I usually come here to praise the work of pencilers who have done exceptional work for me on commissions, but I'd like to take this opportunity to heap some praise on an inker who has inked over three dozen pieces for me. BOB ALMOND is a longtime veteran inker, mostly known for his work over Sal Velluto on such titles as BLACK PANTHER and JSA. A really great inker can take a nicely penciled piece and turn it into an exceptional piece. I'd like to share two examples of that here.

I was fortunate enough to commission a drawing by the legendary JIM STARLIN. Knowing that this would probably be my only shot at a Starlin piece, I decided to have him draw a cosmic character, since that's the genre he's best know for. I went with the Black Racer, a character Kirby's NEW GODS pantheon. Mr. Starlin delivered a beautifully drawn piece, basically featuring the character and no background. I offered it to Bob to ink, and what he did was phenomenal. He not only inked the character, he added a gorgeous starscape background which really took the piece to a whole new level. You can see the before and after pieces here:

http://www.almondink.com/gallery/blackracer.html


Awhile back, I had decided to do a series of themed-commissions I entitled "Black Panther World Tour." Each piece would feature T'Challa paired off with a hero from another country. For the United Kingdom, I decided to pair him with Union Jack, and got Trevor Von Eeden to pencil it for me. Trevor did a great job, but the piece needed some tweaking so it was off to Bob make the corrections and ink it up. First of all, Trevor had added some copy which didn't fit the piece that had to removed. Secondly, he had the flags of England and the United States in opposite corners of the piece. As much as I love the U.S. flag, it didn't make any sense to have it on there since neither of the characters featured were Americans (T'Challa is African but not African-American) -- so Bob replaced it with the Wakandan banner. I think the result was outstanding, and you can check out the before and after here:

http://www.almondink.com/gallery/bp&uj.html

Bob is very adept at inking virtually any penciler and I've never had a piece that didn't look better after Bob worked his magic. His prices are extremely reasonable and he constantly stays in contact with updates and is very responsive to any questions his clients have. If you've got some penciled pieces you'd like to see taken to the next level, I encourage you to drop Bob a line. He can be contacted through his website, found here:

http://www.almondink.com/

Like the Black Panther stuff.

Very fine work indeed!

I know I'm late to the party here, but a belated thank you for showing just how versatile and polished Bob's inks are on commission pieces. I'm going to him right after I finish this post!

If you're like me and you want sometimes want to see your penciled pieces taken to the next level, you may be interested in knowing that BOB ALMOND has reopened his commissions list and will be happy to ink any you have. Bob does gorgeous work and can adapt to any penciler. He has a fast turnaround time, and is very good about communicating with his clients. Plus, his prices are very reasonable. He's inked 50 commissions for me and has done an outstanding job every time.

Check out his commissions gallery here:

http://www.almondink.com/gallery2.html

and you can contact him through his website at almondink.com

Highly impressive work. =X

I've always enjoyed the ideas that Damon brings to the table for his commissions. The Von Eeden piece is especially nice and lest not forget the wonderful inking of Bob Almond.
Kudos on a very nice addition to your collection Damon.

Cheers,
Jeff

Thanks for the kind comments, Jeff. You already know what a fan I am of your cool collection.