Original subtitles

Male announcer: This season on "Ink Master"...

It's new artists versus veterans

as 16 tattooers are battling it out

to prove they're the best.

- This competition's gonna be the toughest one

that we've ever had.

- To win the $100,000, you must out-tattoo

some of the fiercest artists ever to compete

for the title of Ink Master.

- [bleep]

- And they're back, looking for revenge.

- Buckle up, get ready,

and put everything you have into it.

announcer: Week after week, the competition

is rattled to its core.

- Every week, when somebody goes home,

somebody's coming back.

And it's not just anybody coming back.

It's somebody who's already done really well.

announcer: As a new veteran returns...

- Ugh!

announcer: Looking for revenge.

- Everybody that's come into this competition

has had a hazing... a trial by fire.

- To me, I'm just seeing you as being scared and broken

from your season, and I like that.

I love it. I smell blood.

announcer: Fueled by the desire to win,

they'll face off in extreme challenges.

- I feel like a gladiator walking into the ring,

and I can smell fear.

announcer: Alliances will form.

- Three of us team up, we're a powerhouse.

We can pick them off like fish in a barrel.

- It's our house. I don't give a [bleep]

who walks back in here.

- You already had a chance to be Ink Master once,

and you wasn't good enough, bro.

- I'll [bleep] knock your fat ass out, bitch.

- Lack of disrespect. - What's up, mother[bleep]?

announcer: And loyalty will be betrayed.

- My tattoo was fantastic. - Bull[bleep]

- I [bleep] nailed it.

- All the old dudes are trying to screw us.

- I know it's personal.

- I got the [bleep] end of the stick,

so I'm not gonna let you push me around.

[bleep] you.

- We are all here to play a game,

and you know what the name of the game is?

[bleep] the guy next to you when you have to

to get to the end.

announcer: Judged by industry icons...

- You're freaking out while you're tattooing,

and we can't let that happen to other clients.

announcer: They'll be eliminated

until only the best tattoo artists remains.

- Quit thinking of them as these legends that you respect,

and look at them like the prey that they are.

- The flash challenges are through the roof.

The critiques are through the roof.

- The fact that we have this caliber artists in here

makes this one of the toughest seasons ever created.

announcer: Earning a $100,000 prize...

- I told you, this is a viper's den.

- I'm here to tattoo and I'm here to prove that I'm the best.

announcer: And the title of Ink Master.

[rock music]

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

- Whoa.

- There is a nude model. This is crazy.

- Oh, damn.

- The guys are gonna be more nervous than we are.

- Oh, [bleep].

- Welcome to your initiation.

- Initiation? I don't even know what that is.

- This is your first flash challenge,

designed to test your fundamentals.

- My stomach is doing [bleep] flips right now.

- It's divided into three different rounds.

Complete one round, and you'll move on to the next.

- Three rounds? [bleep] crazy.

- You have four hours to complete all three rounds.

Get stuck, and you're first challenge in this competition

will be a fail. - [bleep] me.

- This is Round One.

You must create a full-body sketch of this model.

- I've never done a live drawing before.

This is the worst [bleep] challenge

I've ever been faced with in my life.

- Once you're satisfied that your drawing

is a true representation of your artistic skill,

then you can move on to the next round,

and your time starts now.

[rock music]

- Let's go.

- This is the toughest first week in "Ink Master" history.

We're expecting these artists to be able to draw,

be able to execute, and really stand up and show us

what they can do.

- Drawing from a live nude model?

Agh. High anxiety.

- My specialty is full color,

big, bold lines, anything new-school,

I'm an anxious person as it is.

What does that even mean that I can get stuck

in one of the rounds and fail?

That's kind of worrying me a little bit.

[fast-paced rock music]

♪

- Anyone else having fun yet?

- Why are there only eight of us?

There's never only eight starting the competition.

I know that there's gonna be a twist.

Let's do this. Anything you got... bring it.

Trying to get you perfect, girl.

♪

- Could I have her turn a little bit more that way?

- Everyone's pussyfooting around.

Everyone's afraid to ask the model to do what they need.

There's $100,000 riding on this.

If I need her to sit a certain way, I'm gonna ask for it.

Can you put one of your hands on your knee?

I specialize in realism and surrealism.

My style's unique. It's creative, original.

Just try and keep your chin down.

Yeah.

My strategy for drawing this nude model

is draw it figuring I can refine things later.

I don't know what's coming. I might need more time.

- She keeps moving.

- I know time's gonna be a factor.

I'm gonna make sure I'm not stuck in the back of the pack,

and whoever's in the front, I want to be hot on their heels.

♪

- Homegirl ran out pretty fast.

I hope she got enough [bleep].

♪♪

- Welcome to Round Two.

You have to assemble your liner machine and a shader machine.

You get it in complete working order.

- Okay.

- The quicker you finish this,

the more time you'll have in the final round.

- Okay. Thanks. - Good luck.

- Being able to put a machine together

and get it running correctly is definitely

one of the basic fundamentals of tattooing.

- Okay, come on.

Damnit.

- Even if these artists do a great drawing,

but can't assemble these machines

and get them running correctly, it's gonna show us that they

don't really care about everything about tattooing.

Know your tools. Know your craft.

- Welcome to Round Two. - Yeah.

- You have to assemble a tattoo machine from Seth Ciferri,

- Right on. Sweet. I got this.

I've been building tattoo machines for almost 15 years.

- When you think you have your machines in working order,

let me give them a check and give you the okay,

and move on out.

- I'm an all around tattoo artist.

I'm known for doing black-and-grey realism,

but I'm proficient in every style of tattooing out there.

There's nothing they're gonna hand me that I can't do.

I might very well be the only grandpa

that's ever been in this competition,

and my age, experience, and wisdom are gonna help me

beat all these young kids.

- So, who's gonna get in trouble first for hands and feet?

- That's the [bleep] that slows everything down, right?

- I'm running into a huge obstacle right now.

- I'm a perfectionist,

and that's really killing my time.

As I see artists leaving, I'm starting to worry a bit.

- Oh, [bleep].

- We have tattoo machines.

Your job is to completely assemble it

and get it running in working order.

- Oh, my dark lord.

I don't know how to build a machine.

I'm screwed in this second round.

[dramatic music]

♪

- Oliver, can you check this one?

I'm almost done with my second machine,

and I haven't even heard another one buzz yet.

[buzzing]

- All right, you're ready to go.

Take everything with you.

- Oh, [bleep].

[eerie discordant sounds]

- You made it to Round Three. - Thanks, man.

- You're gonna use the drawing that you did earlier,

coupled with the machines that you just built.

You're gonna reproduce that right on the pig.

- Oh, [bleep]. Okay.

- Right out of the gate, we're gonna test fundamentals.

One is assembling your tools, one is drawing,

and, finally, we're gonna test them on tattooing.

How good are they at executing their job?

That's why, today, these challenges are their initiation.

[buzzing] - All right. Take everything...

- Okay. - And go into the next room.

- Everything you do is under a magnifying glass.

These artists have to be ready for that.

- [sighs]

- That's gonna be your client.

- Thirty minutes to go.

- I [bleep] suck.

- Picasso and Ashley... definitely in trouble.

♪

- Damnit.

I'm gonna get one of these mother[bleep] running.

[bleep] embarrassing.

If it wasn't for tattooing, I would've never

gotten over my depression.

I like to jump around between new school, neo-traditional,

realism, surrealism... all I got is art.

I don't have nobody else.

Damnit.

- You're doing this at home, it's like nothing.

but I don't know.

I'm an artist, not a mechanic.

- The basic mechanics of this machine are completely lost.

Not only am I not impressed, but I'm pretty bummed out.

- I'll figure it out.

- 15 minutes remaining.

[rock music]

[buzzing]

♪♪

- I wasted way too much time drawing,

and now I'm getting a little nervous.

I have been an athlete my whole life.

I played college basketball. Every sport you can think of.

They all have the same fundamentals.

Without discipline, you have no direction.

I'm a self-taught tattoo artist,

and I've been tattooing for five years.

I'm here to prove to all those who turned me down

for an apprenticeship: not only am I a great artist,

I'm the next Ink Master.

[suspenseful music]

♪♪

- Five, four, three,

two, one.

That is it. Time's up. Machines down.

No more ink.

- Machines down.

- I feel like a [bleep] idiot.

I know how to build a tattoo machine,

but the pressure of the competition got to me.

I failed.

This is not a good way to start this competition.

- Artists, it is now time to critique your work.

- Anthony, the execution you did in the drawing

would not lead me to believe that this is what you would be

working towards, so what you did get done is much better

than what I would've imagined was coming.

- It does show a little bit of promise, in the details

and just the little bit of shading you were able to do.

I really wish you had more time

to get further along with this tattoo.

- Christian, starting off with the sketch...

the face on it is a beautiful face.

That translates right over to your tattoo.

You definitely added more details into the tattoo

than you have in your drawing.

I think it's a great job. - Thanks.

- Alex, this is one hell of a train wreck of a tattoo, man.

- I was having some trouble with my machines.

- Without knowing how to put that machine together,

it's a big fundamental lack.

- The tattoo itself, man... it looks just like

your body language.

It looks nervous.

This tattoo, for me, is a pretty big letdown.

- Chris, how did you find this challenge today?

Oh, you didn't bother.

- That's your work. You're representing yourself,

and this is what the whole world's gonna see.

Okay.

- That's a first. - It's a first. Yeah.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Who the [bleep] does this guy think he is?

I put my life on hold just to be here,

and this guy's treating it like a [bleep] child's game.

- Corey. - I think your drawing's

the best drawing in the room.

Those beautiful lines that you have on paper

don't show through on this particular tattoo.

- The shader was not hitting at all like I wanted it to.

- I don't think your machines were really running properly.

It's a really rough tattoo.

- Megan Jean. - I really like your drawing

a lot... it's just very loose, very free.

- I love drawing figures.

- Being able to get this accomplished

shows good confidence, and definitely fundamentals

in drawing ability.

- Thank you.

- Ashley. - We don't have any tattooing

to look at, so we look at your drawing.

Proportion of the hands and feet to the rest of the body...

very tiny.

With that being said, it would be hard to know

that the Ink Master can't build a machine.

- So, Picasso, what happened here?

Obviously, you didn't get a tattoo done today.

- I totally spaced out on how to build a machine.

It's the one thing I should've [bleep]...ugh!

- Looking at your drawing, there's no doubt

that I want to see a tattoo from you.

- It's got a real sense of your own style,

but also, you captured that model amazingly,

but, obviously, tattoo machines, and they got to run.

Rough day.

- Yeah.

- I think we have two obvious weak links right now.

To me, all these other artists look like prey.

- You must out-tattoo the fiercest artists

ever to compete, starting with the veteran

who's about to walk through the door.

- Oh, man.

- Every week, somebody's coming back

who's already done really, really well.

Coasting is not gonna be an option at all.

- [sighs]

[intense music]

♪

- Today, we're testing fundamentals.

How did our feel do overall?

- We definitely saw some fundamentals that were lacking.

- Picasso clearly excels in the art world,

but didn't have the fundamentals to put a machine together.

Ashley didn't really even do a great drawing,

and didn't build the machine.

- She was one of the people that came in the room

super confident, and was just like, "No problem."

And then, for three hours,

couldn't put it together right one.

- Chris, with all that black, weird background...

- He's thinking, "I'm safe. Screw these other people."

"Who cares what I do?"

- I mean, to hear that in this competition...

I'm ready to send that guy out of here.

- Yeah. 100% clowned it.

- Whereas Christian did the drawing,

he put the machine together, and he got a huge tattoo done.

- Definitely shows that he's got strong fundamentals

and strong roots.

- I think the other top would be Megan.

She was able to improve upon her drawing in the tattoo.

Across the board, I think she did good.

- Well, it seems like we have a clear decision.

- Yeah. - Let's let them know.

both: All right. - All right.

- Today, you are being tested on your fundamentals.

The judges have decided that the winner

of the first flash challenge...

Is Christian.

[applause]

- The fact that you had a machine running well enough

to do smooth shading... great job.

- The finished product is smooth.

You can see the quality of the line work,

and you see the quality of the shading.

That shows me who I want to see more work from.

- You will have the power to assign the canvases

in the elimination tattoo.

- I won this challenge because I'm better

than all these other losers.

Having the skull pick is gonna be a huge advantage.

I'm not the guy you want to [bleep] with

in this competition.

- Head back to the loft.

- Oh, yeah.

[both clap]

- Yes. - Yeah!

This looks awesome.

- Damn. - Oh, I like that.

- Yeah! - Wow.

- This is some cool [bleep].

This is my home. [laughs]

Can't wait to get these tattoos crackin'.

- Looking at other people's artwork

is pretty intimidating.

It's gonna be a really hard competition.

- Who's over here? - Oh, wait a minute.

- That one's covered up. There's a name under there.

- Oh, what's up? There's number nine.

- Yeah. - I am so curious about that.

- Hey, guys. Come on in. Grab a seat.

- Welcome to your first elimination tattoo.

You make it to the end, you will earn $100,000,

a feature in "Ink" magazine, and the title of Ink Master.

Now, you may have wondered why there's only eight of you.

Well, you're about to find out.

- I knew it was coming. - To win the $100,000,

you must not only defeat every artist here...

you must also out-tattoo some of the fiercest artists

ever to compete for the title of Ink Master.

- What?

- And they're back, looking for revenge.

- [bleep].

- Starting with the veteran who's about to walk

through the door.

- Who do we have to defeat?

[intense music]

♪

- St. Marq.

[dramatic music]

- Oh, man.

- I am St. [bleep] Marq.

I am a tattoo god.

I see no one in my way. No one.

- I came here to tattoo.

They can bring veterans. They can bring in Jesus Christ

with a tattoo machine. I don't care.

- There he is. The tattoo god.

- Welcome back, St. Marq. - Good to be back.

I feel like a gladiator walking into the ring.

I'm really pissed I left under the circumstances that I did.

I got tooken out by a [bleep] farmer.

- Chris, St. Marq, your teammates have put you up

for elimination.

- This shaped up to be one of the most significant

early battles we've seen

in the history of this competition.

- I love a head-to-head challenge.

This is where I shine.

Bring it on, big man.

- St. Marq, you do not have what it takes to be Ink Master.

- This is a sad day when somebody strong goes home.

There's a lot more challenges coming up that who knows

how you would've done in them.

We'll never know.

- I'm back, and I'm going to compete with a vengeance.

- Today, St. Marq is not only entering the competition,

but he's also calling the shots.

- Ho-oh-oh - [bleep]!

- Each week, one veteran artist will return to the competition.

The week they return, that veteran will choose

the elimination tattoo.

- Goddamnit!

- No!

They already have an advantage

'cause you've played the game before.

This guy get to pick the damn challenge as well?

- Okay, St. Marq, it's your call.

What's the first elimination tattoo?

- The subject matter will be the seven deadly sins.

- Ooh.

- We will be doing this in black and gray.

We will be using our shaders only.

- Seriously?

- I always use a liner when I tattoo.

An outline is the foundation of a tattoo.

You can't build anything without a foundation.

- St. Marq, why did you make that choice?

- I think everybody knows that I do a lot of work

that doesn't need a liner.

You guys like to judge me against other black and gray

artists that use liners incessantly,

and this is my rules, my playground, my challenge.

If your shading is as good as it needs to be,

you should be able to delete that liner

and tattoo as cleanly and as sharply

as you would with a liner.

- St. Marq, have a seat.

- That's the dumbest [bleep] I've ever heard in my life.

Liners come to a point.

It's almost impossible to only use shaders,

because they're flat... they're not meant for outlining.

They're meant for shading, so you really have to know

the tricks to really angle the needle a certain way

to get a crisp, clean outline.

- Let's meet your canvases.

Christian, you won the flash challenge.

You now have the power to assign the canvases.

This is your chance to level the playing field.

Go ahead and assign the skulls.

- I want to take St. Marq out and show the rest of the house

that we need to stick together

until all these veterans are out the door.

I'm already looking at this competition

like a game of chess, and in chess,

you got to think four or five moves ahead.

So, what are you looking for, man?

- I want the sin of gluttony on my right arm.

- Any idea how you want to do that?

- Picture of a man chained to a chair

force-fed by a demon.

- How about you? - The sin of greed

on the left side of my head. - Holy [bleep].

- I'd like a woman holding a apple with a serpent.

- That's a nightmare.

There's no way you can get all that detail done

on the head with just a shader.

- How about you, man?

- My sin is lust. It would be on my chest.

It's three women, one snake slithering in and out

of each of their mouths.

- [bleep]. - No way, dude.

Three different faces, bunch of different snakes.

You can't do that in six hours.

- I'd like the sin of pride on my right arm.

- Handing out the skulls is a clear advantage.

These are rookies.

I'm not even sure if they know what to do with it.

- This is a chance for me to evaluate everybody else.

- Is he looking at you, Corey?

- It's really important to formulate a strategy

in this competition because it's not just about tattooing.

It's also about how you use and manipulate people

to get what you need and want.

Well, that leaves you, my man.

Right now, most of these kids

look like deers in the headlights.

- Okay, canvases, one by one,

please read the artist's name on the bottom of your skull.

- Anthony.

- Megan.

- Who wants to shave a homegirl's head?

- Corey. - I got you, Miss Lady.

Now I know Christian's playing the game.

He's gunning for me.

- Chris.

- Ashley. - That's me.

Who's left?

- St. Marq.

- So, this guy Christian gives me the guy who wants

three [bleep] portraits on his chest.

I don't think that he realizes what he's done.

He just created an enemy in St. Marq.

- Picasso. - Suget.

- Alex.

- Christian.

- Remember, after the elimination tattoo,

the human canvas jury will vote on the tattoo that they think

is the worst, and put one artist up for elimination.

You'll have six hours to create a black-and-gray

seven deadly sins tattoo using only shaders.

Based on your work, one of you will be the first artist

to close shop.

Good luck.

- Alex. - Right over here.

- Good. Oh, my gosh, I'm so excited.

- St. Marq issuing the challenge to only use

a shader... he's really pushing these other artists

to be on his level.

- You got the best [bleep] guy here.

- I think a lot of these artists are gonna

have trouble with the way that they assemble the piece

to make their shader a powerful weapon.

- We're definitely limited.

I need to design something that, with no outline,

that's gonna look good.

- I hope this group came to play.

This is what it takes to be in the competition.

- How committed are you to the left side of your head?

- I want to tat my head.

- I'm running all the game in the world

to get her to move her tattoo,

but she is stuck on the [bleep] head.

The only thing is, with this challenge,

we're not allowed to use liners.

- I know. I want to do my head.

- I'm just a little worried on how she's gonna

be able to take it.

You're stuck on the head? 100%?

- Hundred. - Yeah?

- Yeah.

- As far as, like, your whole chest,

six hours, it's just not gonna happen.

- I was thinking more like a three... 'cause like, three heads,

you know, like... like, yeah, spread out across.

- There's bad canvases, and then there's this guy.

If we can focus on one portrait,

I can get a lot more detail into the snake.

- All right, one woman?

Is there a way you could still do, like, two women?

- One portrait is what I'm saying.

- This just might be the toughest canvas

I've ever been dealt.

[rock music]

♪

- When you went to the girl who wanted the head tattoo,

I saw you look back specifically at me.

- You were one of the ones I wasn't quite sure about.

I kind of wanted to just evaluate

and see what you had, man.

- You playing the game.

- If I'm gunning for somebody, I'm gonna say it.

- The minute St. Marq walked in the door,

my first instinct was, "I'm gonna come right at him."

- I think you shook him up.

- This is a competition, and I'll gun for everybody

in the house, you know?

Whether I like them or not, whether I respect them or not,

I'm coming after everybody,

but I can only do that one at a time,

and right now, Marq was my target.

[eerie, bass-heavy music]

- Artists, you have six hours to tattoo a black-and-gray

seven deadly sins tattoo using only shaders,

and your time...

starts...

now.

- Let's do this.

- Okay, come around here.

- Okay.

- Any artist in the room should be proficient with their shader.

If these artists know how to choose this battle,

and give themselves enough space to really show off

with the shader, they can do beautiful work.

- I'm not gonna create any hard edges on this thing.

I've only been tattooing for five years.

There's a lot on the line. This is kind of overwhelming.

- If you're good at what you do, it won't be a problem.

- I definitely think the judges are gonna underestimate me.

I have to do whatever it takes to show that I'm just as good

as these veterans.

- Ahh!

- Looks perfect.

My canvas wanted three portraits,

snakes coming out of their mouths.

We've got that down to one portrait

with a serpent not coming out of her mouth.

Thank God.

- So, you guys obviously changed your design.

You initially wanted three women.

- His whole chest. - With the snake going through

three different mouths.

- Well, we kind of talked about seeing how far he could get,

but I don't know if we'll be able to do the whole chest.

Being a veteran to this competition,

I know how to control the situation with these canvases.

I'm gonna give you a little bit of shading

on this wing right here too so it doesn't look so blank.

My canvas is right where I want him.

This challenge is mine.

- St. Marq is a completely arrogant douche.

If he's such a tattoo god, he should just be able

to give his canvas exactly what he wants.

- [groaning]

- This lady wants her head tattooed,

[woman whines] and I couldn't convince her

to move it to a different place...

[woman cries] And now she's crying,

[woman crying] She's squirming.

This is a nightmare.

[woman groans]

I'm definitely a competitive person by nature.

All kids from the hood...

we're all trying to achieve something,

'cause we come from nothing.

I do have my own style, which is a mix

of neo-traditionalism with realism.

You're not gonna really get that from anybody else.

- Nobody told you to be so talented.

How dare you? - I'm a badass tattoo artist.

Only place I can go next is to be Ink Master.

- Three hours left.

- I'm feeling really good about this tattoo,

and whether I have a liner or not, I will deliver.

- Not [bleep] around, huh?

- Nah, man. I'm here for 100 grand.

They should be scared.

- What are your guys' thoughts?

- I think Megan's probably the one who's getting

the most linear details out of her shader.

- Yeah, she's killing it.

Christian's tattoo is just nice.

- That's what it's supposed to look like with no lines.

St. Marq made this challenge, and what is he doing?

- Five inches of pure black background.

- It's bad karma for saying he's a tattoo god.

- Yeah.

One more hour remaining.

- Put your game face on, Jonathan.

I bombed on my flash challenge.

I have no choice but to put out a good tattoo.

- Dude, I can't believe you took on

doing full figures that small.

- That's why it's taking me forever.

I left art school with one semester left

because I found tattooing, and I knew it was my passion.

My fine art background does set me apart

from other tattoo artists.

Photo-realism, black-and-gray, portraits...

that's what people come to see me for.

I have the talent to be Ink Master.

I just need the title.

- What's happening, man? - What's going on, guys?

- And this is the first time they're gonna

get to see me tattoo.

Got to show some saturation, some contrast.

- How's this no-liner challenge for you?

- Pretty good. Pretty easy.

I need to redeem myself.

Now they got me worried.

I would hate to be the first one to go home.

- Final five minutes. - Oh, boy.

I'm an artist, and I've never worked

in these kind of conditions.

I don't rush through my tattoos.

Time is my enemy.

- Five, four, three,

two, one. That is it.

Time is up. Machines down.

No more ink.

- Pop up. Check it out.

- I love it. - Nice.

- Look at the detail, man.

Almost looks 3-D.

- St. Marq, why does your tattoo look like a little boy

with an umbrella on top of his head?

That does not look like the tattoo of a tattoo god.

How can you pick your own challenge

and [bleep] it up that bad?

- You scared, baby? - Nobody is scared of you.

You already had a chance to be Ink Master once,

and you wasn't good enough.

- A lot of problems with this.

- This challenge is one of the biggest backfires

in Ink Master history.

[intense music]

♪♪

- So, are you happy that you served me up

with a [bleep] up canvas? - Of course.

You [bleep] came in like a rock star, dropped the ball,

and you got spanked by a bunch of other people.

I think you're bottom three.

- Wishful thinking, baby.

- Thanks for stopping by. Pack your [bleep].

- Nah. [clicks tongue]

[eerie, bass-heavy music]

♪

- Today, St. Marq challenged you to take on his specialty:

Black-and-gray tattoos using only shaders.

Christian, let's start with you.

When you heard that this was a shader-only challenge,

what was your feeling about that?

- If you're proficient with your needles,

there's no such thing as a liner or a shader.

- It looks lined. That takes some skill,

and that speaks to knowing your fundamentals.

- This tattoo stands out because right where the rose

connects, you give it that nice highlight.

That's the proper way to play off a light source

to create edges, to create highlights,

and to create depth.

You're a definite competitor here.

- Picasso.

- I really, really, appreciate people

that take a swing with artwork.

I like the dynamics of the drawing,

but you did not let your tattoo breath.

You took a pillow and just smothered it.

- Because I didn't get to tattoo in the first challenge,

I tried to cram in a lot of work this time.

- One of the basic fundamentals is contrast.

You've left out any contrast from one element to the other.

Everything is just dark on dark on dark.

Anytime you have a tattoo that's fresh on a big,

open, blank place of skin,

and everybody thinks it's a cover-up,

it's obviously a bad thing.

- [sighs]

- Megan.

- The details you were able to capture

shows you know a lot about contouring,

creating depth and shadows... which are more advanced

than just the fundamentals of tattooing.

- Perfect placement of the highlight in the pupil.

It works incredibly.

Using the shader and pulling off all these tricks...

can't wait to see you work with a liner.

- Thanks.

- Chris.

- Overall, as a piece, it's a weird placement.

It's hard to see what's going on.

- One of the things that's throwing it off

is the feather that creates a weird underside of the eye.

Had you have broken up the hard edge that you put on the top,

and really had it wispy and broken,

your tattoo would look completely different.

In here, you're up against somebody else

who's making something smooth, legible, and perfect.

You have to be able to pull off things that are gonna

beat those people behind you.

- Alex.

- This one, for me, falls really short

because I think this was the easiest one of the day.

Had St. Marq himself got ahold of this,

it would look totally different.

- Where you could've excelled is in the hair.

You could've detailed it out.

Instead, we just have big, chunky, black shading.

Not a very detail oriented tattoo at all.

I don't know if you all are realizing this yet:

This competition's gonna be the toughest one

that we've ever had.

- Definitely starting to realize that.

- It's not a time that coasting is gonna be an option at all.

- Anthony.

- The shading in this tattoo is great.

Look at the areas of saturated black

that still make those silhouettes breathable,

and then the backlight to where the demon behind it

is a little bit softer.

That's a great use of light

and showing a really dark image,

but still letting it breathe.

- Going to fundamentals, it shows a lot

of different techniques that you have under your belt.

- Thank you.

- Ashley.

I love what you did with the wings.

I like the setup with the cloud and the rays of the sun.

Where I lose it is with the anatomical figures.

Certainly, if you look at this woman in the profile,

and that nose, and maybe that little hand

that's kind of poking in there.

- My canvas saw his tattoo in the mirror.

He was seeing something he was proud to wear.

- That's perfect, but it still isn't gonna win.

Look at the tattoos that got praise today.

They're all big and bold.

Work smart, not hard. That's how you win.

- Corey.

It's just... had an overall rough feel to it.

- She wanted so much in such a small area.

- This is three elements.

It doesn't really look like it's that much.

- Your details did not come through.

The mouth of the thing is super crooked.

The jaw line is really, really rough.

Your man, St. Marq... he did his job,

and this one got the best of you, in my opinion.

- St. Marq.

We know you to excel with your shader,

but this is not what we expected to see from you today.

A lot of problems with this.

- This is the first time since I've been here

that I'm not happy with the outcome.

- This challenge is probably one of the biggest backfires

in "Ink Master" history.

There's so much wasted space of solid black.

There's literally no detail except for that little bit

in that head of that snake.

This is the worst tattoo you've done on this competition.

It's unfortunate.

It's good for the people standing behind you, though.

- If you put a target on yourself, everybody's shooting.

- That's not how I wanted to come back.

- Some of the best tattooers leave early,

and that was the case for you,

and today, you're putting yourself in a position

to be that person again.

- All right, we have to determine

who had the best tattoo of the day.

Oliver, which way are you leaning?

- For me, the two standouts are Christian and Megan.

Something about the simplicity and the cleanliness

of Christian's tattoo...

I'm gonna vote for Christian.

- Megan just pushed herself to cram in

as much line work without a liner.

I'm with Megan.

- In terms of creativity, artistry,

and technical ability,

my vote is for Megan.

The judges have decided that the best tattoo of the day

goes to Megan.

- Whoo-hoo! - Congratulations.

- Thanks.

- The human canvas jury is deliberating right now,

and their vote will put one artist up for elimination,

and the canvas will be here to tell us why in person.

Head back to the loft.

One of you is about to be the first artist

to pack your machines.

[dramatic music]

♪

- I would probably say that St. Marq

deserves to be at the bottom.

- There is no [bleep] way I'm going home.

- It was your challenge.

- It's time for the new guys to shine, bro.

- You scared, baby? - No, I'm cool.

Chillin', baby.

- [laughs] Mm-hm.

- Nobody is [bleep] scared of you, dude.

St. Marq? Who [bleep] sainted you, anyway?

- I'm getting to you. This is so [bleep] great.

- You already had a chance to be Ink Master once,

and you wasn't good enough, bro.

[dramatic music]

♪♪

- Today, St. Marq is calling the shots.

Black-and-gray tattoos. Shaders only.

So, let's talk about the overall bottom.

- Well, the chest that we saw from Ashley

would definitely be one.

Translating the idea of that wing holding the girl...

I didn't know that that's what was going on at first.

Tattooing like this, she won't last long.

- For me, St. Marq is definitely in the bottom.

- I mean, this thing is almost 50% black area.

- For nothing. I hate this tattoo.

- I would take that weird little snake on the top from St. Marq

all day over Corey's head tattoo.

The snake looks like it's missing its dentures

for its bottom jaw.

- This drawing, this layout, was terrible from the start,

and that's why the tattoo's terrible.

- Well, the human canvas jury, as you know,

is gonna vote somebody to the bottom,

and that's gonna be very illuminating for us.

- We're here to determine who has the worst tattoo of the day.

- This is my tattoo. My artist was Ashley.

- There's a lot going on. - Almost too much.

- She's just hanging there.

- Against the wing. The wing is underneath it.

- Yeah, I don't get that she's being held.

- I see what you're saying, however, that's what I wanted.

- This is my tattoo, and it's by Corey.

- I think there's something going on with the lips.

They don't look normal.

- The female isn't, like, beautiful.

- Yeah, she does look a little angry.

- I don't think it's a tattoo that an Ink Master would do.

- This is my tattoo, and my artist was St. Marq.

- She looks bald. - What's on your shoulder?

It's either an umbrella or a bat wing.

- It's a wing. - It looks like a cover-up,

especially with how dark everything else is.

- This is supposed to be his challenge.

This should be his specialty.

- He didn't really shine with the details

that you'd think that he would pull with his challenge.

- I'm completely satisfied with it.

I love it. - This is my least favorite.

- You nervous, Corey?

- You created the challenge.

You failed your own challenge, bro.

- I'm not [bleep] going home. Look at your work.

That doesn't show much promise for much more.

- All right, the judges want to see

Corey,

Ashley...

St. Marq.

See you downstairs.

- What?

- Well, you heard them. Let's go.

- All right. Let's do this. - See what they got to say.

[dramatic music]

♪♪

- For your first elimination tattoo,

you were being judged on the fundamentals.

Based on your work, one of you will be the first to go home.

Let's find out who the human canvas jury chose.

- Wow. - St. Marq.

You're here because the human canvas jury determined

that you had the worst tattoo of the day.

Rashim, why was St. Marq voted to the bottom?

- They voted St. Marq based off what I believe is a bunch of BS.

They said the head was too close

to the previous tattoo, the bat one,

which is positioning, and not quality.

- That's fundamental.

- The placement is very fundamental.

- But you have to be able to work with what people have.

- It's a [bleep] umbrella.

- If I run some hair through the face

and continued that blackness into here.

- So, you're gonna cover up your own tattoo?

- No! - You're gonna add more black?

- It's just black hair. You just continue it.

- You have a huge black spot in the middle of your chest

that you have to figure out, when you get home,

what you're gonna do with it.

- I am absolutely happy with my tattoo.

- Rashim, thank you so much. - Thank you for having me.

- If we're judging based on who's equipped to move forward

in this competition, I don't think

I should be going home today.

- Your swing at this was a miss.

You see a huge black spot.

I think that's a pretty big downfall.

- Corey.

- Contrasting your tattoo to St. Marq's,

you guys are basically head-to-head: Snakes and faces,

so you tell me where you got him beat.

- He designed this challenge to himself.

- I didn't pick my canvas.

- Would you say that your shading outdoes Marq's?

- My snake is better than that top snake he did.

- No chance.

- My hair is better than his hair.

- The shader challenge just got you,

and that was what he set out to do.

Had you have had a liner,

this could be completely different,

but he rattled you, and it looks obvious.

- Ashley.

- My tattoo's better than these two guys'.

- That's a little arrogant.

- I gave that guy exactly what he wanted.

- I think the faces were way too small

to give yourself a chance at all.

- If I had a liner and I could tweak it, yeah,

but you wanted everyone to tattoo with just a shader.

That's exactly what I did.

- You should be able to use a shader.

- That [bleep] readable from all the way over here.

- But, Ashley, there's serious problems with this tattoo.

And if St. Marq's gonna be down here,

then you're sure as hell gonna be down here,

'cause your shading's not near as smooth as his.

You're gonna have to get smoother than this.

- All right, guys. Time to make a decision.

Who's going home?

- Ashley, I don't love everything

about your tattoo by any means,

but this conversation doesn't have to do with you anymore.

My battle's between

St. Marq and Corey. - I agree.

- St. Marq coming in with this challenge

and botching it himself, it's almost instinctual

to want to send him home, but if I just look at

the quality of the black, quality of shading,

quality of the tattoo across the board,

got to vote for Corey.

- As a canvas, if I had this black area,

my friends would say,

"Hey, man, what's up with that big black spot?"

I'm not gonna go, "Yeah, but check out how smooth

and saturated it is."

Final decision?

- Corey. - St. Marq.

- Corey.

- The judges have decided.

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

- We did see a lot of promise in your drawing.

Unfortunately, you get this one chance to try to make it to the

second chance, and you just didn't make it, man.

- Please pack your machines and close shop.

[dramatic music]

♪♪

- I don't deserve to go home today.

I didn't have the opportunity to really show the judges

what I'm capable of.

I know I did not do the worst tattoo.

announcer: On the next episode of "Ink Master"...

- These fools came at me so tough the first challenge.

I cannot allow them to have the skull pick again.

Veterans are gonna take over,

and there's nothing these new guys can do about it.

- The veteran about to walk through the door

is one of the most versatile artists ever to compete.

- Oh, I'm out for blood today.

- If you cross me, I will rip you to shreds.

I would love to pick those guys off one at a time.

- St. Marq is not a god. [bleep]

- Maybe you created an enemy.

- Is that what you're saying right now?

- If you go against the grain, it just doesn't work out.

- I don't think I should be penalized

for something I don't understand.

- You're gonna have to do more than a mediocre tattoo

to make it to the end.