* MTV
[Male Narrator] Previously on Ink Master...
Oh, no!
[Narrator] 16 brand-new artists entered the competition.
Four of you will be packing your machines
before you've even moved into a shop.
Oh, my God. I'm gonna throw up.
[Lucy] Let's fucking go, bitches.
[Narrator] The artists had to tattoo for their lives.
You're going huge with your tattoo.
[James] This is huge?
[Narrator] Each teams' tattoos were ranked by the judges.
[Joel] Congratulations Alena, you have the highest ranked
tattoo for the Young Guns. Well done.
Joseph, the second highest ranked tattoo.
Jade, third highest ranked.
-Jenna, fourth highest ranked. -Thank you.
[Joel] OGs, you're up.
James, you have the highest ranked tattoo.
Who could've guessed it?
[Joel] Anthony, you have the second highest ranked tattoo.
Good job, kiddo.
[Joel] Stephanie, third highest ranked.
Lucy, fourth highest ranked tattoo.
Thank you.
[Joel] You are all safe from elimination.
[Narrator] The remaining artists had to battle it out
for the final two spots on each team.
All right, fellas, get after it.
[Andy] Sorry, Jorell, I'm getting a spot on that team.
[Manny] I gotta go up against one of the best black and gray
artists in the world.
[Pony] We're tattooing for our lives right now.
Maybe now is the perfect time to come out like a phoenix,
bigger and stronger.
[Trevor] I wanna prove it to myself that I can stack up
against the best artists in the world.
The judges have decided, Love, Johnny, Manny, Andy,
you do not have what it takes to be Ink Master.
[Narrator] 12 artists remain, 6 OGs and 6 Young guns.
Now, the battle can begin.
[Narrator] But only one will earn a $250,000 prize
and the title...
...of Ink Master.
[music]
That was hard. That was fucking brutal.
It is the worst feeling.
-I felt my arm pits were wet. -Yes, they were.
-I thought you were gone, buddy. -That was insane.
And when it came down to Pony and Manny, yeah,
I got a little passionate.
We know what he's good at.
Sadly, this is the only thing I expect him to do.
Personally, I think I'm a stronger artist
in a lot of ways than him.
And I want you to prove it now, right?
That's what I'm here to do.
Because I don't wanna call you one-trick Pony.
There's a lot of big egos in that team
and I feel like it's gonna be their downfall at some point.
[Trevor] And if we use all of our brains collectively,
I think that we're gonna be able to take them out one by one.
We have to go out there and we have to crush it.
Period.
[music]
What are we thinking?
-OGs. -Yes.
-Young Guns. -What's good?
The battle is just beginning.
-Yeah, it is. -Let's do it.
For your first flash challenge,
you will win or lose as a team.
-We've got this. -No problem.
No problem.
This week we're testing...
Creativity.
-All right. -Definitely our team.
Creativity is important because it just
makes things interesting.
If you're not creative in art,
I feel like your shit's just boring.
For this flash challenge you must think outside of the box.
Go on.
[Joel] And create a life-size, three-dimensional sculpture
out of cardboard.
[music]
[Man] What?
I've definitely never made art out of cardboard before.
Working in your teams, you must cut, tear
and stack sheets, tubes, and rolls of ordinary cardboard.
Transforming everyday packing supplies
into larger-than-life sculptures.
Packing supplies?
What is there to say about cardboard?
It's rigid.
My online-shopping addiction makes me very familiar with it.
That could be to my advantage, actually.
If your sculptures aren't packed with creativity,
you could be packing your bags.
Hey!
Win this flash challenge and your team will have the power
to assign all the human canvases in the elimination tattoo.
Gotta get that.
-We've gotta have it. -Not an option.
Gotta have it.
This advantage means everything. It's gonna decide what tattoo
you're gonna get.
If we can shake up the OGs and send them home,
it could set the tone for the rest of the competition.
Guys, today is when this competition really begins.
It's also the very first time that you guys are working
as a team in a unit.
Figure out together what each other's strengths
and weaknesses are, and divide and conquer.
[Nikko] Just like tattooing a sleeve, right?
You're making a sculpture. You wanna think 360.
Blow us away with your ideas. Really think outside the box.
Absolutely.
Let's make this a real boxing match.
[laughter]
That was sick.
You have six hours.
And your time starts...
Now!
Let's go.
So, we're brainstorming. What are we thinking?
[DJ] Cardboard's boring.
The only time I'm happy with cardboard
is when a pizza comes in it.
-We could do a dinosaur. -You can use--you can--
It doesn't need to be a big dinosaur.
It is not-- It's not simple.
I wanna see this flat, boring, brown cardboard
turned into something unique with different textures.
Well, I was thinking a dragon head with a snake body.
[DJ] We wanna see something fresh and new,
something creative. Just get weird.
Jenna, what's your idea?
We build a Lochness monster and then create waves
down on the base.
It looks like fuckin' water waves.
I'm gonna do a kind of dragon, like a water serpent.
That's what I mean.
I was thinking like a eagle, hawk, or something like that.
Wings gonna come out. We use cardboard for texture.
-How about an owl. -[James] An owl?
Yeah.
James definitely likes to have a leadership role.
He's been doing this longer than anyone else.
So it's gonna be kind of going forward.
-That tail's gonna keep it-- -Prop it up.
I'm also good at being a leader, but I can also be a follower
when I need to be.
Okay?
The fucking head is gonna be literally, this fucking big.
How about having it come out of something where it's like,
-ripping through something. -[Jade] I like that idea.
Because then we can--
Can we make it coming out of water, though,
-or out of land? -Oh, water, water.
-Yes, let's do water. -Like a Lochness monster?
And it's easy. Yeah, there goes your idea.
And then we'll make our own creature like crawling up.
[Jenna] Okay, I'm gonna do water.
-It'll be like our own-- -You are drawing.
Okay, you draw.
It doesn't seem like we have any real unity.
No, don't worry about this. Let's go.
You just made something. Something that's gonna sit flat.
I'll help you with the structure.
It kind of seems like there's a lot of ideas
and emotions flying around.
Artists, there are five hours on the clock.
[music]
The iris should be here and then my pupil should be set back.
Lucy and Steph are working on the head.
Pony, you got a good eye for details, right?
So let's uh-- We're gonna lay these out
-side by side. -Okay.
Pony, Jorell, Anthony, and I, we're working on the wings.
That's too big of a gap right there, right?
Yeah, let's move it around. What do you think?
We're slowly figuring out how to build this body.
And now we've gotta support lift.
[music]
I feel like we've gotta make it sturdier first 'cause look.
I'm on it, I'm on it.
[Jenna] Well, yeah, that's because I need to tape it down.
[Alena] Yeah, it shouldn't be falling over. I feel like
it has to be sturdier because the head is going there.
Relax. There's gonna go more layers.
It's gonna make it sturdier.
I don't know what Cat's doing with the head, so we need--
We're waiting for her.
-[James] Jenna! -What?
You don't look happy.
I don't have time for this shit.
The structure falls over when you just blow on it.
Like, how do we expect it to hold things
that we're about to put on?
You are not gonna have enough time for that.
[Cat] No, I think--
You are struggling with that head, dude.
And you have to be realistic
with your amount of time you have left.
I feel like Jenna is just there to stress everybody out.
Where we stand right now, we will not make it, so...
I know. That's why I just wanted to do a head and--
The head's the most detailed thing.
She's just trying to make everything so simple.
You don't think that, that body is too big
-for that tiny-ass head? -[Alena] Jenna, please.
[Jenna] The head's supposed to be the biggest part.
[Alena] This is a creativity challenge.
This is not where you're trying to go simple.
[Cat] When we've got the shape, we can mimic the other side.
I'm just gonna let everybody do what you want.
You have two hours remaining.
[music]
Okay, all hands on deck here, okay?
We'll hold it up.
Let's fucking figure it out, okay?
Keep the weight at least here, right?
[Pony] Yep.
[James] These wings are heavy.
I have no idea how they're even gonna hold up on the body.
If we had that pole going in there where it is,
and we run another pole on top, we could just like slide
over this. You know what I mean?
I can go like this far and it will support the whole thing.
Yeah.
If these wings don't stick to the body, we're toast.
There is one hour left.
[music]
This looks bad. I'm not even gonna lie.
I say we just cut a small island,
put the little boat there, put the fucking tail there,
and be done with it.
We can just neglect the middle piece.
Okay, cut a small island out of that piece quick.
Somebody, just anybody.
I cut out a water shape and it wasn't good enough,
-so someone else can do that. -Okay, I'm gonna make water.
Some people don't know how to do things.
You're gonna figure it out.
There's been many things you haven't been able to figure out,
too, so you're no fucking genius.
So don't be an asshole 'cause that's not gonna get you
anywhere in this competition.
I never said I'm a genius. I'm just saying, facts.
We're a team. We're supposed to work together, not be assholes.
Exactly, exactly.
Why do you keep like going, "Oh, make this smaller.
Make this more simple, or make this like that?"
I was correct. The body's correct.
I was correct.
Thirty minutes.
[music]
Yeah, that's good.
No fucking around now.
Some of us are right about some things
and some are right about other shit.
Five, four, three, two, one.
That's it. Time's up.
No more cardboard.
I mean, it's cute.
[music]
It's time to critique your work.
Young Guns, you are up first.
It looks like you guys thought,
"How many different ways can we use this material?"
You guys used the tape to do this clear skin over the spine.
How the belly scales have that little shiny edge,
I think that's really creative.
I really love the sides of the face,
how they come out not just layered,
but you layered the textures to create contrast
even though it's all one color.
But it's the stuff around it
that makes it kind of feel small.
It takes away from the beauty of that big, substantial thing.
[Nikko] I mean, I forget it's cardboard looking at the face.
And then as you come down,
you have these waves that say cardboard.
But the centerpiece of this is amazing.
Big points for that.
OGs, you're up.
[Ryan] It is big. It is bold.
It is readable.
It's absolutely clear what everything is.
I love the illusion that it's not even cardboard anymore.
I feel as if it's a wood structure.
One of the most impressive parts is that it's so solid
that the wings are staying up.
It's crazy 'cause they look heavy.
I like that you inset the eyes to create almost an eye socket
all the way through.
Every piece on this looks precise.
I think it's dope.
Judges, it's time to determine the winner
of this flash challenge.
[Ryan] The Young Guns are more creative in their usage
of the materials, but then the OGs were way more creative
in how to build something that is really impressive in terms of
how is it even staying together?
Just doing something grand and having it really simple,
does it beat something smaller?
That ripple-y water bugs me a little bit, but that face,
I feel a lot more emotion in it.
The anatomy of the face of that dragon, I mean,
you have to be creative to pull that out of your head.
Each intricate little piece with different types
of cardboard creating that.
My vote is for the Young Guns.
The Young Guns absolutely created amazing details.
I just feel like it wasn't cohesive and finished.
When I look at the owl, I do believe it's a different
type of texture. My vote goes to the OGs.
I think one is grand. It's simplistic.
The Young Guns piece,
the use of the material was a bit more creative.
My vote is for the Young Guns.
Yo.
That's one vote for the OGs and two votes for the Young Guns.
Which leaves it to me.
The owl, playful, cute. The serpent, angry, chaotic.
Creativity day, my vote
is for the Young Guns.
Let's go.
We did it, dude. We did it.
Being absolutely torn apart on a tattoo to them,
suddenly really loving something that I've done is mind-blowing.
Like, uh, I feel so good. Almost like redemption.
Congratulations. As a team, you will have the power
to assign all the human canvases in the elimination tattoo.
We'll never fight again.
We're lying.
[Joel] Get some rest and we'll see you tomorrow
in the shop for the next elimination tattoo.
I'm so proud of you guys.
You can always add more detail. Can they make theirs bigger?
No.
[music]
I feel like we did have a little bit of differences yesterday.
It was definitely a lesson.
[Jenna] I feel like you and I had the hardest argument.
The sooner we get it together, the sooner we can just really
take it to the next level.
How do you guys feel about the skull picks?
I feel like we should play it safe for us.
And then for their team?
I would be 100% okay with just like rolling the dice.
I would take a shot at one person.
Otherwise, you literally are going to make it look like
we are stupid and weak.
[music]
-Oh, my gosh, Cat. -Oh, my gosh.
Look, that's me.
Shit's real now.
Those have got the years. 26 years.
[Jade] Oh, that's cool.
[Alena] Nine years, thirteen years.
[Jade] This is so cool.
[Trevor] Where are you at? Oh, there you are.
[Pony] Back in the green.
Holy shit, I've got my name in neon?
A few of the other OGs didn't want me,
but they're about to fucking find out I deserve to be here.
Welcome to the elimination tattoo.
Here we go, first one.
For the first time in this competition,
the OGs and the Young Guns will all tattoo against each other.
These suckers are going down.
Game on, guys.
In the end, only one of you
will walk away with $250,000,
and the title of Ink Master.
It's that title I want, baby.
Today, you must push your creativity to the limit
by creating...
Lettering tattoos.
[groans]
Stop.
Lettering tattoos, there's no room for error.
If you have a little janky line, it shows
and you can't really fix it.
And also, spell your fucking words right.
I fucking hate doing lettering.
We're used to being able to do images
and tell a story that way, but it's tough to be
super creative with such a straightforward subject matter.
Being creative with lettering is trying to sell the feeling
of the lettering and what the word is.
Transform it, so when you look at it, you see a piece of art,
and then you read what it says.
I don't think I've done a word in 10 years.
Yes.
I do this stuff back home all the time.
This is my wheelhouse. I'm golden, baby.
There is one more thing you should know.
Like lettering's not bad enough.
In this competition, playing it safe does not win.
This season, winning tattoo of the day
means winning the power.
I don't know what the power is, but I want it.
Each week the team whose artist wins tattoo of the day
in the elimination tattoo will form a jury of peers.
[music]
That team will deliberate and put one artist
up for elimination, regardless of the team.
Let's go.
To be able to put someone up for elimination to be put
in the crossfire, that's massive and we fucking need that.
Let's meet your canvases.
[music]
[Woman] Here we go.
[music]
[Joel] Young Guns, you won the flash challenge.
You have the power to assign the canvases as a team.
Advantages in this competition are hard to come by.
Use them wisely.
[music]
What is it that you're trying to get today?
I would like the phrase, "I promise to love you
for all my days, come what may"
in black and gray mixed lettering on my thigh.
[James] Too many words.
Fuckin' commas and exclamation marks
and probably even a semicolon in there.
It's gonna make my colon hurt.
What would you like to get today?
"I love you never stop" in colorful graffiti lettering.
I'm looking for "Bad Chick" that wraps around
the shin and the calf.
I would like the word, "Solivagant"
on my lower stomach.
I don't know what the word is. I don't care.
The placement's horrible.
You're gonna struggle with how stretchy the stomach is.
Like, that's just a nightmare.
My last name across my upper back.
I want to get "Empowered" in black and gray on my stomach.
[Trevor] Super set on placement?
I'm super set.
"You reap what you sow" written in French in black and gray.
My three kids names in different graffiti-style lettering.
"Play that same song" in colorful cross-stitch lettering.
That's tiny Xs.
"Your light, my mirror" in graffiti-style lettering.
"Play the hand you're dealt" on my outer forearm.
"Girl Love" in black and gray, gothic, metal-style lettering
across my butt.
A butt tattoo?
That's my girl right there. Just the fact that she's asking
for a tattoo on her butt is so metal of her.
I want the butt cheeks. I want the butt cheeks.
It sucks that the Young Guns have the skull pick.
I know they're gonna target me and if they don't,
that's a big mistake.
Give the really long one to James.
If we give Jorell graffiti, he's gonna kill it.
-Give him the stomach. -The stomach.
It's a lot of pressure to have the power.
[music]
Who has the butt cheeks?
That's how I gotta remember.
The strategy is we choose the canvases we think
we can do best first and foremost.
Oh, I have no idea. We didn't even talk about... Oh, gosh.
Jenna really wants to target the other team.
I just really hope we don't mess this up.
Canvases, one by one, please read the artist's name
on the bottom of your skull.
-Joseph. -Right over here.
-Jade. -That's the bad bitch.
-Trevor. -That's your boy.
-James. -That's me.
I love novels.
-Lucy. -That's me.
[music]
[Lucy] I don't know if the Young Guns were shooting at me,
but I tattoo so many stomachs. I can handle this.
-Stephanie? -That's me.
I've done cross-stitch tattoos, actually, so I'm excited.
-Pony. -That'd be me.
[Jorell] You're going to France.
I'm going to France.
[music]
-Jorell. -That's me.
I did not want to take a stomach on.
-Anthony. -That's me.
-Cat. -That's me.
-Jenna. -Hi, that's me.
That's the kids one, yeah.
Shocking.
-Alena. -That's me.
Ooh.
-The butt cheeks. -Booty cheeks.
Better not make an ass out of yourself.
You will have five hours to push your creativity to the limit
turning simple letters into an amazing tattoo.
Fail to impress us and you will be going home.
Good luck.
[music]
How are you doing? Jorell.
Nice to meet you.
Right like this.
I don't know if I can do this.
I see you have lots of experience.
Yes.
So like the word, empowered.
I struggle a lot with confidence when it comes to my stomach.
I have this same issue with my arms.
And after having my arms tattooed,
I feel really confident wearing it.
Like, wearing sleeveless now.
In terms of cleanliness of the tattoo,
not necessarily going to get a tattoo that's
going to age well long-term.
It's not possible on the stomach with loose skin?
Impossible.
To be clean, I would be willing to die on my sword.
On that.
-I'm willing to move the spot. -Okay.
It's the word, solivagant.
What's this meaning?
The meaning is lone wanderer.
You say you want it on your stomach?
Like, mostly the lower stomach.
I will wanna do like, brush strokes for you
because it fits the meaning.
That's not quite the idea I wanna go with this one.
I wanna go a little more classic tattoo style.
She wants the most basic cursive writing.
Well, they asked for creativity challenge.
I just don't think that's what I want to have on me
for the rest of my life.
[Lucy] She doesn't give me any room to be creative.
I'm worried they can send me home.
[music]
Artists, we are looking for flawless lettering
and killer creativity.
You have five hours to tattoo.
And your time
starts now.
Oh, shit.
Technically, lettering can be hard.
I'm excited.
The human body isn't flat, so getting these long,
flowy lines and lettering evenly spaced,
it's super difficult.
Perfect.
Fit that whole area really nicely.
[DJ] But today we're also looking for creativity,
the story behind the lettering.
[music]
All right, go ahead nice and relaxed,
stay looking forward.
I wanna see you push the boundaries,
create something interesting.
Just a sec.
That looks pretty even everywhere.
[DJ] If these artists mess up these letters today,
they're gonna be writing other letters.
Dear Mom, I do not have what it takes to be Ink Master.
-Are you ready? -You betcha.
[music]
-[Jade] How does it feel so far? -[Woman] So far so good.
[music]
[James] All right, that was your warm up.
Okay. Lay it on me.
I never thought I would have to do lettering tattoos
in this competition. This is my worst nightmare.
-You're all tough now, right? -Yeah. No.
Is that the way it is at your shop,
not for the faint of heart, just as a motto?
No.
Doing little plunking words or small tattoos,
it just goes against what I like.
I like big, flowing stuff.
We do all sorts of styles in our shop.
Me and my son, well, he kind of learned after me.
So, I like flow on the body, big stuff.
I might not blow minds with creativity on this one,
but I'm going to blow minds with clean lines
and good saturation.
[music]
-It took forever. -Much better.
I think it's perfect. Yeah.
I am a little stressed about the time.
I thought it would be a little bit lower, but...
I don't know if it would really fit much lower.
I don't know.
Tattooing help me to focus and be patient.
-No, we can move it lower. -[Woman] Is that okay?
Yeah, it's okay. Come.
That tat's gonna be on her forever.
She has to like it and it has to be right.
[music]
I'm gonna figure out how we're gonna make it work.
I feel like I'm being really creative with the way
I'm placing the tattoo.
I'm also kind of being smart with the way I'm doing the lines
because I'm not gonna have to stress about pulling
straight lines on the butt.
Artists, there are four hours left on the clock.
Just keep calm. Just let me do a good tattoo.
I might have to sacrifice some textures.
I want my kids and my family to be proud of me
being a bad ass on this competition.
There is no other way to be here.
It's for real.
We're already an hour into tattoo time.
Yep, love it.
I have turn the turbo mode on to get to finish this tattoo.
-Ready? -Yep.
[music]
What are you doing over here?
A little patch work.
The word of the day is creativity, right?
[Ryan] Creativity.
[Pony] It means you reap what you sow in French.
-Really, that's what it means? -Very cool.
So I can definitely show off my creativity chops by sewing
this thing into the skin.
You do a lot of stitching?
I gotta feel comfortable about it.
If this thing is popping off the skin
then it's absolutely gonna show creativity.
But if it ends up flat,
then this whole thing is gonna fall apart.
I was just in the bottom. I can't let that happen again.
[music]
How are you feeling?
You know, just got some black and gray again.
The canvas is why I do what I do.
Then we're gonna do a little sunset from where she's from.
At the end of the day, this is a service.
And as much as I can say like,
"Oh, I'm an artist. I wanna have creative control."
Somebody has to wear this...
Forever, so I take that very seriously.
I just have to be able to adapt and do my best tattoo.
You've got two hours.
[music]
I was so nervous because I don't do lettering,
but actually, I'm having like, a good time.
I am competitive because I like to succeed, you know?
That's why I'm here. That's why I've learned
to tattoo in the short amount of time that I have.
I was also very tired yesterday, a little dramatic.
It's hard 'cause art and specifically tattooing
is not a team sport, right?
I think we learned some serious lessons.
[music]
Oh, man, that's cool.
My canvas is kinda moving a little bit.
He wants to kinda keep looking at the piece,
so he's just kind of all over the place.
Tattooing for the first time in my shop,
kinda want a nice, calm setting, but I'm a little flustered
right now, so just fucking sit still, buddy.
[music]
I only have like a letter and a half left.
I got this. I got this.
Doing some little, fun graffiti.
The first tattoo I ever did was lettering.
It was on my brother. I was not confident,
but now, I got this in the bag.
-Cruising. -Cruising.
[DJ] Don't compromise the technical side
just so you think you gotta rush, you know?
Artists, 30 minutes left.
[music]
-Sorry, what are you doing? -The bottom line.
Can you lay down?
I'm just so tired of going over the same spots.
It really hurts.
[Lucy] My canvas is in a lot of pain.
That's what happens when you get your stomach done.
Oh, my God.
Gonna fix a couple of line at the bottom.
Is it going to go all the way to the bottom?
Like, I thought there was gonna be some skin breaks.
No, there's just skin.
I feel like I'm tattooing on a water balloon.
So, it's really hard for me to pull a straight line.
It's just a lot darker than I expected, but such is life.
I just wanted you to look great.
Please stop criticize me.
I'm pretty much done.
Five, four, three, two, one.
That's it. Time's up.
No more ink.
You did so good.
I think we did it.
Hopefully, it'll be a thing at the top.
[Man] I hope so, too, man. I love it.
-Do you like it? -Yeah.
Oh, wow. That's amazing.
I feel like if I tattooed my canvas five more minutes,
she would like, run out.
I'm like, "Okay, you're done."
[James] Yeah.
Otherwise, I'm good. I did my best.
[music]
Today, you had to prove your creativity
with lettering tattoos.
OGs, let's see how you did.
Lucy.
You got thrown the hardest tattoo in the room.
[Lucy] I was struggling 'cause she didn't sit well.
I'm happy I finished it.
On creativity day, it's not really creativity at all.
Just that normal, walk-in, everyday script.
I mean, it's normal script, but the ability to pull
this off so clean on one of the hardest areas
of the body is not normal. You absolutely crushed.
Thank you.
Stephanie.
It looks vintage, antique.
The reflection on the glass is awesome.
I love the play on the cross stitch.
It was like Grandma's cross stitch that was like
gifted to somebody.
[DJ] I think this tattoo's getting handed down.
I don't think it's going to the yard sale,
so I think you did good.
[music]
James.
[music]
It's big. It's legible.
It's clean.
The thing is fucking boring, dude.
I think you could have brought more of your illustrative
background creating other elements that play around
with this. And not such giant letters.
This is the last thing I thought I would've seen from you.
Oh, God.
-It's a tough one. -That's horseshit.
Anthony.
The most successful part of the tattoo to me is like
the frame of it, but it's every letter
after the P that gets lost.
The, the, you crossed that T over the negative space.
And on the bottom, you crossed the L and left the T blank.
-It says deatll. -I see it now, yeah.
I don't think you nailed it on this one.
[music]
-Pony. -Oh, boy.
This tattoo is totally creative, man.
The embroidery looks life like. It looks real.
I love the flip at the top where it kind of came unstitched
from the skin. Really cool trick.
Sweet, thank you.
[music]
Jorell.
I do not understand why there are two big blotches.
It looks like an ink pen blew up in her pocket.
[Nikko] That scenery's floating.
It's like way bigger than the lettering itself.
And so it takes away from a cool style of font.
The sun is definitely setting on this tattoo.
[music]
All right, Young Guns. Let's see how you did.
Joseph.
I like how you went a little wild on the graffiti at the top.
I do like the character in the middle of the O,
but I can't read you.
And stop looks kind of like shop.
[Ryan] The saturation is beyond choppy.
The lollipop on top and the purple is so scratchy.
You focused more on quantity rather than quality.
[music]
Alena.
It would have been nice if the love and the cool
had similar shape and design.
It looked better on paper.
It's hard to read because there's so much skin tone
with gray that feels like it was thrown in at the last minute.
-Solid black. -Solid black.
Do that shit solid black, make that goth.
It is definitely cruel.
[music]
Cat.
I like how you switched up the fonts with each word.
I like how the mirror kind of has a reflection.
You pulled off a lot of tricks on this tattoo,
the line work, color packing, shading,
and the black and gray work is a flex to everybody like,
"I can pull these different type of techniques."
It's a cool tattoo.
Trevor.
[music]
I do think they're really bold.
You could read this thing from across the street.
And you could see that it's uneven from across the street.
The left-hand side curves up, then comes down.
It's a wonk-a-donk.
[music]
Jenna.
It does look like three completely separate tattoos.
He really was adamant on the three very different styles
for the very three different personalities.
I think the guy got exactly what he thought he wanted,
but you look at the design and you're like, "Nothing special."
[music]
Jade.
This tattoo is definitely clean.
It's put in the skin really nicely.
[Joel] The biggest problem is that B.
It takes you a minute to figure out.
[Jade] I personally just don't love Bs.
I don't know how to flow it.
[Joel] On letter day, did you get an A?
Not to me. You got a B.
As much as you hate 'em.
[music]
Judges, it's time to determine who had the best tattoo
of the day.
For me, there's two.
I'd say Stephanie.
[Nikko] One hundred percent.
It plays so well with being so simple.
I like Pony's tattoo.
Technically, it's awesome.
In terms of creativity, it's awesome.
When it comes down to it, my vote is for Pony.
My vote is for Stephanie. She nailed it.
Ah, man, this is splitting hairs now, you know?
My vote is for Pony.
I really like the overall feeling of Stephanie's,
but I think I'm gonna have to vote for Pony.
His job to sew one thread.
[Joel] The judges have decided.
The best tattoo of the day goes to Pony.
Thank you.
That means this week, the OGs will form the jury of peers.
You must deliberate as a team and put one artist
up for elimination.
Head out and we'll call you back when we have a decision.
[music]
It feels good to be on top for once. Holy shit.
Definitely fucked the skull picks on those ones.
I thought it went over really well.
[Trevor] It looks great.
I got my ass handed to me, literally.
I just got too excited, too big, too ambitious.
Man, I wish I would've went a lot safer with that tattoo.
Maybe I was a little bit too excited, also.
Yeah, I just misunderstood the creativity part.
I think I failed on creativity part
because I could've done more. Now, I feel bad that I didn't.
I put none of myself in that tattoo.
It is up to us to take someone's lesser idea and make it better.
And I think that was the point.
There's nobody sitting around at any of our shops
telling you that what you did was a piece of shit.
It's only in this environment that I feel like
we do beat ourselves up.
Do yourselves a favor, just fucking put me in the bottom.
I'm ready to walk out of here, man.
[music]
We are here as a jury of peers to pick one artist
to go up for elimination. What do you guys think?
What are your thoughts?
Can we just pull mine up?
Does that deserve to be in the bottom four?
I think it does, but I think you might be on par with Anthony
on this one.
Definitely didn't show who I am in this tattoo.
In order to keep Anthony and Jorell from going up
for elimination, I really think it's important that we send
another person from their team
to the bottom who's not necessarily in the bottom two.
I think Alena and Jenna are on the bottom.
I'd be surprised if they're not, but I mean for sure Alena's is
because it's not even finished.
It's pretty illegible.
The judges will send Alena to the bottom.
And I think they'll also send Jenna to the bottom.
Design issues, separation issues.
[Jorell] I don't like the color choices she made.
I'm not sure why the gray is in there.
[James] I don't understand the drop shadow on just two letters.
[Lucy] Very random.
The judges are gonna pick two while we pick one,
so I think Joseph might be a good candidate for that.
And we'll all be safe.
[Stephanie] But Joseph showed a little bit more artistry
in his letters. What about Jade's tattoo?
I mean, it was clean.
I don't think she's going home on that one.
I'm just thinking of creativity.
Who was more creative? That's the challenge.
[Pony] And that is the challenge, right?
The game is afoot.
[music]
I feel horrible.
I just tried to shoot for the stars and tragically failed.
You took a lot of risks.
[Jade] Compared to like, other people.
I just get too excited.
That excitement shows that you want to be here.
I, myself thought always, I would watch Ink Master
and like, actually learn from the judging.
[music]
It just means a lot to me that I got to get my tattoos
judged and they haven't even seen what I can actually do.
They've seen that you can do incredible work.
You've already proven yourself.
Get my shit together and get out there and fight for myself.
[music]
[Joel] This week you were being tested on creativity.
Pony, which artist is the jury of peers
putting up for elimination?
As a jury of peers, we have decided to send...
Jade to the bottom.
[music]
The judges have decided the other two artists
in the bottom are...
Alena.
[music]
And Jorell.
[music]
Based on your work, one of you will be packing your machines.
Pony, tell me why you guys put Jade in the bottom.
Although we think she did a technically great job,
we just don't think she was super creative.
I think mine was a little more creative than some of theirs.
She whooped 50% of your team's ass in creativity.
It was a strategic play.
But this is when it backfires because you never know who
that number three is gonna be.
So now you guys just made it that much easier for us.
We now don't have to argue three tattoos.
We have to argue two tattoos.
Because you picked one that shouldn't be in the bottom.
[music]
Jorell, you're in the bottom three because those black trees,
bushes, just overpowered the whole thing.
Definitely not my best.
Definitely need to adapt and I fell short of that.
If I get another chance, I definitely will do better.
I mean, this sucks being here.
Alena, you're in the bottom for illegibility.
I feel like I set myself up with this 100%.
Focused too much on creativity part
and kind of lost track of time.
You don't have much time in this competition.
That's what it's built around. On-the-spot decisions
showing that you can just take on anything.
It tests everything you've got.
[music]
Judges, it's time to make a decision.
[music]
I mean, I think we can cut Jade out of the mix.
[Joel] For sure.
[Ryan] You can't send home a tattoo that's that clean.
So it comes down to Jorell and Alena.
With Jorell's, it's a word with a scene above it.
[Joel] I actually like the lettering on his.
I do.
With Alena's, she tried to give us something,
big, bold, dynamic.
You said, "Hey, look at this tattoo.
What does it say?" I'd be like...
But that was the look I was going for, for metal.
If it looks more like a cool design, maybe, but like,
you don't want like, a not cool design and make it illegible.
You know, it's like, two misses.
Alena, I think you took a big swing
and I think you missed big.
My vote is for you to go home.
My vote is for Alena.
My vote is for Alena to go home.
Alena, my vote's for you.
The judges have decided.
Alena, you do not have what it takes to be Ink Master.
You picked a really hard tattoo and you were ambitious with it.
And absolutely that shows who you are.
That first challenge, you ranked number one.
You're an incredible tattooer, but this competition,
it's unlike anything else.
Well, I got a taste of it. I'll be back.
Please pack your machines and close shop.
Thank you.
Love you, baby.
Thank you.
I definitely took a big swing and that was my downfall.
I just got too excited.
I need to fucking calm down a little bit.
I learned a lot about myself.
I'm leaving here stronger than I came here.
These bitches better watch out for me
'cause I'll be back, baby.
[music]
No, Joseph. No.
I hope they shit the bed.
[music]
Metallic chrome snake handshake in my armpit.
Whoa.
On my butt.
This is a nightmare right now.
I'm not okay with that.
If my canvas leave, I'm straight up going home.
[DJ] No one is going to just hand you a briefcase
with $250,000 in it,
and that should be easy.
I wanna be around other people who wanna stay here
and wanna fight.
I'm gonna fight till the very end.
I wanna win this competition.
Step up and prove it.
[music]