Original subtitles

♪ MTV

Previously on Ink Master: Hometown Heroes...

Oh-ho-ho!

15 new artists entered the competition.

For this competition,

each one of you will represent your hometown.

Let's go.

It's time to rep where you from now.

To earn a shot, they must prove

they have the skills to do it all.

They really had to earn it at the drawing board.

We're not giving it to anyone.

I'm nervous.

Seven artists earned the chance to tattoo.

Is it even a tattoo if you're not wiping your client's tears?

But only two artists secured a shop.

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

We're not going to let no one slide by.

Gotta earn it.

We're looking for the 12 best

so that we can have the best competition yet.

The battle continues

for a shot at a $250,000 prize...

Here we go.

...and the title of Ink Master.

Welcome.

Each of you are here because you think you have

what it takes to be the next Ink Master.

- Yeah, I do. - Hell, yeah.

Two of you impressed us in round one and secured your shops.

- Good job. - Good job.

You guys killed it.

13 of you remain.

But now, there are only 10 shops available.

Can't strike out, man.

- You gonna get one? - That's rough.

You don't know what my best is.

Next challenge, people are fucked.

That means three of you

will be packing your machines

before you've even moved into a shop.

Before you get to battle it out for the title and $250,000,

you must first prove that you have the versatility

to excel in this competition.

Man, that's so much fucking money.

I don't know what that is, though.

Man, I thought I proved my versatility last time.

Whatever. It's a new round.

It's a new chance.

Your second opportunity to earn a shop starts right now.

- All right. - Yes.

- You must tattoo... - Drumroll, please.

...a realistic animal that represents your hometown.

- Yes! - Let's go.

It can be difficult tattooing an animal

because if you mess up on just one little thing,

it can ruin the entire tattoo.

If you're trying to tattoo an anteater

and you make the ears too big,

that thing's gonna look like an elephant.

Make sure you pick a great reference.

I want to feel like that animal's gonna bite me.

Everything has its own texture.

Fur on the snout of an animal is different than this.

Create these textures with tattoo needles.

Think about little things, too.

The direction the fur is going in.

Shine on the nose.

Think about all of those little things as tricks.

And this is your opportunity to get a shop.

Fight for that.

- This one? - That's mine.

I'm fucked. I only do Japanese.

Japanese is here. Color realism's there.

This is nothing what I do.

Luka's wheelhouse this time.

Oh, yeah, redemption. That's for sure.

This is what I do.

I do realism, so I can't fail. There's no option.

I'm gonna do something perfect.

You will have six hours to tattoo.

We got this.

Blow us away and you will earn a shop.

No pressure.

Fail to replicate, and your odds of staying

in this competition will drastically decrease.

Start designing, and we'll send in your canvases.

Good luck.

Ooh, I'm excited.

What about you, Shee? What you got over there?

I got one bull. I'm picking up another one right now.

My bull represents where I'm from.

Us Tulsans are wild, hard to tame.

And we don't like clowns.

I feel like there's a bunch of clowns in the building.

How do you feel about all that black?

Because you're gonna have to nail the texture in the black.

Yeah, hell, yeah.

This is what I do.

I do black-and-gray realism.

I'm ready for this shit.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, we in the building right now.

I'm about to show out for y'all.

If it looks funny, then I would change the angle a bit.

My bull is about to run they tattoos the fuck over.

- Hi. - Hi.

- I'm your human canvas. - Hi, I'm Sherri.

- I'm your human canvas. - Mike.

- Nice to meet you. - We are doing a horse.

Fucking perfect.

So, we're going with this chopped trout on your arm.

The fishing scene is a big thing in Montreal.

- Awesome. Yeah. - Are you happy?

Artists, there are 13 of you, but there are only 10 shops.

If you want one of those shops,

you're gonna have to earn it here.

You have six hours to tattoo.

And your time starts now.

We got this.

When it comes to tattooing, some people can replicate

and some people are great illustrators.

In Ink Master, you need to be both.

These are like one of my favorite birds.

To do a really good realistic animal tattoo,

you need to nail the anatomy and show us great texture.

I think this is the one.

We only awarded two shops.

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

These other artists better step it up.

Oh, yeah. Sick.

They should be thinking about this

like the Olympics of tattooing.

I want double back flips and full twists and shit.

I want to be amazed.

All right, you ready? Ready, Freddy?

Oh, man, I'm so excited.

- I'm so excited to do one. - I'm excited too.

Such a cool idea, dude.

I'm really trying to go out of the box on this one.

I want to present them a real dead fish.

I'm gonna go with a drop shadow around it.

It's gonna look like the fish is just right there on his arm.

I really want the inside of the fish

to look as real as the outside.

There's some cool colors and texture to play with.

People know me for color realism, so I can't fail.

I need to secure that fucking shop.

I feel like this is what they wanted out of you.

- Australia. - Yeah.

Koala or kangaroo?

Kangaroos are just fucking pests.

Are they?

Actually, I should have done that, just--I'm a pest too.

I specialize in realistic fantasy.

I like to take my canvases' stories

and create them into art.

I'll probably leave these, like, negative spacing

just to frame it so it didn't just come to,

like, the ass of the koala.

I'm gonna make it the most fluffiest,

cutest, most cuddly little morsel

that those judges just want to pick him up and hold him.

It's the koalas you gotta worry about.

- Oh, really? - Call them drop bears.

They just drop out of the trees and attack you.

Hey, Matt, have you ever been taken out by a drop bear?

- Yeah, they're feisty. - Yeah.

This is my second opportunity to get a shop.

It's definitely harder than the first one,

and I fucked that up.

You fucked up on the feathers.

Right now you got a traditional Japanese turkey.

What's up, turkey boy?

Imagine if I fuck it up

and it turns into a turkey, though.

Dude, I don't think you should even do the tail.

I think you should just leave the tail out.

I'm not making my life easier at all at this point.

It might look simple, but I've got like 20 colors

poured out to do this thing.

Was it intimidating tattooing for the first time here?

Oh, second. Oh, my God.

Sorry, I just didn't think you deserved

to tattoo that first time.

Oh, you've been thinking about that, haven't you?

There are four hours left.

Look at this.

What's up, Mike?

Ballsy doing a white horse,

because you have to make it look white without packing it.

And this is your normal wheelhouse, right?

- Black-and-gray realism? - Of course, a little bit.

I'm extremely passionate about Western-themed tattoos.

It depicts pushing the frontier,

building the West, the ruggedness of the people.

I just think that it has such a cool feel to it.

Quit horsing around, bro. I'll let you get to it.

I'm doing a buffalo.

Why'd you pick the buffalo?

You think of North Dakota, that's the main animal.

And buffaloes, they don't run away from the storm.

They run to it.

So they can get away from it faster.

And I really like that meaning

where, you know, kind of just run at it.

It has a lot of meaning, you know?

The buffalo theory.

Yeah, the buffalo...

I chose a gator because Florida, obviously.

- You guys have alligators? - No.

When I was younger, I always found myself drawing women.

Now I find myself specializing in portraits.

And I'm also a full-time drag queen.

It's a lot of control.

In this moment, my drag persona

would say, "Bitch, you better come full force.

"You better wear your highest heels.

"You better have more crowns on your head than I've had.

And that's gonna be hard."

I feel like, in the last couple hours,

that's where it's gonna really come to life.

- Cool. - Before coming here,

my partner and I had just got our first home.

We just found our surrogate and everything is lined up.

I have to get this money so that I can start my family.

Two hours.

I've heard your name around the tattoo community

for a long time.

No, get the fuck out of here.

So tell me how a tiger relates to Pittsburgh.

My high school mascot was tigers.

- Oh. - Aw, that's cool.

And I got the black and orange on today,

so I was like, "You know what? Fuck it.

I'll just lean completely into it."

My style is not having a style.

But my signature is dynamic design

that you are able to read from 10 feet away.

I'm feeling okay about it.

Not great, but I'm feeling okay about it.

Ah, you're good for sure.

First tattoo in the shop.

It's a Persian cheetah.

- Awesome. - Aw, that's rad.

Yeah. The last one, actually.

Pirouz was only a cub when he died.

He became a symbol of hope for the Iranian people.

- It's a beautiful image of him. - Yeah.

I want to show the life that he deserved to have,

so I'm deciding to age him up.

You specialize in micro realism?

I don't really specialize in micro realism,

- but I like to do micro realism. - Cool.

Growing up, I was obsessed with Persian miniature.

I think that's kind of similar to what I do.

I use, like, super tiny needles.

And I like to focus on really, really small detail in my work.

Got to be ready for anything here.

Yeah.

What's going on over here?

Oh, we're doing a golden finch.

- A golden finch! - Yeah.

The golden finch is the state bird in New Jersey.

This looks a lot cooler than a cornucopia.

Right?

Going from drawing a cornucopia

on a whiteboard to this,

I feel like I just won the lottery.

I normally do black-and-gray realism.

Back home, I do birds all the time.

I know where my textures go.

I feel like the world is finally seeing what I can do.

Do you think I should add like another toe?

Would that look weird?

'Cause in this... it's behind the leaf.

I know I'm going to kill this thing.

- So I am doing a mountain lion. - Cool.

When I moved to LA, first thing I did was to hike.

Okay.

And I was told, "Beware of mountain lions."

And that stuck with me.

So I specialize in fine line. I do single needle.

I mix different styles.

Thick lines, fine lines, shapes.

With this steady hand, I believe I could be a surgeon.

Usually when I do black and gray,

I have nine hours, 13 hours.

It's nerve-racking when you know you have a time constraint.

I know. I'm trying to rush now.

There is one hour left.

The problem with the last time was time management.

I was kind of rushing.

So I don't want the same thing to happen.

Man, I'm kind of sad to see this tattoo go.

- Really bonded with it. - You going to finish, Kyra?

- Are you going to finish? - I'll beat you in five seconds.

Wow, fuck. Four minutes.

- Ah! - You have two minutes.

That last minute gets your hands shaking.

Five, four, three, two, one.

That's it. Time's up.

No more ink.

God damn.

Today, you had to tattoo a realistic animal

from your hometown.

A shop and your spot in the competition is on the line.

Hopefully, I didn't shit the bed again.

Let's see how you did.

Luka.

You took the extra time to truly take a realistic image,

put your artistry into it, and make it your own.

I love the way you cut it up into these weird choppy shapes

that you take your filet knife and cut it just like this.

I love the way you brought that bluish gray into the belly.

It gives that cold fish belly look.

I mean, Luka's painting with needles.

It's beautiful.

This kind of makes me mad at any other realistic fish tattoo

I've ever seen.

If anyone is confused on how to bring creativity

to any of these challenges, this is how you do it.

Thank you.

- Good job, boy. - Thank you, guys.

OJ, you're up.

I fucking love this bird.

I love the delicacy of it. The realism is there.

What a 180 from that godawful cornucopia.

I'm shocked.

I knew I dropped the ball on that completely.

But then you do this, and I'm like, "There it is."

Now I know why you're here.

I love the way the bird grabs that branch and is hugging it.

That's a hard thing to achieve sometimes

with any realism, is the way

components interact with each other.

I really like your attention to detail on the face.

It just looks alive. The eyeball looks wet.

It's crazy.

Sometimes that goes really south.

And I don't think this bird's flying south.

Let's forget the cornucopia forever, guys.

Nadia.

The cheetah is super beautiful.

I love that very powerful look in its face and eyes.

The eyes are really delicate. I love the contrast in them.

But I'm having a problem

with the connection between neck to shoulders.

It's missing a little bit of that under chin.

There's no definition at all of where that muzzle really ends.

The chin is where I think you got caught up.

I sucked. I sucked.

Tyler.

It's super buttery.

Great application.

But it's so buttery smooth

that it doesn't necessarily read as gator texture.

The eyes are good, and the nose is good.

And then, in between, it's like you kind of threw it away.

Alligators are hard.

Boushee.

Jesus, take the wheel.

The head's beautiful.

The body's beautiful.

But then the first thing you look down at is this leg thing.

You should have cheated a hoof in there

so that we know that it's a leg.

Some of your techniques in this look pretty sculpted.

It's like you're sculpting around those bones,

and you're pulling up over these muscles

and creating this bulbous muscle structure underneath.

And I appreciate that.

A lot of good things going on in this tattoo.

I'm pretty stoked for you.

Shit. Hey, y'all, I'm still alive.

Shit.

Whoo.

Sherri.

You do have a lot of good textures in this piece,

but they're just in the wrong areas.

The back leg, it's got a lot of little hairs,

a lot of little details.

I would have liked to see that more in like the muzzle,

focus on where you want people to look.

The left-hand side of the tattoo is so straight and dark.

The top is missing,

and the right side is just a blurry mid

that comes down into a strange shape.

It looks unfinished.

Kyra.

The entire area of the muzzle, you varied the textures

all over the place and really created

the illusion that this cat is furry.

But I'm not big on the smoke.

It just looks really chaotic.

Almost looks like the cat's wearing a shirt

or something that has stripes on it.

Yeah, the smoke was a bad decision.

But this tattoo's got a ton of tricks.

You got some skill.

Teneile.

When I look at this little koala,

it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and cuddly.

Even the koala's expression feels like it's staring at me.

That's a really powerful idea to achieve in a tattoo.

Its texture. You didn't over detail it.

You didn't under detail it.

Super cute.

Super fluffy. I love fluffy.

Thank you, guys.

I was just about to throw up.

Matt.

It's definitely a good attempt at color realism.

The way you painted it and built textures in the head,

it's really nice, but you have this cape

of these flat feathers that come down the back.

I feel like, where the wings meet those,

it would change texture or something.

It's like lacy, doily pattern

instead of feathers laying on top of each one.

I could definitely tell that you started

with the tail feathers on this one.

I did that for you.

They're beautifully saturated.

You chose a very complicated reference.

I just hope you set yourself up

better in this game not to kick your own ass.

Mike.

This is a beautiful horse tattoo.

I love the anatomy.

It shows the strength of a horse.

I love how the front of the face is the darkest,

along with the eye.

And you really just focus on that.

But the rear hooves are definitely missing.

It's almost like I got a horse in my pocket.

It's like coming out of a little kangaroo pouch.

I definitely wanted to add more in the background.

It would've behooved you.

Emily.

Hello, judges.

This buffalo is really cool.

I like the goatee.

I like how it feels like a different kind of hair.

I really like the top of the head,

that fuzzy, open skin of that soft fur.

But it's hard to really tell what's going on

because you have the same usage of tones in all of it.

If you have a really strong black in your foreground,

don't put it in your background.

It flattens everything out.

Isnard.

The fox's eyes look cute. The little nose is cute.

The muzzle is cute.

But every single piece of hair in the ear

is going in the exact same direction.

It almost looks like the teeth to a hairbrush

instead of like a soft couple of hairs coming out.

When you make something too repetitive,

it takes away from the realism aspect of it.

You did a great illustrative kind of tattoo.

I don't think you hit realism in this.

Seth.

All right.

It's pretty far from realism.

Oh, okay.

I don't know if anybody can look at that

and say that's not a "realistic"--

- I can. - Well, I can, yeah.

Oh, okay.

You missed the mark on a lot of shadows,

where the eye socket would meet the snout,

those wrinkles in there.

They're all kind of the same lighting hitting everything.

I do not like the composition.

It's clustered. It's confusing.

You chose the most complex, most textured part of the tiger,

and you smooshed it in between two neo-traditional outlines.

But it doesn't frame it beautifully.

This is not it for me.

You should have just stopped talking.

13 artists, 13 tattoos,

but there are only 10 shops available.

Oh, you've definitely got one.

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

when we've made a decision.

We all want this shop.

- We all want a shop. - We all want this.

It's just a shop.

But I'm like, to us, it's bigger.

It's bigger than that.

This is so important for me because it's for my boys.

I want to show them that they got a strong mom.

I'm fucking diving into this fucking ocean

of a big-ass competition.

And I need to show them, like, ride the fucking wave.

Fucking go all in.

I feel like this pressure kind of puts things

in perspective for us.

If it wasn't for my parents moving to a different country,

I probably wouldn't have been able to become a tattoo artist.

Who knows what kind of life I would have had.

Everyone here, we're, like, fighting for something, right?

My parents, they're based in the Philippines,

and they're actually in L.A., visiting me.

And then I had to leave them.

I wanna spend as much time with them

while they're still here.

Without their support,

I wouldn't be able to come here, you know?

This has been, like, an amazing opportunity for me

because, like, for the first time, I feel like

I'm doing something for myself.

Yeah, I'm grateful to be here. Yeah.

We are, too. It just sucks that we have to compete

with each other.

I can't do the crying!

I feel so close to you guys. I can't do the crying.

I know. I'm struggling so hard.

Today, you had to prove that you could replicate

a reference with a realistic animal tattoo.

Two artists have secured their shops.

There are 13 of you and only 10 shops left.

I want a shop.

The judges have deliberated, and based on your work,

three of you have left no doubt

that you deserve a shop in this competition.

The third artist to secure their shop is...

Luka.

Yes!

Beautiful tattoo.

When you pull out these ideas, it makes it really exciting

to start to follow what you're gonna do next.

It feels good, especially after the first round

that I shit the bed a bit.

It blew all of us away.

Thanks again, guys.

Yeah, it feels better here.

The judges have decided

the fourth artist to secure their shop is...

OJ.

- Oh, yeah. - That's my man.

Yes, sir.

Man, you breathed life into this thing.

A beautiful piece with simplicity-- killed this thing.

- Thank you, guys. - Come here.

The judges have decided the fifth artist

to secure their shop is...

Teneile.

- Fuck. - Yes.

Super believable, really well executed.

- Good on you, Teneile. - I did all right?

- Well done. - So grateful, guys.

Good job, mama.

Five artists have secured their shops.

Ten artists remain,

but there are only seven shops left.

Reckon they'll let two Aussies in?

Unfortunately, the rest of you left room for debate.

Judges, who do we want to see tattoo again in round three?

Don't want to do that.

We had some debate on this one.

Sherri, it looked like a lot in this tattoo was missing.

Almost gave it an unfinished look.

We had to put you on to the next round.

Sherri, you did not earn your shop,

and you must tattoo again in round three.

Understood, and I'm gonna bring it this time.

You can have a seat on the bottom row.

Seth,

it's obvious you are a technical tattooer,

and we know there's an artist in there.

We just haven't seen those two combined yet.

I fell short. Fucking won't happen again.

Seth, you must tattoo again in round three.

Isnard, your tattoo lacked realism.

I'm just gonna do my best next time.

Isnard, you must tattoo again in round three.

Tyler, we felt this tattoo lacked a lot of texture.

It fell short, man.

I have an entire arsenal of skills

that I'm really excited to show you.

Tyler, you must tattoo again in round three.

What about Emily's?

It can't be dark everywhere,

or we don't even know what we're looking at.

I gotta bring it and show that I deserve to be here.

It's just choices. That's it.

Little choices.

Emily, you are not safe from elimination.

And you must tattoo again in round three.

Welcome.

So, judges, did these five artists earn a shop?

You all did a good job.

But this competition isn't about good.

We're looking for the next Ink Master.

In the same way that Emily's tattoo was a little dark,

Nadia's tattoo was a little light.

It's missing that separation

between the head and the neck.

I totally respect your decision, but my work

did not have some of the issues

that cannot be taken out of the skin,

so I just wanted to mention that.

If I put Nadia versus Boushee's tattoo,

whose tattoo's better?

Boushee. All of the contrast

is exactly where it should be.

This one's a success for sure.

- Nadia, Kyra. - Kyra.

It's some of the best fur texture in the room.

One of the most beautiful portraits

that were done today, definitely.

- Nadia, Mike. - Mike.

Mike. He pulled off a cool trick

with making a white horse in black and gray.

Like, it was pretty tough.

Smooth as butter. Nadia, Matt.

- Matt. - Matt.

Matt could have played this safe,

and I do think swinging for the fences should be rewarded.

I agree with that.

All right, so then I think it's clear.

Nadia, you did not earn your shop,

and you must tattoo again in round three.

That means Kyra, Matt, Mike, and Boushee,

you have each secured a shop,

and you are safe from elimination.

Woo! That's what the fuck I'm talking about!

Mom, I made it!

Fuck! Oh, my God!

Woo! Thank you! Woo!

Oh, my God! Mom, I got a shop!

Congratulations.

Six of you remain, but there are only three shops left.

Three of you will be eliminated.

Oh, shit.

Three of you will be eliminated.

Oh, shit.

You will have one final chance to earn a shop.

For the third and final round,

you must tattoo your whiteboard drawing

from round one.

Oh, my gosh!

You can make any changes you want to your design.

- Oh! - Fuck, yeah.

But your tattoos must be the same style and subject

as your original drawing.

Fuck yeah.

Lucky you got so many critiques.

This is the fight.

You guys get one more chance to secure your spot.

We've let you know exactly what we're looking for

and exactly what we don't like.

You know that feeling when you see a design

and you're like, "I'm gonna crush this tattoo"?

That's what you should be feeling when you redesign it.

Leave no room for debate.

Tomorrow, you will have five hours to tattoo.

Five hours.

This is your last opportunity

to secure your place in the competition.

Your hometowns are counting on you.

Fuck, yeah.

Prove you can adapt or pack your bags.

Good luck.

No matter what happen, guys, kill it.

Yeah, do you, boo.

Good luck, man.

Oh, snap.

- Hi. I'm Sherri. - I'm your new canvas.

- This is my drawing. - Beautiful.

I've traveled a huge distance from Pittsburgh.

I've put my entire life on hold.

Going home empty-handed would be embarrassing,

and it is not going to happen.

The design that I have is me as a robot.

You as a robotic dragon.

- But no one's gonna know that. - No, they're not.

When I compete, I compete for the fucking win.

Out of the six of us, they're getting rid of three.

- Yeah? - And it's not gonna be me.

Artists, this is your last chance

to save yourself from elimination

and secure one of the last three shops.

You have five hours to tattoo, and your time starts now.

All right, let's fucking do this.

We got six artists now competing for three shops.

That's a 50-50 chance.

Perfect.

These artists need to prove to us

that they can come back swinging with an understanding

of how to make each design better than it was before.

Phoenixes are so hard to tattoo.

Obviously, all of these artists

want to see their name on their shop.

But for some of these guys, all they're gonna see

is their name on their plane ticket home.

Just be, like, super still.

A lot of people find this sound therapeutic.

Literally. Put me to sleep.

Yep.

Sherri, you're extremely gentle.

My canvases back home tell me I have light hands.

The judges told me

that my whiteboard design is not cohesive,

so I'm simplifying this.

Where's back home for ya?

- Los Angeles. Yeah. - Los Angeles?

But I'm born and raised in the Philippines.

Growing up, I was really shy, timid,

but moving to L.A. on my own

pushed me really hard to just, like, rely on myself.

It helped me build confidence.

I can win this shit. I will win this shit.

Quite inspiring.

You get to inspire

at least one person in your lifetime,

then you're doing something good, right?

Absolutely.

There's a piece of me in this tattoo.

And I don't mean just a piece of me

being a drag queen.

This is my soul.

I'm a character in and of myself.

How's it going over here?

It's going good.

I really want to represent drag

because I feel like we put on this suit, right?

So it represents who I am.

This is exactly what we're trying to pull

out of you guys when we say your story.

Because you're so much more multifaceted than one thing.

It's beautiful. It's weird. It's different.

They're gonna have no choice but to give me a shot

based on the pure identity that I'm putting into this thing.

Artists, you have four hours.

How's it going?

You're doing more straight realism, though?

Yeah, like an actual portrait.

This competition is fucking brutal.

But that's okay because I'm just ready to fucking ride this shit.

Yeah, I did, like, a bunch of different faces,

but tried to keep it original to my whiteboard, you know?

I definitely get my work ethic from my mom.

She would work three jobs just to provide for us.

She showed me how to be strong.

I'm here to win this,

to be able to give my boys a better life, too.

- Phoenix rising? - Hopefully.

Oh, yeah, you did the wings going up.

- Cool. - Yeah.

- Changed it up. - The head going up.

I love that you always put your culture

and your heritage into your pieces.

You definitely keep that embedded.

- Gotta represent. Thank you. - Yeah, that's awesome.

When I first started tattooing,

there wasn't many Iranian tattoo artists.

People actually get in trouble for tattooing back home.

So it would be my dream to return home as Ink Master.

It needs to represent the fighting Irish,

but this one has brass knuckles, so she's, like, fighting dirty.

Yes, all right.

Female form for me is, like, a very powerful thing

because I was raised by two wonderful ladies.

I have my granny, I have my mom.

She's gonna be with some scratch, some bruises,

but she's still standing.

My grandma was a really strong lady.

She's not with us, but she's here.

I want to win this for her.

Oh, she's winning, all right. She'll do everything to win.

You've got one hour left.

If you want a shop, this is it.

Seth, you got to remember

the only other artist doing solid, solid color is Ish,

so you got to make sure it's as saturated.

I went too small with the first tattoo

and really second-guessed myself.

With this one, there is no room for second-guessing.

What's your plan for when you win the competition?

- Buy my amazing wife a house. - Hell yeah.

My wife and I, we've been attached at the hip

for 14 years, pretty much.

She has been my constant rock.

She is everything to me.

I want a shop more than fucking anything,

and I'm here to prove it.

Fucking 10 minutes.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Time's up. No more ink.

It's done.

- You've killed it. - I'm so stoked on it.

It looks like a sticker.

Looks like you just slapped it on there.

Insanity.

How do you get so much detail in there?

I don't understand.

- You like it? - Yes.

- Cool. - You killed it.

Today, each of you had to battle it out to earn

one of the last three Ink Master shops.

Based on your work, half of you

will be packing your machines.

- Oh, man. - Let's see how you did.

Good luck, bro.

Seth.

This tattoo is a badass bird.

You created a new design with the way the wing goes up

and the way it comes down.

Compositionally, you really took this to the next level.

How you have the flower positioned so perfectly

but not taking away from the bird.

I put a piece of my soul into this tattoo.

This is the kind of shit that you're capable of.

Thank you.

Fuck it, let's go.

That's not a winner.

As long as I get further than you, I don't care.

Whoa!

Nadia.

I like the pose way better.

Way better head. It's a way more striking bird.

I know you went this painterly style,

but we know, with oranges and reds,

those are the first colors to leave the body.

It's going to get really light over time.

Also, you took out my favorite part.

The wings have this cool calligraphy with writing.

I wanted to change it up

because, clearly, that didn't work.

It was literally all we liked about it.

That was our favorite part.

That was the only part.

Maybe if the tail even came down

and turned into all your writing,

just something out of the norm would have been more impressive.

Isnard.

This tattoo's got a fighting chance

in this competition because it's super sick.

The line work was near perfect.

A lot more tricks pulled off

because you cut out a third of the crap.

You didn't need all that spirally shit

that we don't want to look at.

My eyes go to the character and all the cool little details.

The brass knuckles you added.

Her wrap unwrapping on her arm.

I love the stance. It looks powerful.

You came in fighting today.

I'm not leaving. I'm not leaving.

Hell, yeah. That was so good.

Sherri.

You do have a lot of cool tricks.

Your really thin line work, that's really hard to do.

You do have these cool details

and textures in the head.

But I do think it gets muddy.

I wasn't sure what color it was.

The whiteboard still looks stronger.

The other one just looks like

you'll put it on a hook and catch a bass.

That's only because the tail.

That's what makes this look like a small little sea creature

versus a big crazy dragon.

The body's just a little dinky compared to the head.

Tyler.

I love the creativity.

The eye in the middle of the head

feels like it's a third eye.

The only thing that confuses me

is the bigger layer of the mandala.

You don't understand what's stopping it.

I would have almost just continued that around the head.

Even though you found a way

to, like, morph these three images together,

it kind of feels cut and pasty.

The eyeball should have been pulled out a little bit more.

Like one is coming out of each other.

It's definitely steps ahead

of your whiteboard drawing.

It's way more creative.

Very cool concept.

Emily.

Hit me.

The face looks really beautiful.

The dark top matches the dark hair.

And it perfectly frames in your main focal point.

The flowers up top are a little rushed.

They just don't have that punch.

But I really love the lighting on her chest.

That's done really nicely.

It's totally an evolution from your whiteboard

to the second tattoo to this finished product.

Thank you, guys.

I love those boobs.

Six artists.

Three shops left.

Judges, it's time to determine

which of these artists have earned a shop.

Good luck.

I see a tattoo out there that I think is badass.

Isnard. It's super sick.

I love this tattoo.

It's clean, got so many tricks. Killed it, bro.

The judges have decided, Isnard, you have earned a shop.

- Good job. - Cool piece, man.

It's time to determine the next artist that has earned a shop.

There was a tattoo out there for me

that was pretty much bulletproof.

Solid. Great composition.

I think Seth deserves a shop, no doubt.

I agree. Seth's tattoo was badass.

Honestly, a predator.

- You fucking nailed it. - Thank you so much.

Seth, you have earned a shop.

- Yeah, dude. - Yeah!

Four artists remain, but there is only one shop left.

It's time to determine which artist has not earned a shop.

The four tattoos that remain are all good.

It's four good tattoos.

But out of these four,

I would say Nadia's falls the most short.

It lacks the saturation it needed to really truly stand

that test of time.

My favorite part was the lettering,

and to not see it in the tattoo is a little disappointing.

What I always look for up here

is just something to tell me

that you're in a competition for $250,000.

Does it show me anything?

I don't think so.

The judges have decided,

Nadia, you do not have what it takes to be Ink Master.

You have a unique perspective

that you're coming from and bringing it into tattooing.

I would love to see you cultivate that more.

I appreciate it. Thank you.

Please pack your machines and head home.

It definitely sucks to be the first one to get eliminated,

but I'm proud that I got

the chance to tap back into where I'm from.

I feel like I got closer to my culture and my people.

It felt good.

Judges, it's time to determine the second artist

that has not earned a shop.

Sherri, you had some nice small details.

I wish you would have just made this tattoo bigger

and just some bolder areas.

But the time is not for me.

But in this competition, we need to see a competitor

that's here to really get in that ring and fight.

Overall, muddiness of the tattoo took this piece

in the wrong direction.

The judges have decided, Sherri,

you do not have what it takes to be Ink Master.

You have great control with that single needle.

Not everybody has that ability. Keep honing.

- Good luck. - I am really grateful.

I've learned so much more.

And being here, for me, it's like a win.

Please pack your machines and head home.

I pushed myself outside my comfort zone.

Being around these talented artists,

I've definitely learned a lot. I'm excited to head back

to Los Angeles and to create beautiful art.

Two artists remain, but there is only one shop left.

It's time to determine

which artist has secured the final shop.

Emily's, the face is striking.

The chest, great shades, shows control.

It's hard. They both show a lot of skill.

Soft, smooth, gray shading.

Tyler's is more consistent.

It's the same quality throughout the whole tattoo.

The design and the composition of this is really creative.

Emily's has a lot more confidence in the bold black.

Tyler's shows a lot of skill, but I don't feel like

there's any punchy parts that really carry that heavy dark.

My vote's for Emily to get a shop.

She's shown her development.

Tyler had a hard ask.

It just is lacking that punch.

My vote's for Emily.

She has a more classic, solid, bold tattoo.

It's going to be there forever.

That's two votes for Emily, zero votes for Tyler.

These two artists had

two completely different challenges,

and, man, they are neck and neck.

But it comes down to application,

confidence, composition, all of those things.

I'm going to go with Emily.

The judges have decided, Emily, you have earned a shop.

Thank you.

That means, Tyler,

you do not have what it takes to be Ink Master.

I wish you would have let the drag out of the bag sooner.

You expressing yourself, it sets you apart.

The sooner you get to bring yourself

to any situation in life, especially tattooing,

the better you're going to continue to do.

I feel like, before coming here,

I was sort of like plateauing in my career.

And after coming here, I do not feel the same way.

So I really do thank you.

Please pack your machines and head home.

Thank you.

It takes so much courage to really open up who you are

and show that through a tattoo.

I wanted to show queer kids, I wanted to show underdogs

that you can make something of yourself.

And that's exactly what I did.

Congratulations.

After three brutal rounds,

you've all earned your place in the competition.

Let the games begin.

Now the real battle begins.

Oof.

In the end, only one of you will win the title

of Ink Master and go home a hero.

That's not going to be Seth.

Get some rest. You're going to need it.

On the next episode of Ink Master...

It's time to blow some shit up.

Are you fucking kidding?

You got to talk big with your loud-ass mouth.

You guys are fucked.

Hey, shut the hell up.

There is one more thing you should know.

Oh, my fucking God.

- We're about to find out. - Twinkle, twinkle, bitch.

Oh, my God.

That hurts...

I didn't want to go out on a .