We're baaaack!
Have you ever noticed that the work of a particular inker adds that extra flair or polish to the jobs they do and that you will find yourself pumped to discover that a favorite story or series of yours is being inked by this artist and not someone else? If so, this is where we'd like you to express your appreciation for that quality work.
We're not here to over-hype the status of the inker. Inkers enter this biz understanding that they are not going to draw the same attention, or 'rock-star' status, as other crafts but will probably fall below the radar. But, like almost everyone in the community, we do it for the passion for the art form ('cuz certainly few of us are getting rich at it;-)). And while most industry awards have a 'best' or 'favorite inker' category (but not all) we'd like to draw special recognition here for the ink artist, his craft, and his history. This has been my intent for a while now and I've taken notice of and contacted some folks over time who didn't credit ink artists and to please do so in reviews, art samples/reprints, collections cover credits, and solicitations and I've offered to help identify those artists in some cases; simply credit where credit was/is due. Inkers used to traditionally receive such credit alongside the pencil artist as a team or as part of the 'big three' of 'writer, penciler, & inker' but for whatever reason policies have changed at some companies the last few years and while the color artists have justifiably received more attention for their recent digital innovations, the significance of the inker has diminished somewhat and has not been helped by some with limited budgets into using the process of skipping the production step altogether, having a colorist work straight over the pencil art with mixed results.
It was in my "Inkblots" column in Blue Line Pro's SKETCH magazine #35 (2008) that I came up with a much smaller-scale version of the Inkwell Awards you see here to bring back some awareness and appreciation for what we bring to the sequential art process in most cases: quality. (and we truly want to certify that we make these gestures without any intended malice or agenda against any specific publisher or their editors).
It was after seeking input from my inking brothers on the Yahoo 'Inkwell' mailing list that some more ideas developed and I proceeded to gather others who shared my conviction in order to restructure and expand the concept of the awards together. It's a huge thanks to them that this function is active as it is...and it is to the unsung inker that this awards proceeding is dedicated. We're simply happy to inform and reward our own. Someone has to.
Please take a moment to look over the categories as they've been revised from year one. Instead of career-retrospective categories, except for The Joe Sinnott Award, they are targeted at inked material from the previous year of 2008. A separate Nomination Committee has been selected to nominate candidates now that will be posted this spring for you to choose from. Open to both the public fans and the industry, WE WELCOME ALL! Please feel free to vote for every category or only those you feel informed enough about (some may be more 'shop-centric' for the creator community).
Voting will run from June 1- June 30th, 2009. Results will be tabulated and posted here and at the Inkwell Awards forum, if not at other venues, and subsequently, award trophies distributed. The Inkwell Awards Committee members who are also inkers and Nominator inkers are not eligible for nominations. After the Nominators choices, The IA committee will ultimately judge eligibility of all nominees.
All advertising and fund-raising revenue will be used only for Inkwell Awards-related expenses.
Thanks for voting! And please visit our generous sponsors!
Bob Almond
2/02/09
