Joe told stories of living for a dollar a day in New York City when he was a student at the “School for Cartoonists and Illustrators” (later redubbed “School of Visual Arts”). Tarzan artist Burne Hogarth was one of his teachers. Later Joe inked most of Jack Kirby’s “Fantastic Four” for Marvel during the classic years.
I gave Joe a printed-out version of the recent blog post on restoring school funding, so he could read every one of the wonderful comments you all made. Joe hadn’t seen the post because he doesn’t do computers: “Wouldn’t know how to plug the thing in,” he said.
He still inks Spiderman Sunday comics at age 83, though he says you can’t get as good a sable brush these days. And he had to switch to a pen because they print the comics so small now.
Previous post on Joe in "Restoring Art Programs."
Joe Sinnott.com
That is so cool! Joe Sinnott is like unto a god to me . . .
ReplyDeleteHis Kirby inking of FF was the perfect match of penciler and inker. Nothing better to this day.
ReplyDeleteI met Joe a couple of years back at a NY comic con and had him sign my copy of his great bio "Brush Strokes with greatness" http://www.amazon.com/Brush-Strokes-Greatness-Life-Sinnott/dp/1893905721/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281029070&sr=1-1
ReplyDeleteHe got a kick out of me saying that he was one of the first artists whose work I recognised as a young comic fan in the '70's. He made everybody's pencils look great.
I am wondering what's wrong with modern sable brushes?
ReplyDeleteDan, according to Joe, they lack the spring, and I agree. It has something to do with the climate the Kolinskys live in or something. Maybe someone knows why. A good watercolor brush should snap back, not flop over. Joe was passionate about that point.
ReplyDeleteVery cool! Joe Sinnott is awesome and I hope he knows all the respect and admiration comic fans have for him. Thanks for printing out that last post and showing it to him, James.
ReplyDeleteI've heard once that the original breed of Kolinskies (which apparently were weasels rather than true sables) went extinct and that present-day "Kolinsky" hairs come from a different animal. Supposedly this substitute's hair lacks the springiness of the kolinsky's fur.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know whether this is true? I am definitely convinced that the Series 7's don't point as well as they did 30 years ago.
It's a mild relief to hear someone who knows far more than I say the Kolinsky sables these days aren't what they're cracked up to be. The one WN Series 7 I invested in does "flop over," not "spring back." I felt like a Philistine who just didn't get the subtle superiority of Series 7 whenever I bypassed the sable and picked up a synthetic. Some synthetics seem to give more precise and dependable variation in a painted line.
ReplyDeleteRon Frenz who was drawing Thor at the time showed me some pages that Joe had inked. There was a splash page of a cityscape that was flawless.
ReplyDeleteThe kicker was that he did the whole thing with a brush.
I ink everything with a brush because of that one instance. Not nearly as good as Joe, but it's a lot of fun trying.
Sinnott was one of the better inkers over Kirby's work. What an honor to meet him!
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