Original subtitles

* MTV *

[Announcer] This season on Ink Master: Hometown Heroes...

Oh-ho-ho! This is fucking crazy!

[Announcer] Fifteen brand-new artists from across the globe..

I want one of these so badly.

[Announcer] ...will battle it out to put their hometown

on the map.

Oh, snap!

Time to rep where you from now.

[Announcer] They'll face intense challenges.

[Woman] Blend it like how we would in a tattoo.

[Woman 2] Guys, I really think we got this one.

[Man] You guys are fucked!

Hey, shut the hell up.

This looks like a food stall.

Wherever Matt is, I'm not going.

[laughing bombastically] This shit hard.

How about you come do the highlights?

I don't trust you doing this.

[Woman] You're really being an asshole.

[Announcer] And push their creativity to the limit.

I'm about to show everything I got.

[Woman] Fuck.

Tattooing like there's

a quarter of a million dollars on the line.

[indistinct]

My canvas is not budging.

Are you not gonna give me a chance?

Oh, for real?

That is a curveball I did not see coming.

[Announcer] If they wanna go home a hero...

Armor up and be ready for a battle.

[Announcer] They'll have to prove

they can handle the pressure.

This rollercoaster is crazy.

It's mental warfare.

You're dead to me. Fuck that shit.

I'm not riding off into the sunset yet.

[Announcer] Judged by industry icons.

This is the shit that you're capable of.

I'm shocked. There it is.

Now I know why you're here.

[DJ Tambe] Pretty much bullet-proof.

Great composition, so many tricks.

[Nikko] I love the creativity.

Honestly, it's a badass tattoo.

This is how you do it.

I'm not leaving.

[Announcer] In the end, only one artist will earn

a $250,000 prize.

I wanna win that money so bad.

You and everybody here.

[Announcer] And the title...

It's balls to the wall at this point.

[Announcer] ...of Ink Master.

[theme music]

[dramatic rock music]

-[Woman] Oh, my God. -Hell, yeah.

What is this place?

We're doing a flash challenge today.

I think we gotta draw something.

Whiteboards, baby.

As long as we're not doing math on there, I'm fine.

I'm scared shitless, I ain't gonna lie to you.

But I'm still about to kick they ass.

[dramatic music]

Welcome to Season 17 of Ink Master.

[cheering]

-Fuck, yeah. -Hell, yeah.

All right, let's go.

Throughout the history of this competition,

artists from every corner of the globe

have put their reputations on the line

to bring the title of Ink Master

back to their hometowns.

Yeah, hell, yeah.

[Joel] For this competition, each one of you

will represent your hometowns.

-Shit. -Kansas City, baby.

-Okay. -All right, Montreal.

Let's go.

I wanna put Hawaii on the map

and not just in that little box on the bottom corner.

Represent.

When people think of North Dakota,

they do not think there's good tattoo artists.

They're like, "Oh, I need to go to North Dakota for my beef."

There's good tattooers there.

I represent my hometown.

Just like each one of you is unique,

so is where you're from.

None of you are from the same town,

none of you are from the same city,

and none of you are from the same state.

Let's go.

It's time to rep where you're from now.

[Joel] It's up to you and you alone

to put your hometown on the map.

Let's go.

By proving you have what it takes

to win $250,000

and the title of Ink Master.

Yes!

[contestants cheering]

I didn't fly over here for nothing.

Ink Master is the heavyweight championship

of tattooing.

I feel like I was a super soldier

made in a lab for this competition.

And I'm here to fucking win.

Here we go.

There are 15 of you, but there are only...

Here it comes.

...12 shops.

Right off the bat, three going home.

We literally just got here.

If you wanna stay, you're going to have to earn your shop

in a brutal three-round test.

-[Boushee] What the fuck? -What?

[Boushee] Hold on.

[Luka] Three rounds or three chances?

Maybe they need three rounds. I only need one chance.

God damn, this is getting intense real quick.

This competition is all about versatility.

To get to the end, you have to be able to do it all.

No pressure.

[Joel] Before you put needle to skin,

we wanna see who you are as artists.

It all starts at the drawing board.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

I draw every single day.

I believe any artist

should be able to draw from the imagination.

You will have three hours to create

a tattoo design on a whiteboard.

-[Man] Ooh! -[Boushee] What the--

-Just like skin, right? -It's not.

No tablets, no reference, no excuses.

All right, I'm ready.

I think some artists takes the easy route.

Everyone goes to the Internet to find some photos

and just try to replicate.

I've kept drawing through the years,

so, to me, it's gonna be an easy one.

Just you, a marker, and a blank whiteboard.

I can draw.

I'm a portrait artist. I don't pick up markers ever.

Let's go.

But these artists are not gonna know that.

Your design must represent who you are

and your hometown.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

I'm from Kansas City.

It's all hills. We got fields, we got cows.

What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?

We just wanna see individuality between all of you

when you just sit down and create.

Hundred percent.

You know where you come from and that makes you unique.

Dig down deep and use that to your advantage.

Hell, yeah.

The entire name of the game in this competition is versatility.

So it doesn't matter if you're the most impressive replicator.

It all has to come together for that full package,

and it starts at this moment.

No pressure.

This is showing how strong you are as an artist

from the get.

Scare these other artists.

Let's see what you're made of and what you can do.

I'm here, representing Wyoming.

I gotta pull the wild west out of my ass

and have a quick draw.

[Joel] You have three hours

and your time starts...

now!

[Woman] You guys walk so slow.

In this first round, we really wanna see

if these artists can draw.

All right, let's begin this art.

You can't get through this whole competition just replicating.

You have to show us that you can create,

that your artwork sets you apart from everyone else in the world.

This look like shit already,

but, no worries, it's gonna be better than what I think.

[Ryan] If you produce something generic,

fucking snooze fest, I'm already bored.

I'm too nervous.

[Nikko] You gotta pull something off

because, if you can't,

this competition's gonna eat you alive.

[Boushee] Trying to figure some shit out.

No reference, no tablet? I just gotta think?

Oh, this shit's gonna be fucking terrible.

I'm a stick-figure-drawing-ass person over here.

I can't think of shit right now. My mind is blank.

I'm definitely banned from my city after this.

[tense rock music]

It's important for a tattoo artist to be able to draw

because, if all you're good at

is drawing stick figures and shit,

what are you doing here?

Kind of.

Kinda not...

As if a whiteboard wasn't bad enough,

we have no reference.

[Seth] Just another day in the office, you know?

-Yeah, me too. -[laughing]

I probably should've practiced a little bit more

before I came here, honestly.

No shit!

Black and gray realism artist.

It's all just reference.

They said we couldn't use any reference.

But they didn't say we couldn't look at anything.

[music intensifies]

[Keahi] I'm just trying to do what I can do

and think that's enough.

I draw all the time.

Freehand is a skill that not a lot of artists

are comfortable with these days.

Everything is so easy to copy.

But if they can't draw,

I think I'm gonna have an advantage over them.

[tense music]

Artists, there are two hours left.

[music swells]

[Tyler] I don't think anybody else in this room

is gonna be crazy enough to pull off a perfect mandala

without a reference.

[Alli] Are you doing math?

[Tyler] I was.

This motherfucker is doing the Pythagorean theorem.

[Tyler] All these other artists

are doing these little rendered cartoons.

I am actually doing equations.

I feel like that's a new way that's gonna be impressive.

[rock music]

Wow.

[Alli] A frog getting hammered.

-[OJ] Oh, that's sick. -[Alli] Thank you.

[Alli] Growing up in Kansas City,

I would go down to the pond in my neighborhood

and I would catch these nasty-old bullfrogs.

Hmm, put a little fly on his tongue.

I like to tell a story with everything I do.

In my head, I'm just still that little girl,

running around in my pink cowgirl boots and bikini,

catching bullfrogs.

Now I am the bullfrog.

I know that people are gonna try and underestimate me.

But I'm ready to show 'em how it's done.

One hour left to draw.

[suspensive music]

It would suck if we were both out the first round.

Losing straight away 'cause I couldn't get it done?

Poor Australia.

[chuckles]

[Matt] I pride myself to be able to illustrate

or draw things from my head.

I wanna add some background just for shits and giggles.

So when I'm looking at this whiteboard, I'm thinking,

"We need to fill the whole thing."

Can we start going around, psyching each other out yet?

Is that a thing yet?

We are gonna get exposed.

I design with references

throughout my daily life back home.

I had to put something on this board

that translates a garden state.

A cornucopia, has fruits and vegetables.

But this doesn't represent anything about me.

I am making terrible decisions

and this is the worst first impression ever.

You have 30 minutes.

Double-time this shit with two hands.

I don't know why, I didn't think of this before.

Five, four, three, two, one.

-That's it. -Yes!

Time's up, markers down.

[dramatic sting]

It's time to critique your work.

Here we go.

-Alli. -Okay.

[Joel] Tell us about your design.

This is me as a frog.

She has all my tattoos.

She has all my piercings.

[Nikko] I love that you put your personality in there.

The creativity, all the attention to the detail

with the fishnet pantyhose,

the one bikini top fallen down, I love it.

[Joel] "Established 2003." You were born in 2003?

-[Alli] Yes. -Oh, wow.

Makes me feel so old.

I'm 21, which is why I put the alcohol in there

-because I can finally drink. -[Joel] You can finally drink.

[DJ Tambe] I commend you for even stepping foot

into this competition at your age.

I think that's wild.

Isnard, you're up.

My piece is representing the Irish fighter.

I choose a girl to represent my mom and my granny

who raised me.

[Nikko] I love that you represented your family

in it like that

and portray a woman so powerful and strong.

I love the blood on the hands,

but one hand is a little bigger than the other,

and it throws me off a little bit.

[DJ Tambe] But pulling this out of your mind,

you definitely have drawing under your belt.

Thank you.

Kyra.

I did an Asian dragon.

Also, I added the maple leaves

to represent Vancouver, Canada,

where I was born and raised.

Overall, it has a cool vibe to it.

It has style to it.

I don't like that there's a lot of negative

around the head, around the leaves.

Wherever you put negative space,

you're putting it on a separate plane.

So having that negative space around the front leaf and claw

is successful,

but all the other negative space

puts the rest on that same plane,

and it flattens it out

and makes it a lot less impactful.

Sherri.

This is a Bakunawa.

It is a Filipino moon-eating dragon.

What were you doing in the background?

[Sherri] I was thinking circles would represent the moon.

[DJ Tambe] The moon doesn't really scream like, "Moon."

I like that you brought in the red flower.

If, behind the dragon's head, you had a pop of red

and push that head forward,

it would make everything a little more cohesive.

Nadia.

I was a kid when I lived in Iran.

This is the Persian Phoenix.

Calligraphy in Persian culture is so important,

so I really wanted to show the two elements together.

What does it say?

[Nadia] Love and life

because the Phoenix is symbolizing life.

[DJ Tambe] It's something I've never seen,

but I would've loved to see the head

a little bit tilted up, a little bit more power in it,

like rising.

I wish that you leaned into this awesome idea

that you had with bringing the calligraphy in.

But I think you could've translated that

in a more creative way.

I think it's just boring.

-I fully disagree. -What?

You should've said that about the dragon, in my opinion.

The way it looks like calligraphy

instead of a tail, it changed the drawing for me.

I love it.

Luka.

Montreal is a city of squirrels.

There are squirrels everywhere.

Sometimes, I like to think that I'm the squirrel in my life.

I can be panicky and anxious.

And, sometimes, I'm the bird,

more like going for a hunt like here in Ink Master.

[DJ Tambe] What style do you normally specialize in?

Color realism.

So this is a far jump from that.

I love that you're a realism artist,

but you did something totally illustrative.

I love the perspective.

[Joel] You spent a lot of time on the acorn and it's amazing,

but you probably could've spent more time on the bird.

The bird, to me, isn't a character in the scene,

-but great drawing. -Thank you.

Seth.

I wanted to do a bird of prey,

symbolizing that tenacity of the people of Pittsburgh.

That is the sweetest little bird of prey

I've ever seen.

[DJ Tambe] A lot of the piece is very stuffed in there.

Where is that claw coming from?

It looks very placed there.

Don't be afraid to let lose and give it some more movement.

I'm gonna take everything that you said

and apply 100% of it.

He's doing the Ink Master talk.

-Boushee. -I designed

a reborn rose from the concrete

because the 1921 race riot

in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was a massacre.

The Black community was attacked.

And now every business there

is been rebuilt and is all Black-owned.

[Joel] If you're going to come with that backstory,

that's so important and heavy and strong,

the art has to be as strong.

And then we look at this very basic drawing,

it doesn't back that story up.

If you come with a rose on Ink Master,

it's gotta be the best fucking rose

that I've ever seen in my life.

This ain't it.

Y'all tore me a new asshole, but it's cool.

I'm gonna go so much harder now.

It's time to turn up, it's time to turn up.

Mike.

I'm known for my black-and-gray realism.

I know you guys are tired of roses. [chuckles]

[Ryan] It's not that I'm tired of roses.

It's that they have to tell some sort of story

other than just being a rose.

I like that you brought in your signature cowboy hat.

But the rose isn't gonna be the same size as the cowboy hat,

and it makes the cowboy hat look like a doll hat.

Where you missed it is in the composition.

Matt.

So I'm from Melbourne, Australia.

Reopened my dad's first tattoo shop.

It represents the rebirth of our family shop.

The head is really successful.

It's drawn really well.

The tails get a little lost for me.

They're randomly going everywhere.

[Matt] Having the feathers like this is a classic move.

I went straight traditional.

The problem is that the tailfeathers

are almost coming back and whipping back forward

like there's a gust of wind that blew its skirt up

or something.

They should be going in the same flow

in the direction as everything is moving.

I'm on the other side of the fence from Ryan.

With traditional Japanese imagery,

even if it's weird and wonky and things don't seem right,

that adds to the piece itself.

[Matt] Going back to Ryan's comment.

There's a thing in Japanese art

which is perfections in the imperfection.

And they push the limits of quirkiness and weirdness

right to the brink.

I love that you're trying to give me an explanation

and teach me about quirkiness.

I'm telling you what I'm seeing.

You're gonna take the information,

you can do whatever you want with it.

You could throw it in the trash on the way out,

I don't give a shit.

I'm gonna judge what I see in front of me.

Emily.

I now live in North Dakota.

It's miles and miles of sunflowers.

I wanted to do a Mother Nature

'cause I am a mother of two boys.

I love the big hair, the hoop earrings.

I love that you added your state into it too with the flower.

But the neck is a little short.

Her chest is really close to where the clavicle would be,

and so I would've liked to see that extended.

It would've made her a little bit more attractive.

[Ryan] But, overall, one color of marker on a whiteboard?

I think you achieved something really impressive.

-Thank you. -Teneile.

I tried to represent me growing up and Australia

in the way that I was raised.

Our castle is our home.

And that's why I placed it at the heart.

[Joel] The city and the heart are beautiful.

I think you missed an opportunity with the face,

doing something as interesting as a heart.

For a tattoo, it would be way too much.

You just shoved everything in the back.

[Teneile] It's the story of my life.

[DJ Tambe] You just tried to push and push.

You'd have to make a lot of changes in this

to put this on skin.

Keahi.

I'm from Hawaii.

The main piece is a Hawaiian war paddle.

That very far piece is meant to resemble a turtle head.

In Hawaii, we have a really strong connection to home.

Turtles kinda represent that.

[Nikko] I love the finger waves.

The turtle, you see it right away.

I knew it was a turtle before you even said it.

This is a tattoo ready to roll.

[indistinct]

Tyler.

I ran away from home from a pretty dark past.

And when I got off the plane in Orlando,

there was a woman that had a mandala

tattooed over her eye.

I chose the mandala because it's continuous

and, for me, it symbolizes that life goes on.

[DJ Tambe] It's clean.

There's a lot of good stipple shading in it.

The circles around it are placed really nicely

and even it's pretty perfect,

but, for me, it's a little boring.

I would've loved to see maybe something in the center

that represents you,

like an eye, like what you said, or something

that tells more of the story.

OJ.

I'm born and raised in New Jersey.

So what I decided to go with was a cornucopia

to represent New Jersey as the garden state.

How many times have you drawn a cornucopia?

Not many times.

For a reason, though, right?

Who wants a fucking cornucopia?

-[laughter] -[Ryan] All right, here we go.

This image is 70% a strange brown blob.

The proportions of that fruit are super off.

The bananas are way too small.

The pineapple looks shoved in there.

Maybe a cornucopia does represent you,

but I don't actually think it does.

I don't see a person who loves drawing cornucopias here.

Straight up. I think you missed.

OJ.

Should've done some fucking orange juice, mate.

That's it. Fifteen tattoo designs.

That was rough.

But there is one more thing you should know.

There's always one more thing.

Did you expect it to be over?

The judges will now decide which artists

have earned the first opportunity

to put ink to skin

and tattoo their designs on a human canvas.

Yes!

These motherfuckers are not ready.

There's about to be a new sheriff in town,

so buckle up, baby.

If you are not selected to tattoo,

you will lose your first chance

to secure a shop

and must wait until round two for another shot.

The second challenge is gonna be harder.

This actually sucks.

Judges, it's time to determine

which artists will get to tattoo

their whiteboard designs.

Are there any, right off the bat,

that you wanna see get tattooed?

[DJ Tambe] For me, there's a couple.

Keahi. It's just a clean tattoo design.

[Ryan] For as clean as it was just on the whiteboard,

can you imagine when he's actually using

the medium he's proficient in?

He's got a lot to live up to now.

[Joel] The judges have decided, Keahi,

you get to tattoo in round one.

[cheers]

[Sherri] Aw, I'm so proud of you.

Who's next, guys?

I like Lukas.

Cool perspective and really beautifully drawn.

[DJ Tambe] If it's fully rendered in color,

I can see this as a cool new-schooley tattoo.

The judges have decided, Luka,

you get to tattoo in round one.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you, guys.

And the next tattoo I think we should see is that frog.

-[Nikko] Oh, yeah. -[DJ Tambe] A hundred percent.

-[Ryan] That was the one. -[Nikko] It was mine too.

Alli, you get to tattoo in round one.

-Well done, well done. -Pshew.

Judges, anyone else who have earned a shot to tattoo?

The next design that truly deserves to be tattooed

is Matt's.

There's just no way anyone can debate

how solid of a design that is.

It follows all of the rules

that many people care about,

not necessarily myself.

-But it's solid. -I agree.

Matt, you will tattoo in round one.

Awesome.

-Yeah. -Well done.

Epic, squirrel boy.

Let's go.

[Joel] All right, that's four artists

tattooing in round one so far.

Judges, is there anyone else you think

should tattoo in round one?

I think Isnard's has cool elements

that would make for a great tattoo.

[Ryan] It's obvious that he can illustrate.

I agree. Isnard, you will tattoo in round one.

[cheers] Good job, buddy.

So there is one more tattoo I think really stands out.

Which is that drawing Emily did.

Yeah.

[DJ Tambe] The only one that we saw that realism element in

-with dry erase markers, right? -Totally.

The judges have decided, Emily, you get to tattoo in round one.

-Yeah, girl. -Good job, good job.

Well done.

Judges, out of the 15 designs,

is there anyone else that should tattoo in round one?

There's a few that could be up for debate.

I personally think that Phoenix is badass.

[Ryan] It's one of the coolest concepts,

if Nadia took those Persian letters and blew them up.

I don't think it made this round, but that's just me.

I don't think so either, unfortunately.

What do you guys think of Seth's bird of prey?

[Nikko] To be honest, I've seen that design over and over,

and it's boring, dude.

[Joel] That was the point,

they really had to earn it at the drawing board.

We're not giving it to anyone.

Kyra's dragon,

that could be a nasty illustration on the skin.

[DJ Tambe] The design shows a lot more ambition

than some of the other designs.

I agree, I like Kyra's design.

It's super sick, the dragon's cool.

Well, there you have it, the judges have decided, Kyra,

you will tattoo in round one.

[cheers]

I don't do neo-traditional Japanese. [laughs]

You're doing it now.

That means, Teneile, Boushee,

Tyler, Sherri,

OJ, Nadia, Mike, and Seth,

You did not earn the opportunity

to secure a shop in round one

and must wait until round two for another shot.

Oh, that is awful.

See this as an opportunity to see what these guys do.

Study up and refine the way you do things in round two.

Congratulations, Matt, Keahi,

Isnard, Kyra, Alli, Luka, and Emily,

you are all moving forward

and will have the first opportunity

to secure your shop.

[excited whispering] That feels good.

The style, the subject matter that's on your whiteboard

has to be in your tattoo.

You cannot add stuff, you cannot remove stuff,

but you can rearrange it and tweak it

to be the best possible version of that design that it could be.

[Nikko] Every tattoo from this point on

needs to be your absolute best.

Swing for the fences.

You will have five hours to tattoo your whiteboard design.

-Five hours, man. -Can you manage?

We'll see.

Head to the shop and we'll send in your canvases.

Good luck.

[Woman] Five hours is crazy.

[Man] Time to get to work, man.

[dramatic music]

Oh-ho-ho! Yeah!

[Contestants] Whoa!

-[Woman] This is amazing. -Oh, my God.

I want one of these so badly.

I don't know if I'm more scared or more excited.

Knowing that I'm not able to secure one of these shops

right now is bugging the hell out of me.

I'm ready to start working.

I'm ready to work right now.

So can we start tattooing or...

I wish.

Oh, shit, you guys, look.

-[Contestants] Whoa. -Check it out.

[Tyler] These are the drawings from earlier.

Well, I guess we better get to work, guys.

Shit, you better! [laughs]

Oh, shit, let's do it.

Hey, good luck, guys.

[Teneile] Have fun, guys.

[Man] Oh, man.

[Man 2] It's time to get to work.

[Woman] Do some drawing.

[Matt] I'm just ready to fucking tattoo.

-Hi. Oh, hi. -I'm your human canvas.

Hi, I'm your human canvas.

Oh, sick, what's up, bro? Keahi.

It is a dragon.

Supposed to represent me and my heritage,

-just Asian and Canadian. -That's really cool.

-For our hometown! [laughs] -Yeah.

-For our hometown. -Let's win this.

-[Man] Fighting Irish? -[Isnard] Yeah.

-[Isnard] The fighting Irish. -[Man] [chuckles]

So been tattooing for 20 years.

-Oh, nice. -So don't worry about it.

I got this!

-So this is me as a frog. -[Woman] Cool.

-So I-- All right. -[Woman] Good one.

That's the size and tails. Five hours.

Don't risk it, man. Do it more.

[Matt] But, also, this gets fiddlier too.

If you think you can do it in the time, run it big.

It'll be that much more impressive.

I'm gonna go big. Fuck it.

Fuck!

I'm nervous.

Artists, you proved your drawing skills.

Now let's see if you can execute.

You're fighting for one of these shops.

Make your hometowns proud. You have five hours.

And your time starts now.

-Stress begins. -Ooh-hoo!

All right, let's go.

These whiteboard designs were impressive,

but they're just a rough draft.

[Alli] Oh, my God, this is just stressful.

Are they going to impress us with their translation

or are they gonna drop the bal?

Perfect! It's never that easy. That's a great sign.

Man, if you can't come in and tattoo your own design,

it ain't your time to shine.

[Kyra] Sick!

[Nikko] I'm looking for some hometown homeruns.

Game time.

-Ready? Let's do it. -[Woman] Yep.

[thrilling music]

You ready?

I'm the last one starting.

You know what? This is like a normal thing, though.

I thrive under pressure.

Tattooing, it's done so much for me.

It's what puts food on the tabe for my kids, you know?

It's really what supports me and my babies.

I always kind of feel like I'm on a tattoo clock,

even back home.

'Cause I have two little boys

and gotta make sure I get home to my babies.

If I win this, I'll be like,

"Look, Mommy got you guys a house.

"Mommy did that for you,

and she did it all for you guys."

It would change me and my kids' lives forever.

I can't believe I'm here. Oh, my God.

I look little and innocent,

but I'm here to run with the big dogs.

I'm so glad to represent my city,

but it's so much pressure, yo.

I love experimenting.

And I like to mix styles.

I love contrasted pieces.

I love large black and gray pieces.

That's my favorite thing to do.

I love that they did something where they're like,

"You gotta make this out of your own imagination."

[Man] Yeah, you're taking a risk.

I am.

This dragon that I'm tattooing has a ton of linework.

You want risky, here's risky.

Everyone has been tattooing longer than me here.

Oh, wait, no, no, no. One girl's 21.

She's tattooing a frog today.

[Alli] Everyone is really good.

I knew that was gonna be the case.

My work stands out because it pulls you in

and it makes you wanna see more,

and, just like me, I love attention.

And so I love it even more

to put that attention-seekingness

in my work.

-Uh-oh, trouble. -[Man] Oh, yeah.

-What's up, guys? -Don't look.

[Mike] How's your frog?

I still have to pull a shit-ton of color lines.

I'm obviously far younger than anyone else here.

But I know that I'm just as good as all these old fuckers.

-[Alli] Ego. -[Woman] Mmm.

Shit, you went big, dude.

Scales are such a dumb idea.

I'm doing a fucking Phoenix on my first freaking day here.

It's like the dumbest idea ever.

What happened to the wing?

I've been trying to hide the fucking tails.

I grew up in a tattoo shop.

My family's been in the tattoo industry in Melbourne

for 40 years.

Back home, all I do

is large-scale traditional Japanese.

They're like multiple session tattoos.

When I grew up, my dad had a tattoo shop

and I reopened it years later because my dad got really sick.

[Woman] It's pretty cool that you reopened it.

[Matt] The representation of a Phoenix

is rising from the ashes,

and this thing is gonna fucking kill me.

I don't know if I'm even gonna finish this tattoo,

so, at this point, I have to pivot real quick.

Just... tchoo, tchoo, tchoo.

Ryan didn't like the tails going that way.

Fair enough. Fucking get rid of them.

Gonna have to do it like that, all right.

I'm gonna pretend they're there

by hiding it behind the clouds

and delete half this freaking tattoo

that I'm supposed to do.

It's gonna be a one-winged Phoenix.

[laughing]

The other one can rise from the dead later.

How you feeling with time?

Uh, short.

I'm a perfectionist, so I wanna make sure

all the details are perfect.

I bring a lot of that French-Canadian

personality in my work.

It's bright, bold, energetic, and colorful.

[Matt] If you need to go to the toilet,

you can take as much time out of your tattoo for sure.

Time's definitely not crucial at all today.

[Luka] The flying color,

it's technically more time-consuming.

But I'm gonna use everything I can.

I want my shop.

You've got two hours.

[tense music]

Are you stoked to be chosen in the first round?

[Isnard] It was a relief, it was like a weight

getting off my shoulder.

I'm originally from Brazil, but I represent Ireland

all the way.

[Ryan] I see you made a few changes here.

I fixed a couple things, tried to apply everything.

Hey, and if you fuck this up, you got two more rounds, right?

Uh, I don't wanna fuck it up, I don't wanna fuck it up.

I'm gonna get it right on the first go.

I'm here to represent the anime culture.

People take anime too lightly.

This is a style.

I'm ready to prove to everybody that anime art

is not something you should take lightly.

No pressure.

Oh, how was that feeling of having your name

called first out there?

Dude, I hate being the center of attention.

-It's so weird to me. -[DJ Tambe] Right.

[Keahi] I might come off as a chill island guy,

but I don't think anyone here should underestimate me.

I specialize in blending both Polynesian

and Japanese tattooing together.

It's not just combining images,

but being able to combine stories

that actually make sense together.

Whiteboard to white leg.

That's something we don't get much back home.

We've got one hour.

You're out of time.

Home stretch.

How many minutes? Two? Fuck!

[Matt] Are you freaking out?

It's like half freak out.

Not supposed to be this close.

Five, four, three, two, one.

That's it, time's up, no more ink.

Pshew.

What a ride.

Down to the wire. We did it!

Oh, first one down.

Well done, everybody.

One of you suckers probably have to do it again. [laughs]

-You did it. -[Woman] You did it. [laughs]

My God.

It's so vibrant.

[chuckles excitedly]

I feel like I have to like... [laughs]

I just really appreciate you not fucking tapping out.

Is it even a tattoo

if you're not wiping your client's tears?

-[laughing] -[Woman] Right?

Beautiful.

I love how you incorporated the mountain--

-Into the wind? -[Luka] Yeah.

I just had no option 'cause I had to do mountains.

[Luka] It's massive.

-[Matt] is it big? -[Luka] It's great.

I wish I did something smaller.

Shouldn't have picked a Phoenix for five hours.

[dramatic music]

[action music]

Seven of you proved your drawing skills

and were selected to tattoo.

Let's see how you did.

Keahi. You're up.

[drum & bass music]

You designed this on a whiteboard and it was huge.

You showed us a giant clean design

and you showed us a precise small design.

You show a lot of tricks here.

I love that negative transparency,

and, also, the gradients of your gray shade

are really subtle and soft.

[Ryan] It's not all the time artists have

such a strong control on tiny line work like that

with no blowouts, no inconsistencies.

-That in itself is a feat. -Cool, mahalo.

[Joel] Isnard.

I didn't know how on the whiteboard

you would end the background 'cause it trailed off.

Making that background a lot more minimal

helped the piece a lot.

You tightened up her face

and it changed it up drastically.

You have these nice shadows under her chest,

under her chin, and it really makes everything pop.

But a lot of the color looks like it was put in rushed.

Some of your lines are all over the place.

There's nowhere on this tattoo

where that red line is consistent.

Them lines ain't good, bro.

[Ryan] Put it in solid, don't put it in sloppy.

We're gonna call that shit right out.

[drum & bass music]

God, I'm so stupid.

Emily.

[techno pop music]

The face is really nice.

I like the eye that's not behind the hair.

Would've been cool if you would've committed

to covering the eye completely.

[DJ Tambe] Just cover it because now you're trying

to figure out where exactly her pupil is.

And you start making judgements that might not be right.

There are some anatomy issues with it.

I still think the chest is too high.

You definitely needed to bring it down a little bit.

There's no foreground, middle ground, and background.

Make her hair black.

That way, the hair is not gonna compete with the veil

and the flowers, 'cause, right now,

your eye doesn't really know where to look.

I kinda like it, but I kinda don't.

Luka.

[tense music]

I really like the composition of this one better.

If it's the bird and a squirrel fighting,

they really do have to both be present in the scene.

It really wasn't in the last drawing.

The animation style of the squirrel

is much more impressive than the animation of the bird.

The squirrel is looking at the acorn that he's chasing.

Where's the bird looking?

Isn't he trying to catch the squirrel?

Yeah. Yeah, I understand.

This tattoo is supposed to be color, right?

[Luka] The five-hour thing,

it was impossible to even think about doing it color.

Tattoos like this, I think, just call for color.

It loses a little bit of that cartoony feel.

Yeah, time is an issue.

Kyra.

[tense music]

I love the eye. The teeth look really cool.

But one of my favorite parts of a dragon is its claws.

That feeling of the talon and how it's grabbing

doesn't look that aggressive.

It was just so hard pulling a mythical beast

from my head.

Your color is blended really smooth.

Your line work is really, really clean.

It just falls a little flat

because it's a lot of open skin

with nothing really complementing that open skin.

You guys liked the negative that I put on the whiteboard.

[Ryan] I don't think anyone liked the negative.

No, we told you get rid of all that.

Oh, I think it was to use it too much?

Way too fucking much.

You missed the mark on understanding

what negative does.

Damn!

Alli.

[tense music]

I love it, and I love that you showed

all of this really delicate linework.

It shows a lot of confidence.

I love how you pulled the sun behind the "K.C."

It's a cooler interaction and seems much more purposeful.

I did what I could with the 25 fucking elements

that I did on the whiteboard.

[Ryan] I love the creativity.

I love the ballsy approach.

I love it.

Crushed it.

Matt.

[tense music]

I like the overall shape.

I like the angle, clean lines, solid filled in.

I like the transparency in the leg.

In your critique of the whiteboard,

the issue I had was the tailfeathers

and the direction they were going in.

Then when it was translated into the tattoo,

those tailfeathers you felt so strongly about

are not even included.

If I did what I did on the whiteboard,

would it taken forever?

Right now, you got a traditional Japanese turkey.

[Joel] You fucked up on the feathers.

We spent so much time talking about them,

and then they're gone.

You could've just took that exactly how you had it

on that whiteboard,

smacked it on the side of her calf.

There would be a lot less questions.

[tense sting]

All right, seven tattoos, a shop in this competition

is on the line.

All right, all right...

We have to decide who is going to get shops, if anyone.

Fuck!

Head to the lounge, and we'll call you back

when we've made a decision.

[dramatic sting]

After seeing how everybody did, I was like, "Oh,

people can actually tattoo pretty well here."

Yeah, even the fucking young ones.

-Yeah. -Twenty-one-year-old.

They can. I was having way too much fun

and maybe not taking it too serious.

It's just like the first day of school.

It kinda bites you on the ass

when you realize it's a competition.

It's like you can't fuck up, period, really.

[dramatic music]

This week, you were being tested on your ability to draw

and execute.

Round one was your first opportunity

to secure a shop in this competition.

Based on your work, the judges have decided

the first artist to secure their shop is...

Alli.

-[Man] Yeah! -[Man 2] Good job.

-Well done, well done. -Yeah, good job.

Well deserved.

Alli, your tattoo was super clean.

You were really honest, and that takes a lot of guts.

And I think that's badass.

Alli, you have earned the first shop in Season 17.

I've been struggling with the fact

that I do deserve to be here.

This just solidifies that for me.

Earning the first shop here, that's a huge accomplishment.

-It's an extra little gold star. -Thank you.

The judges have decided the second artist

to earn their shop is...

Keahi.

[applause]

Good job, buddy. Good job.

[Ryan] You really showed us who you are

as a person and as a tattooer.

Thanks.

[Joel] Two artists have secured their shops.

Ten shops remain.

Judges, is there anyone else from round one

who has earned their shop?

What do you guys think about Isnard?

[Ryan] The number one thing we look for is always technical.

That was my problem with this one.

Kyra's tattoo misses the mark with blacks and high contrast.

Emily's got a little bit tonal.

Luka had a great design.

Man, if that thing would've been in color,

would've been a whole different story.

So if none of them earned a shot.

That brings us to Matt.

[Ryan] Parts of Matt's tattoo

showcased some of the strongest tattooing that happened.

The problem that I'm having with it is,

did he meet the challenge?

I heard him fight for those tails

and I don't see anything like that.

[Ryan] It didn't hit the challenge.

-I'm with you. -I agree.

The decision is final.

Alli and Keahi are safe from elimination.

The rest of you are not.

I don't think anybody should on the first round.

Just because you are a badass

doesn't mean you show up on the day

and can do whatever you want.

You're getting a real first look

at what this competition feels like.

Y'all are competing for a quarter of a million dollars.

Gotta earn it.

We're not gonna let no one slide by.

They're not fucking around.

We're looking for the 12 best

so that we can have the best competition yet.

Round two and your next opportunity

to earn a shop starts tomorrow.

Earn it, motherfucker.

Get some rest. You're gonna need it.

[dramatic music]

[Announcer] On the next episode of Ink Master...

[Boushee] I'm about to show everything I got.

We only get awarded two shots.

I'm seeing For Rent signs all over the place.

Diving into this fucking ocean,

I need to ride the wave, fucking go all in.

It looks unfinished.

[DJ Tambe] It just looks really chaotic.

[Matt] You don't know what my best is.

Next challenge, people are fucked.

[exhales stressfully]

[rock music]

[music]

[music]