Krueger bust that I picked up during the storewide 24 Hour Comics Day SALE!!! For $30.00, best iconic horror slasher ever...hands down!!!

(This picture of my Freddy Krueger bust was taken later in the day in my studio, after I got home and got some sleep!!!)

North Carolina 24 Hour Comics Day

We at The Comic Monstore are hosting our first 24 Hour Comics Day so mark your calendars because the date has been set! This year's worldwide event will take place at 12:00pm on Saturday, October 3 at 813 S. Jake Alexander Blvd. Salisbury, NC 28146.

If you live in Salisbury, NC or the surrounding areas and want to be a part of 24 Hour Comics Day...please contact Ray Franks or Shane Peoples at 704-636-0049 or feel free to contact me for further details.