Original subtitles

Now on Ink Master, the most badass tattoo competition on the planet kicks

off its most intense season yet.

I tattoo circles around you. Dude, you're awful.

You're really?

That's me, bitch ass.

With a fresh batch of 16 of the best tattoo artists ready to battle it out to

determine who's number one.

Tattooing human canvases. Oh my god.

Not into it at all.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. She just passed out. Can you get James here,

please? I'm healing.

In more strenuous and extreme challenges

than ever before.

You're in a competition. Buck up or get the out.

Their masterpieces and mistakes will last a lifetime.

All their excuses, we don't give a... Judged by industry icons.

What the...

Happened when you did the skin tones. I don't know one ounce of confidence left

in me right now What are you doing in the tattoo business? I could do clean

lines. Everybody should tattoo clean in this bitch. This is childish bull

They'll be eliminated until only the best tattoo artist remains This is a

competition man. The best will be at the end no matter what earning a $100,000

prize Shut up, let's get I'm with it. I'm done and the title

Of Ink Master.

I know I'm a really good artist, and I know there's a lot of good artists here.

What's up, dude? My strategy is to outsmart everybody.

I'd love to make friends, but is it important to me?

No. I would way rather have the money.

I'm known for mostly biomech. I love turning people into robots.

How you doing? For me being in this competition, I'm putting my career on

the line. I specialize in all styles.

I'm known for dope tattoos.

I'm going to make sure that my best supersedes all these other half-steppers

in the game.

This is crazy.

Hope you brought your A-game, bro.

I've seen them three judges standing up there, and I'm completely scared.

I've watched them ripping people new ass for three years, and they're getting

pretty damn proficient at it.

Welcome, artists.

You have a tough road ahead of you, and nobody knows it better than someone

who's been through it.

He had to prove he deserved a second chance by tattooing live on the season

three finale.

With over 360,000 votes.

Kyle, we will be seeing you on Ink Master season four.

Kyle Dunbar, come on out.

Losing sucks, and I'm not here to lose. Last season, I overcomplicated things.

This season, as long as I can keep my head out of my ass, I will win.

It's time to find out how well you work under pressure.

This season, you must earn your shop.

I have to earn my shop?

I thought I already had it.

There are 17 of you.

But there are only 16 Ink Master tattoo shops.

America has already determined that Kyle deserves a shop. So, Kyle, you're exempt

from this challenge.

Congratulations, man. Your shop is waiting for you.

Kyle having his own shop.

Let's both come fight with the rest of us. For the rest of you, in just a few

moments, hundreds of canvases will flood this hall, and they will all want

tattoos.

Today, you must tattoo convention style.

At a convention, hundreds and hundreds of people will come in, and they want

tattoos. And they don't want to wait. They want it now. It's very, very

daunting.

You have six hours to tattoo as many canvases as possible with the design of

their choice.

You'll be judged not only on how many tattoos you do, but also on the quality

of your tattoos.

This is a great way to put people under the gun right off the bat. Competition

is on from the second you walk in. Just like at a convention, you must be able

to work quickly under pressure to survive in this competition.

Based on your work, the judges will decide who deserves a shop and who

doesn't. It's earn your shop or go home. Good luck.

Okay, artists, we're going to bring in your canvases.

And your time starts now.

A lot of the great tattooers in the industry have based their careers on

being in convention halls.

It's one of those things that you have to do to stay relevant in the business.

All right, how you doing? I'm Ruck. All right, what are you looking to give?

There's a lot of people here.

You doing a poison girl? Yeah, with no reference. That's fun.

Convention style. Yeah, what's up?

Pressure in a convention is huge. You have mass crowds. You have noise.

There are no amenities.

You have to kind of boot like an arm wrestle.

You're completely out of your comfort zone, so the pressure's on.

And like on the lettering, I'm going to do like a drop shadow behind it. You're

the first tattoo, so I got to impress everybody.

The worst is when people come in with a picture of someone else's tattoo.

Get your own goddamn idea, simpleton.

Not you, obviously.

Thank you.

I am gentle Jay Blondell. The gentle part comes from the way that I tattoo.

It doesn't describe my personality.

I'll bite your head off to get what I want.

In the islands, tattoo is a very personal thing. You know, it's an

exchange of energy.

I don't tattoo people I don't like.

I'm from the Big Island of Hawaii. I'm primarily known for Polynesian tattoo,

and I have clients that come from all over the world. This title's already

mine. It's almost as if I'm reliving something I already know has happened.

Try to get your gloves on when you're sweating like crazy.

You guys want to get some tattoos today, man? I get to spend the whole six hours

just on one tattoo, but I'm more about quality than quantity.

I'm pretty much just known for doing clean tattoos.

I enjoy not having a specific style.

I've gone through jail, drug addiction, pulled my life back together.

I'm going to win the competition.

Everybody else.

Sweating my balls off in this moment.

Come on now.

This competition can be an analogy for every single day tattooing. If you up,

you up for good.

And I'm going to go back in and kind of detail out some of the stuff. My

strategy is just to focus on my own artwork because even the lowest of my

ability will be better than the highest of most other people here.

A lot of this stuff is all free-handed. Let me see your arm real quick. Just

hold it up.

My tattoos reflect my personality.

I know a nurse.

Bam!

Overall, I'm aggressive.

I definitely think that my tattoos have that blood and thunder, that glory, that

tough edge. I want it to almost look like it's going to kick you in the

teeth. Get in there.

I'm very confident that I'm going to win this. There is no one in this

competition that's going to take that win away from me.

Scott's doing an entire chest pin.

He's already knocked two of these gigantic...

tattoos out and i'm like i might as well just go home right now yeah oh yeah

try not to talk with your hands i do it too don't worry i can't have it on here

where it curves the only person in the room that does not like boobs and i get

the boobs the fact that i'm not having eight cups but yeah i specialize in

painterly style tattoos but i also like to duplicate like portraits

That's probably going to have to come down at least this far.

I don't understand why, but I'd be getting a lock on my stomach now. My

canvas is a pain in the ass.

I'm a little apprehensive about having it that prominent.

Just shut up and get the tattoo.

You wanted it. You thought about it. You placed it. Let's do it right now.

I need to tattoo something on you. If not, then the game is over and I'm done

for the day.

I'm four hours remaining.

Did he say four hours?

The part about having a convention is you never know what you're going to be

working with, ever.

Two years ago, I was diagnosed with testicular and lymph cancer.

The first thing I asked was, can I still tattoo?

And they said, no, you can't be around clients and their open wounds during

chemotherapy. And I said, I won't even go through it.

The first competition was cancer.

I fought it and I won.

This is just like another one of those battles.

I'm not here to around it. I'm here to win.

I specialize in nothing. I do everything.

And I'm not here to lose.

So I'm going to have you prop your arm, and we're just going to go.

Done! Last one!

How many tattoos you done today? I haven't been counting.

We're looking for them to do as many tattoos as they can, but it's not about

doing seven small tattoos or one really big, nice tattoo. We are looking for

strong fundamentals.

Outline, shading, color. Without strong fundamentals, you don't even have a

right to start this competition.

Somebody wants to slam out six really horrible tattoos, then they can do that.

That's not going to be my call. My strategy for quality versus quantity is

to do really nice, clean pieces.

Try to do more than one, but not overexert myself to the point where I do

crappy tattoos.

People seek me out for my attention to detail.

A lot of my tattoos look like they're high definition.

I came onto this competition to win, and I will get there any way that I have to.

One hour remaining.

So close.

I can feel victory.

All right. How would you like to be the last one?

Cool, man. Sweet.

You have great eyelashes.

Thank you.

I use being a woman to my advantage from time to time. Is there a word, a name?

I guess you could say my mom's name.

Awesome. You said the magic words.

Especially because guys are dumb enough to do what I say.

I'm known for more of a girly feel traditional.

I like to put my own spin on things.

Male or female, you better get out of my way. I will cut a bitch to get the title

of McMaster.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Time's up, machines down.

All right, let's call it.

No more ink.

Done.

I did three tattoos.

Goddamn Halo did seven tattoos.

Glad we got to squeeze you in, man. This guy did a half sleeve.

This hurts more than the tattoos.

What the f*** am I even doing here?

I'm going home, like, tonight.

I think I speak for every single person in this room when I say what the f***.

I ain't going home anytime soon. You motherf***ers are going to have to deal

with me.

I've been tattooing for six years. There's a lot of people here that have

been tattooing for almost 20.

My style of tattooing is mainly traditional.

It is very intimidating that Oliver is the judge because he focuses mainly on

tattooing traditional, so I would be pretty upset if he rips me a new one.

All right, artists, time to critique your work.

Sausage. Look at all your tattoos.

You definitely showed us you can do some smooth shading and get solid blacks in

there. The amount of detail you got into the eyes, very impressive.

Your black and gray and your line quality is some of the nicest in the

room. Thank you, guys.

Hey, look.

Seven tattoos is a lot of tattoos, man. Yeah, I spent about an hour on each of

them. The problem is that it looks like it.

You've got to be able to get these things in clean. That's how you're going

to earn your place.

Jim. I will say 100%, man, the dove is a nice tattoo.

It shows a lot of expertise and technique. Just doing the light wash

shading, smooth blends from dark to light.

Melissa. It looks like you know how to design a little bit.

As far as the last tattoo, it has a very unfinished look to it. The shakiness of

the outline, you're coming up short.

Jerry, this nautical star tattoo could have had a bolder outline.

The bird skull, this is the kind of tattoo you want that thin outline for.

Knowing where and when to use your skills is very important.

Matty. I really like the detail that you put in the star and into the anchor. You

definitely did some of the cleanest tattooing in the convention.

Thank you very much.

Matty, he's definitely one of the best that are tattooing today.

He's somebody to watch out for.

Randy. What is going on with the shape of this skull?

It's got some serious eyebrows.

The shape of the nose, the way the arch of the teeth come down, it's out of

whack. If this is a representation of what you're going to give us, you're

going to have a short-lived time.

Scott. Nice size tattoos, very well done.

Smooth, good line work, good shading.

You are definitely shining.

brother the baseball tattoo obviously it's not round the wings are poorly

drawn if a ball is perfectly round and the shading is perfectly round throws it

out of whack i did what i could with what i had this is the kind of

competition that separates the men from the boys

Keith. This horseshoe, it looks really out of shape. The detail on the bullet's

just not there.

This is the kind of stuff that's going to take it heavy this whole ride if you

can't clean this up.

Oh, I can clean it up.

Ashley. Looking at all your tattoos, the consistency in this is your outlines.

They're strong. They're bold. How clean the lettering is, it's a good point that

we're looking for.

Lettering's my thing. Which is good. Thank you.

Damon. That skull, those bubble teeth.

She was looking for cutesy. That's not cutesy, man. That thing's very weird. I

mean, you did three of the simplest tattoos in the room, and there's many

flaws to all three.

Lydia. It looks like four different people tattooed in your booth.

The solid field of color in the horseshoe does not look like the rush,

choppy color in the lotus.

If you're cranking out stuff like that lotus, you may not be around long enough

to do something better the next day.

David. The heart, the scorpion, and the dream catcher?

They all show some decent line work. But the last tattoo, the shading looks

really rushed. Not what we wanted to see. Okay.

King Ruck. The outline on the skull is pretty well jacked up. And the same with

the rose.

I gave it my best.

You didn't give her your best. Look at that rose.

That's not your best.

Roland. Well, Roland, I think I speak for every single person in this room.

When I look at that cat and I say, what the...

Art's subjective, you know. It's something that everyone's going to look

at and see something differently.

This is a tattooing skill competition.

That cat is just nothing other than an atrocity.

Well, right now, the three of us have to decide who's going to get a sure spot in

one of our shops.

You guys want to talk about the top of the field? Scott, I think he's

definitely a standout.

His fundamentals were there. Another one that I thought showed good fundamentals

was Matty. You guys seem pretty happy with Sausage. His shading was nice, line

work was nice. Overall, he's going to give these other two guys a run. Do you

feel that these artists have all earned spots?

Definitely not.

There's a lot of people that really got off to a rough start. One of the artists

that comes to mind for me is King Ruck.

It's just a lot of shaky lines, a lot of bad designing.

Roland's tattoos show us nothing, that he knows anything about tattooing at

all. Sounds to me like we have a decision.

Yeah. Let him know.

Today, we tested how well you work under pressure by asking you to tattoo

convention style.

It's earn your shop or go home.

Kyle was given his shot by America and did not have to compete. If I say your

name, you've earned a shot and your spot in the competition is secure for now.

Maddie, you have earned your shot.

Congratulations, bro. Thanks, man.

Scott. Sweet.

Ashley.

Sausage.

Jim.

For the rest of you, none of you proved that you deserve a shop.

I did not come here to just go right back home.

If I didn't get a shop, I'm freaking out.

However, tomorrow, you'll get one more chance to prove your worth.

Guys, we understand there's a lot of pressure on this first challenge. A lot

of people got rattled.

We want to see the best you can do.

One thing is for sure. At the end of the next 24 hours, one of you will be going

home.

We'll see you tomorrow at the shop.

Woohoo!

Let's do this.

Whoa!

Oh, wow.

Oh, my goodness.

That is sick.

That's awesome.

That's awesome.

I've never had my own shot before, so this is amazing to me.

Congratulations. Thank you.

This is bullshit. I don't have a room yet.

Did I not earn my spot?

It's ridiculous.

I'm going to knock the next one out of the park.

Welcome, artists.

This week, it's earn your shop or go home.

Kyle, Maddie, Scott, Sausage, Ashley, and Jim, you earned your shops and will

not tattoo today.

The rest of you, have not earned a shot you have one more chance you must show

us why you deserve to be here today your canvases are completely open you'll have

six hours to tattoo them with the design of your choice in the style of your

choice all right most of the past seasons we've had artists that have come

on and not got to show their style and gone home before they even had a chance

now you have the ability to show us that it's worth you being here We want to see

what it is that you like to do.

I'd love to be able to tell you that I'm very comfortable right now, but I'm not.

I get to do whatever I want, but I also have to consider timing, color, black

and gray. It's terrifying.

Artists, you've been randomly assigned a canvas and have six hours to complete

your tattoo. Based on your work, the judges will determine which one of you

will never open shop.

Good luck.

This is everyone's opportunity to shine without any excuses at all. I do like

skulls a lot too. As soon as you see it, people are going to be like, holy.

I'll just do something right around here.

So you like a little bit more of the traditional style.

Okay. I'm freaking out. No one wants to be the first ones at home. We're going

to give you a Polynesian tattoo.

Okay. Does that sound nice to you?

I actually have no idea what that is.

I have to be in this competition.

What can I do to redeem myself?

How am I going to bring myself up from the absolute bottom?

To become the next Ink Master, an artist has to overcome obstacles, master their

technique, and take some chances.

You really got to think fast and you got to commit to your ideas. You cannot

second guess yourself.

I've dedicated my entire life to tattooing, so I put every single thing

on the line. I've got to prove that I can be here and that I'm a good tattoo

artist. I'm never a guy that keeps my cool under pressure, so I'm just trying

to breathe and get through this.

I have not earned my shop. I am pretty damn nervous.

What you doing, Damon?

Go with this. The day-to-day type of thing. The drawing's nice, dude. I've

only been tattooing for the last three years, but I spent four years in art

school. I have an extremely strong artistic background.

Jesus Christ, I'm just falling back.

I am an underdog, but I have a big mother... bite.

Oh, my God. Damn.

You seem to be bugging out a little bit. Yeah.

Damon can draw.

But he can't tattoo. If he gets a shop, it's an injustice to a real tattoo

artist.

Artists, this is your last chance to earn your shop.

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

Let's go.

In a challenge like this, where your canvas is open, we're looking to see

these artists express themselves.

They should be ready to compete.

You would hope this is going to be the best tattoo they've ever done. This is

it. Who earns a shop? Who goes home?

Nice. All right, man.

Let's do it. Good luck to us both.

How you doing?

I really like portrait work.

This is a match made in heaven right now.

I definitely didn't expect to be at the bottom. I think everyone on top should

be nervous about where they sit, because we're coming back.

If I go home, it's not going to be today, and it's not going to be off of a

challenge where I get to do what I want. That's for sure.

You feel better today? I'm literally probably going to be that nervous every

single time.

I don't have a specific style. You have to be able to just do whatever anyone

wants. Are you doing just all black and green?

No, I'm going to be doing some color as well.

A traditional style design shows the fundamentals of tattooing. That's how

I'm going to earn a shot.

Four hours remaining.

What did you come up with? Can I look? This is a very detailed tattoo. You got

any worries on time here?

Yeah, I was just going to say the same thing. Say it a little bit.

Damon has bitten off more than he can chew. His line work is shaky, and he's

trying to pull out tricks that high-level artists rarely attempt.

Randy? Yes, sir?

I decide to do a photorealistic clipper ship. It's got lines, it's got black,

it's got color.

Randy is on a ship to nowhere. It's messy, it's not clear, it's not clean,

and it should not have a home here.

All right.

I'm doing a big old crazy black and gray skull.

My reputation's on the line today. It's more than essential that I redeem

myself. You've been enjoying tattooing for 20 years?

Yep. I do mainly fine line black and gray.

If I want something, I will punch and kick and fight till I get it.

You also have over 20 national awards.

Yes. It says right here in the book. I know.

David had some strong tattoos in the convention setting.

Coming in this open canvas challenge, this tattoo, it's hard to tell what's

going on. Seems like he's taking a step backwards.

All right, Dave, we'll see you in a bit.

Two more hours remaining.

What's up, Dave?

Hi, darling.

Wow, what is this, like a fantasy sugar skull?

Yes, that's what's going on in my crazy imagination. Oh, okay, cool. I've been

tattooing for 10 years. My tattoos are surreal.

I fell in love with tattooing. Just kept going forward into that void of art,

needles, blood.

So excited right now that I get to do something like... Whatever the f*** you

want.

What's up, guy?

Doing what you do best in Tibetan?

Tibetan? No, this is Polynesian. I got my ass handed to me. I just needed to

get my head in the game.

It's not called Ink Mediocre.

It's called Ink Master.

We're all in a chopping block, but based on what I've done at the convention, I

feel like I have more of a substantial mountain to climb. I think I speak for

every single person in this room when I look at that cat and I say, what the...

Raul's tattoo is the worst. I mean, he took such an easy way out. Anybody can

do tribal.

Ten minutes remain.

Oh, my God.

Oh, I want to kill you. Please don't kill me.

You're just causing me a lot of pain.

But I'm so close, it's crazy.

I've been tattooing for 13 years.

I specialize in the modern style of traditional tattooing.

I want to be the man in the end that says, I am the ink master.

I can taste victory.

That's sweet.

And five, four, three, two, one.

That's it. Machines down.

No more ink. All right.

Woo!

All right, here we go.

Whoa.

Hey, is she badass or what?

Dude, that is sick.

That's awesome, dude.

God, she looks so good.

Damon's day of the dead girl. The part in her hair looks like a giant scar,

like she had an axe wound. It's way too wide. It's way too light. If my girl

came home with that, I'd have a serious problem with Damon.

What's happening? I'm angry now. We all just got punched in the nose.

You have a major-ish. I did it on purpose. Did you not want to be here?

I bit off a little bit more than I can chew. Get ready for a hard ride.

We're all being cold over the bottom, but I know for a fact I'm not a bottom

of the boat tattooer. No. I don't think I should be in the bottom. I don't think

you should be in the bottom either. I've never in my life been at the bottom of

anything. I also don't think anybody that's out there right now that has a

shop blew any of us out of the water. Nah, man. They weren't better. I don't

think they were better. Ashley didn't impress me. Ashley, like, why does she

have a shop and I don't?

That was the one where I was just like, when she got called up, I was like,

wait, what?

Are you serious?

Yeah. I could look at things that he did. I could look at things that he did

and be like, well, that's better than...

Ashley, is that better than Jimmy? What the f*** are they doing in the other

group, honestly?

I think I did a better job than pretty much everybody.

If I don't earn a shot, yeah, I'm going to want to burn the f***ing building

down. The convention doesn't mean f***ing what's today.

All that s*** is in the past, I'm angry now. I'm going to f*** on everyone.

Everyone I can get a chance, I'm going to f*** on you. I ain't going home

anytime soon. You motherf***ers are going to have to deal with me.

Artists, this week you're fighting for an Ink Master shop, and one of you won't

get one.

Every single person did better than they did in the convention, so your

competition is stacked high.

Halo, let's start with you.

From what we saw in the convention hall, you did bring yourself back a lot.

Overall, man, you did a nice big tattoo. Your black and gray shading is smooth

and nice, but you still do have some areas that you need to tighten up. What

jumps out immediately is the weird hair that goes over the neck and the

collarbone, and then the big open piece of hair that you have that just floats

in the middle. I did it on purpose. I wanted to break them up. It just stands

out. These are nitpicky things, but this is the stuff that you have to hear to

get better moving forward.

Melissa, how do you feel you rank among the field in terms of experience?

Definitely one of the people that's been tattooing for the least amount of time,

so that's intimidating.

You definitely showed us you have the skills and techniques to lay an outline,

do some shading. I like the design. I like a lot of elements of this thing.

Out of everybody that's been up here, you've done the most deliberate outline.

Thank you.

However... A big thing with this tattoo is the crow running into the air. This

wall-to-wall tattooing with no break anywhere, it's going to be muddy,

without a doubt. You need to know what your tattoos are going to heal like and

look like later.

Keith.

It's not really an attractive lady.

y'all get that feeling i don't know if it's a man or a woman it kind of has a

very mannish look to it very harsh and very strict with the tattoo being so

dark in a sense i kind of made her face hood kind of match i can't have a weird

creature and then have a beautiful face you could this is your opportunity to

earn a room today if you give me this i have no choice but to question if you

should be here next up king rock

You had multiple references for a wolf face, and you took different pieces of

different wolves and put them together, and they didn't line up. The teeth are

coming straight at you.

One eye is going one way.

The nose is twisted off. If you're going to play God and mix up three different

wolves, they all got to be attached to the same skull.

I come from a graffiti background.

Nothing is pictured perfect.

I kind of wanted to give it that rock. He's kind of leaning in.

moving out. None of that drawing translates to tattooing. You are on

paper a very talented artist and you have to elevate your artistic skill on

paper to skill on skin.

Lydia.

The first thing that jumps out to me is contrast.

Your background either needs to be a lot darker than the foreground or a lot

lighter than the foreground.

With it being the same tone throughout, from across the room, it's a big black

spot. I actually toned down the background a bit to keep the subject

matter from getting muddled.

This tattoo does not jump out at me like, she's definitely earned her spot.

She's here.

Baba.

The thing about this skin rip is it doesn't really have a fleshy look to it.

It looks very rigid. It's supposed to look like it was done a while back, not

like it just happened. It's just kind of awkward. You have many problems with

your outline. All your screw circles are flat on one side.

They don't have that perfectly round area. If you're doing mechanics,

everything has to be perfect. And if you're gonna challenge yourself to do

it, then you're gonna expose yourself if you can't.

David.

Do you believe that this tattoo will earn you a shot here? I'm happy with it.

I think it looks pretty cool. But is it readable? Can anybody look at it and go

skull? Skull-ish.

Look at the nose, the mouth, the jawbone.

Hard to see what's going on there. It's a mess.

You didn't make a great decision here.

Gentle J.

This tattoo is very recognizable. The detail in it is nice. The outline looks

really clean. Design-wise, it just has a very stale appearance to it. Just the

two roses perfectly on the side. Both have three leaves, almost exactly the

same. You hand-drew this thing for this guy personally. Make it look like that.

If you're not able to artistically put out great composition from the start to

back up great tattooing, you're not going to last that long.

Randy.

You were a photorealism guy, right?

That's typically what I get asked to do.

This thing is very patchy.

This has that remedial paint-by-number look to it. This is where that color

ends, this is where this color ends, this is where this color starts.

From the black to the brown to the orange to the yellow, there's no soft

fades. It was kind of meant to be more of a painting style.

Even if you take a painterly approach at a real photo.

your quality of application still has to be there. We're lacking that.

Damon.

Looking at this tattoo, your inexperience really shows.

The shading in the spider web on her forehead, very splotchy.

There's a lot of inconsistencies, a lot of weak outlines, and it's just not

smooth. There was no care, attention, and detail put into this. I honestly

didn't think it was, like...

If you cannot see the many problems with your outline, then you have a major

issue.

Roland.

Knowing that Polynesian is your specialty, I was very impressed with

your knowledge and the layout and the way you fit this to the leg. My fear is

furthering this competition.

Do you have the other skills that are going to be needed to do all these

challenges? The tattooing you did at the convention?

There's not a person in this room that looked at that cat and said, hey, this

is a professional-grade quality tattoo.

That stuff is not going to work in this competition.

All right, artists, head back to the loft. We'll call you back when we have a

decision.

I've got issues with your lack of experience.

I mean, do you honestly feel we're on the same level?

that you have a chance of beating me? Yes.

I know I can draw ten times better than a lot of people in here.

I went to art school and I got a degree. Art school doesn't teach you how to

tattoo. No, it doesn't teach you how to tattoo, but it does teach you how to

design. And quite honestly, with your design, from an illustrator's point of

view, when I looked at it, one, the rose in the mouth looked like a cupcake.

Two, the roses on the side, I would have never in my entire illustrative life put

those roses down toward the bottom. I would have put them up toward the top so

that they form a triangle.

You would have made it look like Mickey Mouse with that. So right there, you

just stepped on your own dick. Nah, not at all. Yeah, you did.

Damon trying to tell me that my design doesn't look right. It's like a two-year

-old teaching their father how to walk. If anything, yours looked like it was

more of a beginner tattoo.

Dude, that thing was busted. What? It was pretty beat.

Nonetheless, I'm still tattooing next to you.

But do you deserve it?

I got damn straight I do.

We asked you to vote on Twitter. Who is more deserving of a shot?

Damon Butler.

Or David Bell? You stay with an old school mentality.

I'm going to lay you out, drag you down the stairs until you learn something.

And you voted David Bell.

Follow Spike on Twitter and keep watching Ink Master.

All right, guys.

Earn your shop or go home. They're doing the tattoos of their choice.

Open canvases.

Everybody, in some small way, redeemed themselves from the convention.

Who went leaps and bounds?

Obviously, Halo. It's definitely one of the best tattoos we see today.

Nice shading. A lot of potential.

I was very surprised and happy with what Melissa turned in. The outline on this

tattoo is very nice. Way better than some of these ones in the bottom. So

let's talk about the bottom. Who doesn't deserve a shop here? You got Randy, who

did not do solid black, who did a lot of crooked lines.

I mean, that ship is a mess.

It's a mess, but it could be fixed. If I ended up with David's tattoo, I'd have

to black out that leg.

Skulls. One of the number one images in the history of tattooing. The fact that

you can't look at this and see a tooth, that helps it not look like a skull.

If you had to wear David's skull or Damon's dead girl, what would you

choose? This tattoo has a lot of technical flaws.

I understand what you're saying. However, it's way more legible and

readable than the skull we saw from the 20-year veteran.

That flower on her chin is jacked. If you look at the shading underneath her

right eye, just pay attention to just these details. If you block out...

The image of the whole girl and just go in one by one and look at the little

areas, it's unmistakable. It's just not done well.

Let's talk about Roland's tattoo.

This tattoo doesn't look bad until you get close and see that it's not 100%

solid. It's a tough one.

I think we have a decision, though. Yeah.

Want to get him? All right, man.

I have not been able to relax at all since I've been here. I don't want to

relax. I just don't want to feel like I'm about to get assassinated either,

you know what I mean?

All right, guys.

Judges have made a decision.

Need to see everybody back down in the shop.

What just happened? We all just got punched in the nuts.

Artists, this was your last chance to prove that you deserve to be in this

competition. Several of you redeemed yourselves.

If I say your name, you've earned a shop, and your spot in this competition

is secured.

For now.

Halo. You went for it, you went strong, and you came out with a very nice piece.

Have a seat. You've earned your shop.

Jay.

Jay, you were cleaner than a lot of the guys, but we want you to really be

careful in your art choices.

Congratulations. You have earned a shot.

Bubba. Good job on making a good comeback, Bubba. Get ready for a hard

ride. Take a seat.

Melissa. Thank you.

Keith. Thank you.

Lydia. Thank you.

King. Thank you.

David.

Thank you.

Any one of you could justifiably be sent home.

Randy. The inconsistencies that we saw in the convention, we saw again today.

I didn't think it was nearly as bad as some of the other ones.

For instance, King Rock's wolf was misshapen. There was no color in it. I

don't think he looked at the picture, but it doesn't matter. The judges made

their choice.

You didn't have strong clean lines. You didn't have strong black shading. And

you didn't have strong fields of color. These are your fundamentals.

Damon. Your tattoos in the convention setting, very, very rough.

This tattoo is riddled with a lot of different problems.

Line work is still a major issue. I bit off a little bit more than I can chew

with the size of it. But next time, it's a much more controlled bite. It's a

rough tattoo that was basically above your pay grade.

Roland. Those first three tattoos were a one-way ticket home. Did you not want to

be here? I'm not going to make excuses.

You know, it was thrown into a situation that I wasn't prepared for.

Every day is going to be something that you're not prepared for. I promise.

That's the competition.

I'm here to prove that I can be here.

I just wanted to show you in that tattoo that I could line and that I can do the

tattoos that you will require of me. It's hard for us to look past that

Polynesian tattoo. When you got to pick your own thing, you did some line work.

The bottom field is a lot bigger than we would have liked it to be. Literally, we

could have put all the names in a hat and sent any of you guys home. It's a

crapshoot, and it's very teeter-totter on who's going to go home and who's

going to stay.

The judges have decided.

Randy, you have earned a shop.

Congratulations.

And Roland, the judges have decided.

Roland, you've earned a shop.

Have a seat.

Thank you so much for this opportunity.

I won't let you down.

Damon, you do not have what it takes to be 8th Master.

What's coming, you're not ready for. This is a tough house to come into when

you're not ready to be here.

Please pack your machines and go home.

Everyone has opinions, just like they have asked.

Was my tattoo as technically unsound as they said? No.

Give me a couple more years, I'm blowing all y'all out the water.

On the next episode of Ink Master.

Don't sting me. This challenge is a nightmare.

I hate this. You're in a competition.

Buck up, camper. Okay, dickhead. This is about to get ugly.

Get back here. Don't tell me what to do.

Is there a good outline?

No. Is there dimension?

Hell no.

I don't want to do this anymore. I cannot stress that enough.

Calm the f*** down.

Shut the f*** up. Let's get on with it.