Original subtitles

On the last episode of Ink Master, Return of the Masters.

Who is the number one pick here?

And who is number two?

You are all even right now.

You ain't done in this house.

In the first flash challenge, the teams had everything to prove.

Don't worry about the green.

I'm trying to do your job.

How about?

Everybody slow down for a second.

Now we're at a stopping point.

We've got to wait for you.

My team has such strong personalities, I've got to tone them down a little bit.

Work, my little ants.

Let's do this.

And Team DJ came out swinging.

They're snapping it together.

They're a lot closer to being done than we are.

The winner of today's splash challenge is Team DJ.

Yeah!

In the elimination tattoo.

Strap in.

Team DJ had control.

Straighten that circle out.

All right, fix it now.

I don't think what else I could put on there.

This isn't a risk I should be taking with an hour left, but I have to hit this challenge.

But the power backfired.

I didn't even get to finish my drawing, DJ.

You didn't have to.

you, dude.

What'd you just say?

You just said me?

Bro, can I trade this mother to one other team?

In the elimination, Deanna, Amanda, and Garrett were the bottom three artists.

Amanda.

The front hand's fully articulated with fingers, and then the back hand, this little weird

nub hand.

I think it did get kind of lost.

Deanna.

I can lose count finding how many line mistakes are on this thing.

But I didn't cut her up.

Garrett.

I guarantee that's not going to happen again.

I'm going to get my nerves under control.

It's not about what you can do.

It's about what you did.

If you cut, you go.

The judges have decided, Garrett, you do not have what it takes to be Ink Master.

17 artists remain.

But only one will earn a $100,000 prize and the title of

Ink Master.

How bad that sucked.

It's rough down there.

It's always rough.

Oh, thank god.

Hey, guys.

Dude.

It's heavy.

I do not want to be down there, man.

It's an eye opener.

Slip up one time.

I don't care how good you are.

Might as well just pack your .

I know I could do better.

I want to do right, obviously, by Anthony and my teammates.

And I did feel like I let you guys down.

We know you're a great tattooer.

It's a game.

No one's above going down.

Everybody raises a game.

And you slip a little bit now.

You will go down there.

I'm putting this out there right now.

I'm going to try to be a better coach.

Just please just listen.

And I will be more receptive, for sure.

We all watch good tattoos get ripped apart.

None of these teams are unstoppable, because this competition will stop you dead in your tracks.

Anybody can screw up in this thing.

Anybody.

Welcome.

The battle for $100,000, a feature in Inked Magazine, and the title of Ink Master is just

beginning.

To outlast your competitors, you must be a strong artist, have a solid strategy, and sometimes

rely on the strength of your team and your coaches.

This week, there will be no Flash Challenge.

What?

Your fate is entirely in your coaches' hands.

Wow.

Me?

No pressure.

Coaches, today, you must face off.

Win the face off, and your team is safe from elimination.

Let's go see.

Lose the face off, and an artist from your team will be going home.

One member from both losing teams will go home this week.

Oh, my God.

What?

In the fight for your own $100,000, keeping your team intact is crucial.

Every artist from your team that makes it to the finale earns you the power to call a shot

in the master face-off.

I'm going to snatch up all those advantages for the finale.

I don't need them, but I'll take them.

This week, we're testing proportion.

Proportion means that everything is in scale with everything else.

If you don't measure everything out, then everything is going to be off scale and it's not

going to look right.

Since you're the masters, we're pushing your skills to the limit.

For this tattoo, you must freehand your design directly onto your canvas's skin without a

stencil.

What?

What?

What?

Freehanding tattoos on the skin is insane.

To show proportion, usually you have a reference, and you stencil it.

That way, it's perfectly proportioned.

To freehand it ups the game so much.

Your canvases have been randomly assigned and are completely open.

You can tattoo any style and any subject matter, but your design must prove your mastery of

proportion.

Not every design is right for every challenge.

Pick a smart design that allows you to show the best proportion.

Play smart.

A lot of people are counting on you guys.

Head to your stations.

We will send in your canvases.

Easiest way to show proportion is something that's proportionate to itself.

I don't think of any kind of face with a hand.

It's up to me to win safety for my team.

We need it the most.

I'm coming into this week one artist down.

I cannot lose another artist.

What are you guys thinking?

A good way to show proportion would be two objects in relation to each other.

Hand and a snake.

That would be cool.

So when we get in the middle of it, guys, because we are a lot of personalities, let's make

sure we don't frustrate him at all.

Yeah.

Here comes the canvas.

This is my team.

We're going to be a unit and come up with a design.

I am extremely nervous about this.

I'm going up against two guys with three times as much experience as me.

I got to put my money where my mouth is, and I'm over here shivering.

OK, coaches, you have six hours to tattoo, and your time starts now.

Get it.

Today, I'm looking for these coaches to come out and show us what they do best.

Just relax.

This is more of a battle of wits.

We know they have the technical chops.

This is to see who can outdo who and who does the best proportion.

I'm looking at you guys' hair.

I'm going to use yours.

Yeah.

Because I like those curls.

The curls, yeah.

What about mine?

I'm going to use the bottom half.

We're going to make a bearded lady.

Strategically, I want to be a little creative and set myself apart from the rest of the room.

DJ's probably going to do another snake.

Steve's just going to do the evil stuff.

I'm freehanding a beautiful woman's face with tiger features.

No one in the room is going to do anything close to this.

Let's do this.

Measure the bottom.

It's a little over two fingers, two and a half fingers.

That's why I wanted to draw it like this, so I know.

See?

A portrait is literally the hardest thing to freehand.

This is my chance to show the other team, the haters, the talkers, why I am an Ink Master.

It's a very risky move, but it shows a lot of balls.

We don't give a .

Oh, man, this is gonna be crazy.

These are great, amazing artists that have one Ink Master, so who knows who's gonna win?

Solid, man.

This is like an open seminar.

You have three different styles happening at the same exact time.

It's awesome.

Four hours to go.

Four more hours.

I'm super pumped that I get to tattoo, but there's a lot on my shoulders.

My whole team depends on me, and I don't know if I'm ready for this coaching stuff.

Do you mind if I just point?

Yep.

These two light areas that you have on the bottom are competing with the value that you have

up there, so you gotta...

Yeah.

You can always use more black, you know?

Also, though, just keep in mind, the top of the apple is a lot darker than the bottom of the

apple, which doesn't really make sense with how the light's hitting it, you know?

Tell me what to add.

Don't tell me what I did wrong, because I can't take that away now.

The top of the apple's too dark.

No, no, no, I'm not saying it.

I'm not saying that.

I'm giving DJ advice, but he's not listening.

I know what I'm doing.

Just let me do it.

People from the Dream Team are coming over here being like, Steve's old and he's a dinosaur.

This is about to rip all y'all asses.

The other teams can say what they want about Steve, but at the end of the day, they don't

know what they're with.

Three, two, one.

That's it.

Machines down.

No more ink.

Dig it?

Oh.

Damn.

We won already.

OK, coaches.

Today, the fate of your team was completely in your hands.

Let's see how you did.

Steve, let's start with you.

Very smart play using anatomy as a way to show proportion.

Anything that's remotely off, anatomically speaking, is going to scream lack of proportion.

That hand out in front of the face and the glasses, the pipe, the hand holding it, keep proportion

and tell exactly what's going on.

It really played well.

Thank you so much.

It was awesome watching him draw this.

Did you guys help him do all those lines that don't line up?

Are you talking?

Because we were talking.

On the glasses, there's lines that didn't line up.

On the cuff, there's lines that overlap, underlap.

In the ear, there's lines that go right straight through it.

If you draw a portrait on skin and knock it out like that, I'm listening.

Until I see that.

Josh talks a big talk, but I haven't seen it backed up yet.

I don't like his cockiness.

He's done nothing.

What are you cocky over?

DJ.

I love the tattoo, man.

I think it's killer.

Illustration is amazing.

The detail you got in the hand is as good as anybody else could have done tracing it off the

photo.

As far as hitting the proportion, the hand in the apple looks very nice, very believable.

I wish you just did the hand in the apple.

The snake, the jaw, is much thicker than your piece of body where it swoops down this way.

I just drew that off the head.

It's art.

It's subjective at a certain point.

As long as it looks believable, the proportion looks right to me.

Thanks.

DJ's tattoo is flawless, but I feel like Steve had a better understanding of what proportion

meant.

The old man has experience, and he's showing it right now.

Anthony.

It's a beautiful tattoo.

The quality, the craftsmanship, it has great value in shading.

But the fact that you did a creature that doesn't exist, it's very hard to gauge proportion.

I think a tiger lady exists in the same realm as an old man with horns.

This is where it comes down to what is the challenge of the day and what can I do smart to

make sure that what I'm doing is hitting this challenge.

This is the tone of how this is going to go.

Who really out tricks who?

In the outside world, this tattoo is amazing.

But here, I didn't do my job.

This flat out feels horrible.

It's time to pick a winner.

Judges, who had the best tattoo of the day?

Playing smart and doing realistic proportions that everybody can see from across the room

and know that it looks right was the way to hit the challenge.

Proportion next to proportion.

Your hand and apple for me hit it.

His eyes next to his glasses, next to his nose, next to his mouth, next to his hand, next

to his pipe, hit it.

The old man out thunk him.

Steve takes it.

I go with Steve.

The judges have decided the best tattoo of the day goes to Steve.

Yeah!

All right!

That means Team Steve, you are safe from elimination.

We are stress-free right now.

Steve kicked ass.

Team Anthony and Team DJ, tomorrow one artist from each of your teams is going home.

Hey, it's bull .

Steve won.

He's got a hand that looks like a soggy nutsack.

There's not a fundamentally sound part of this tattoo.

Head back to the lot.

We needed this confidence boost, and now my team can start rattling some other cages.

You can talk when you do something.

If you can't simply communicate, you're the judge, jury, and executioner.

So you decide.

The way you guys do your magic, no wonder you guys are Ink Masters, you know?

No, they're all good tattoos, but at the end of the day, it shows that everybody can get touched.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, I mean, you could have janky-ass lines if you can make it through.

Dude, you have no idea.

You need glasses, bro.

You don't need glasses to see this.

Do you not listen to what the judges say?

They don't listen.

Proportion.

I have five proportions.

You had two.

You had one.

You had a portrait of some old dude that's not even related to him.

He free-handed a portrait.

If you want to talk about proportions, we got the number of each digit to each other digit

of each finger to each other figure.

But it wasn't enough, was it?

It wasn't enough.

And all of you are going to be going home.

Oh, you're talking now because you won the challenge.

You didn't even do anything.

Come on.

You can talk when you do something.

My team, we might not meet the challenge, but I'm proud to stand behind my coach's work.

I'm stoked on the tattoo you created.

It ain't even about me.

I have six people that I was fighting for.

And for me to drop the ball like that, I up.

I slipped up.

We worked on that as a team.

And we're super proud of the piece you did.

So it don't even feel bad, man.

Welcome to the elimination tattoo.

Steve.

You won the face-off tattoo, so your team is safe from elimination and will not tattoo.

Yes.

Team Anthony and Team DJ, two of you will lose your shot at $100,000, a feature in Inked Magazine,

and the title of Ink Master.

Oh.

I'm sorry, guys.

Today, you must tattoo mythical gods.

Oh, no.

One team will tattoo Zeus.

and one team will tattoo Hades.

As ruler of the sky and king of the underworld, these gods emanate power on an epic scale.

Mythological gods are usually depicted in human form, but the human body is a really difficult

thing to tattoo.

Hands, feet, muscles.

If every one of those elements isn't perfectly in proportion, you're done.

But that's not all.

The coaches have a lot on the line, and their success depends on the strength of their team.

So this week, the judges are not eliminating anyone.

Your fate is completely in the hands of your coach.

Damn.

Damn.

Anthony and DJ, based on these tattoos, you must each eliminate one artist from each of your

teams.

Oh.

The game just changed.

Me and DJ were at each other's throats, and now he has my fate in his hands.

That's nerve-wracking.

I'm so glad I didn't have to do that.

Oh, my God.

Coaches, you're doing exactly what needs to be done, because if this person repeats the same

mistakes, can they be $100,000 winners?

No.

It's not personal.

It's business.

Steve, since you won the face-off tattoo, you have the power to decide which god each team

must tattoo.

What's your decision?

Tattooing the god Zeus is a much harder tattoo to do because you have to pull very smooth

shading, and you got to know contrast.

Team DJ will get Zeus, and Team Anthony will get Hades.

Team DJ walks around like they're untouchable.

Today, I plan to expose their weaknesses.

Wait till the next gold pick, Steve.

Let's meet your canvases.

Steve, you won the face-off, so you now have the power to assign the human canvases.

So choose wisely.

Thank god we're safe from elimination.

We finally have skull pigs.

We're finally going to fire back.

And it feels great.

What would you like to get?

Black and gray.

Zeus.

Not what I'm overlooking the world.

Do they know it's Proportion Day?

Color illustrative Zeus and Pegasus on my arm.

Zeus and Pegasus.

Melora.

She has an extremely tiny arm.

She doesn't even have enough skin to put all that stuff on it.

Black and gray Hades standing on top of a mountain top.

All right.

Full-bodied Hades in armor on my cap.

Just think about the size of this outfit.

That's really nice.

I know who my targets are.

You want to illustrate it.

We're going to test how good you are today.

Canvases, one by one, please read the artist's name on the bottom of your skull.

Juan.

I got you, man.

Daniel.

Me.

Lindsay.

Hey.

Mike.

Right here.

Jason.

Amanda.

I got you.

Frank.

How you doing, man?

Matt.

You're in good hands.

Josh.

Me and you, girl.

Full color Zeus and Pegasus.

Steve played this really well.

I'm the number one guy to try to knock off.

Deanna.

Sparks.

What's up, boss?

Little D.

That's me.

You'll have six hours to tattoo Zeus or Hades, and based on your work, two artists will be

out.

Good luck.

Based on this tattoo, Team DJ and Team Anthony need to figure out who on their team can make

it the furthest in this competition.

People that we think could fail could impress us today.

Who on their team is going to be the strongest asset to their team?

And who do they think they can work with?

Zeus, forearm, black and gray.

This should be a good, easy day.

Just reel it in.

Are you 110% sold on your form?

Yeah, pretty much.

My canvas's arm is thinner than my wrist.

How am I going to create the most powerful Greek god of all time and Pegasus on what might

be the smallest canvas I've ever worked on?

That is super little.

I don't tattoo with a magnifying glass.

She will not move it.

No convincing on the spot change.

She was not touching it.

Steve got me good with that one.

I'm not looking for like a traditional bearded Hades.

I want him younger with long hair.

I know the further we get from what he actually looks like, the more they're going to bust

our ass on it.

I mean, it's a mythological creature.

Your boy on the end over there is doing like a girl Hades.

Jason, this is your canvases idea?

Yeah, yeah.

She wanted to kind of like a brighter, colorful, younger Hades.

The dilemma here is giving her what she wants or what everyone else is doing.

I highly suggest.

with another option.

I just wanted you to consider that.

I may be the only person doing a full color, really illustrative tattoo.

And I think that could be a really good thing, especially if I pull it off.

With Jason, we got to live with each other.

And if you can't simply communicate, I'm not doing that.

You're the judge, jury, and executioner.

So you decide.

I like a lot of lines in it, but I'm trying to keep it kind of, like, more simple.

Line the whole thing and color it in if you want.

I'm really nervous about this challenge.

I don't want to do my own style of artwork because it might get too crazy and out of proportion.

I think it's also like trying to show that I can adapt and do what you're looking for.

Fundamentals.

I have to play it safe and listen to my coach.

What you thinking, bro?

Everything good?

I'm just trying to think of a background.

I don't want to just slap something on there.

This is a mental game at this point because of the situation.

Just got to survive today, bro.

Just got to survive today.

That's up to your coach.

That's true.

Somebody else.

Okay, artists, do you have six hours to tattoo Zeus or Hades?

And your time starts now.

Get him, team.

Right.

First and foremost, get that stencil on, and then we'll rock and roll.

Today, we're testing proportions.

Are you going to do more stuff right here?

I'm just focusing on this for the time frame.

The proportions have to be on the dimensions between two eyes, a nose, a mouth.

The structure of a face, the shape or size of a body all have to be perfect.

Judges for a day, huh?

Got to weed them out.

Only a strong survivor.

Yeah.

Good luck.

You too, bud.

Ready to rock and roll?

Yes.

You should be all right.

I'm going to tell you one thing.

I did like the dopest tattoo of the day, and I couldn't win because of direction.

I wanted it facing out on the forearm.

They look at it when your arm's down.

If they don't see the head or something when your arm's down, you know what I'm saying?

Think I should flip it?

Yeah.

All right.

Let me clean this off.

Well, I don't want to go home for that .

Thanks, coach.

You can draw, and you're a badass artist.

So with that being said, that is a statue of Hercules.

I used the wrong reference.

Add some horns.

Some horns?

We need to sell that presence of underworld.

I'm worried Anthony already has a notion in his mind that I'm going to be the weakest link.

I got to make sure that he sees what I can do and wants to keep me around.

Super nice, dude.

Thank you.

I've been underestimated my entire life.

I know what I'm capable of.

I know what I'm here to do.

If they want to sleep on me, let them.

That's smooth, man.

Thank you, buddy.

You have four hours remaining.

That is probably the cleanest tattoo in this room.

I want to keep it simple so you can see that.

My strategy at this point is survival.

I don't tattoo bodies.

I don't usually tattoo flames.

I'm going to do more of a fade with the ones in the front and keep him super light.

I like it.

Having to do something that's so outside of my comfort zone is really, really hard.

DJ's making the call.

I have to make sure everything's perfect.

Is it gonna be glowing from behind, or is there, like, clouds, or is this gonna be, like...

It's definitely gonna be lighter, because I want this to be the darkest part of the whole

thing.

I came into this team because I wanted to be around the best artist, and now I have to compete

against my own teammates.

I have to beat all of them now.

You see, like, this shape under the nose?

I haven't tattooed this style of tattooing in almost 10 years.

From this side of that national, almost Vs on both.

You see, you have this, like, this.

Okay, okay, okay.

DJ's helped me throughout this whole tattoo.

I'm feeling pretty confident that I'm going to hit the challenge.

Getting nervous, getting nervous.

I'm not as confident as I should be in this tattoo.

This background is starting to get away from me a little bit.

DJ's hardly around because he's hovering over the rest of the team so much.

I'm nervous, but I trust my coach.

I got four beautiful boys and a beautiful wife.

They're giving up a lot for me to be here.

My wife is a teacher.

While she's at school, I'm at home, daddy daycare all the way.

I have to tattoo at night, but we make it work.

I need to do whatever it takes for me to be able to stay.

Final hour.

This is your final hour.

Right now, I'm super confident at Zeus's face, so I'm going to add the pegasus.

Just make sure that it doesn't look like two pieces when it's done, you know?

Oh, yeah.

Steve hit me with a curveball, and I'm going to make him eat his words.

I looked at everybody else's, and at least I'm doing something different.

I'm not feeling crazy confident, but I know that I'm really good at color.

So the best thing I can do is just make sure that my tattoo is technically sound.

Jason's is weird, but I like it.

It's clean.

I like it, too.

It's clean.

It is clean.

It's proportion.

No, today's proportion.

Yeah.

Eyes that are drawn.

He made it up.

You can't say those are right.

But it comes down to this.

You guys are sitting in the one's home you want.

At the end of the day, you make the choice.

Two, one.

That's it.

Machines down.

Time is up.

No more ink.

We made it.

No way.

I love it.

Yeah, I'm stoked on how it came out.

I love it.

It's amazing.

That's awesome.

Yeah, I'm super happy with that.

Did you end up doing the Pegasus?

Yeah.

A big old head and a tiny ass horse.

How is that proportional?

I know that you don't see things around you because you're blinded by your own beauty, but

there's stuff in the background in life.

You were on the top block before the tattoo ever started.

It's personal bull .

It's perplexing me.

I don't know what I'm looking at.

This does not look like you did it.

Sparks, you were on the chop block before the tattoo ever started.

The minute they said DJ had the right to choose, you had your blowout, so you knew you were

in high water, and you hit the bottom.

I don't think my tattoo's the worst of the day.

It didn't stack up.

You know where you're sitting.

I think it's bull .

I really do.

I think it's personal bull .

We're here to tattoo, not be best friends.

You've got a weak personality that caves easy, so when they give you advice, all you do is

just turn inward.

You were due from the start.

It was already a sinking ship.

Today, Team DJ had to tattoo Zeus, the god of the sky, and Team Anthony had to tattoo Hades,

king of the underworld.

Team DJ, you're up first.

Let's see how you did.

Frank, this is my favorite tattoo that you've turned in so far.

Thank you, sir.

The proportions seem to be accurate.

The face itself is gorgeous.

The shading you have in the musculature is very smooth.

It goes from very dark and rich, nice and powdery, fades out to the skin.

You show vast, vast improvement.

Matt.

The drawing that you did at the top is awesome.

Proportion-wise, musculature, hands, face, very cool.

But those clouds are a bummer.

The bottom half of this tattoo is a beat.

I thought they would work.

Swung and a miss.

This cloud does not go at all with this tattoo.

Josh.

I really like the space.

I really like the dynamics.

I really like the details.

I really like the value of the tones and the shading.

You can play a smart move here in putting this pegasus in the background to give yourself

some time to focus on the character itself.

But that one little cloud coming off the back of the wing needs more.

If it's between you and one other person, and you have these unfinished areas, that's what

you got to watch out for.

Lil D.

You've got a lot of really soft

Tone's in there.

Where you really lose it is in the beard.

It's just a little plate of spaghetti.

I'm a traditional tattooer that's a little bit out of my comfort zone.

You're going to really need to sit with DJ and look at how to stay relevant in here.

Sparks.

Proportion being the key word of the day.

The first thing that caught my eye was that irregular bend in the arm holding the lightning

bolt.

It does look a little askew.

And the hairline is very, very close to the brow.

leaving very little forehead.

Tell me what is going on with this background.

I just wanted him to be in the clouds.

If you're not going to kill the background, the background is going to kill your tattoo.

That's why I hate doing backgrounds.

Why'd you do the background?

I was afraid of the contrast of the bolt.

You didn't even have a chat about background.

You could have just called me over, asked me one question, and I would have told you.

I should have.

I should have, man.

This tattoo is for life, you know?

Deanna.

This does not look like you did it.

Detail in the fabric, detail in the hair, detail in the face, it's pretty remedial.

His beard is literally longer than any portion of anything on his entire long, blowing hair.

On the drawing table, it wasn't well thought out.

Let's move on to Team Anthony.

Mike.

Technically, this tattoo is really nice.

Great black, great shading, really clean, long outlines.

Thanks.

But her head rocks back like this.

Gives me the underside of her nose and the misshaped nostrils really throws the proportions

of her face off.

One.

Everything about this thing's killer.

The shading on it's super smooth, but it's proportioned in.

Where the proportion doesn't stand up is in the detail of the eyes.

The way the nose is drawn, the way the mouth is, it's got to compete with the rest of the

room.

Jason.

There's not a whole lot of realistic proportion for us to judge in this tattoo.

You have a lot of issues with your outline.

It's just wavering in thickness, not solid.

When we were trying to communicate, you just shut off.

I think some of that energy came into play on this tattoo.

Amanda.

It's a much more clear, distinctive tattoo than we've seen you do in your last one.

You have a very small face, but you still capture the facial structure.

But when you go out through some of the other musculature of the body, those shadings aren't

really making the correct shapes.

They're just making something.

Daniel.

Very dynamic.

A lot of great structure in the face, a lot of great artistic liberties that are taken here.

The place where I lose a little bit of proportion, the right horn is on a way different plane

than the left horn.

If that's the only part that's wrong with it, then I'm super stoked on it.

Lindsay.

It's very 80s action figure-ish, wearing those Daisy Duke shorts.

It was going to be like a black loincloth, and it does kind of read as shorts.

His right leg just seems to disappear.

The flames have zero resemblance to fire.

It shows a lack of understanding how to draw these things.

It was just a tough day.

Take that time.

Slow down.

Understand what you're doing.

OK, judges, it is now time to determine who had the best tattoo of the day.

Josh had a big ass with his Pegasus.

He played it smart.

The top clouds by the Pegasus kind of lose it for me.

Frank's tattoo's killer.

The hair and the face and the way he captured the shading, this is one of the ones that hits

the style, looks the challenge.

My vote's for Frank.

I know that these guys are saying it looks unfinished, but my vote's for Josh.

Gonna go with Frank.

The judges have decided.

The best tattoo of the day goes to Frank.

Thank you very much.

The judges and the coaches will deliberate on which artists from each team to eliminate.

Head back to the loft.

I have a lot of integrity as an artist.

I would rather go home than do a messed up tattoo on somebody.

Anthony knows what you're capable of.

You fought your way getting your spot on his team.

If Anthony decides to keep me here, then the next day, I'm going to show him why that was

the right decision.

And I'm going to prove him right.

I'm going to get my together.

And I'm going to do the best work I can do.

All right, guys, today we're testing proportion.

Two artists are going home, one from Team DJ and one from Team Anthony.

The fate of the team is in the hands of the coaches.

Let's talk about who's on the bottom for Team DJ.

I'm going to go with Deanna.

It's tonal throughout the whole thing.

There's similar textures.

How do you think that that lightning bolt is going to look down the road?

It won't be there.

I weirdly like Deanna's tattoo over little D's.

This guy has been beat up.

Damn.

20 years later, Little D's tat will be better.

But is his face going to straighten out in 20 years?

But if this came into my shop, I could fix it.

Sparks.

That turd comes into my shop, can't do a damn thing with it.

It is anatomically challenged, proportionately challenged.

And then he put an indiscernible background here, which is half cloud, half cave.

It looks like road rash.

But is this guy coachable?

I tell him what to do, and he doesn't do it.

Anthony, who comes to mind when you're thinking bottom of the pack today?

Lindsay struggled today, and it showed.

I just don't know how you draw these flames.

That is terrible.

I think Jason should be on the bottom also.

I agree with that.

He is a mess.

He is riddled with bad lines, sketchy shading.

Where does Amanda fall in the lineup?

Ugh.

Oof.

She has melting legs and no toes.

But she was coachable.

Extremely coachable.

You told him about Jason, right?

Is Jason coachable, Anthony?

You know, we had, I got it, I got it, I got it.

There was no way I was going to let what he was drawing go on skin.

I gave my two cents, and he just stopped talking.

Wouldn't answer his calls.

I was asking him questions, no response, nothing.

Well, I'll tell you, being in bands my whole life, the guy with the worst attitude, no matter

how good he is, is out.

Out of the band.

You're eliminating what it is that needs to be eliminated to make your team stronger.

Set the tone right here and right now.

Iron Fist.

It's crazy knowing that somebody from each one of our teams is going to go home.

Oh.

The judges and the coaches want to see Sparks, Little D, and

Deanna, and Lindsey, Amanda, and

Jason.

See y'all downstairs.

Wow.

Good luck, you guys.

Give them hell.

Today, Team Anthony and Team DJ had to tattoo mythical gods.

Based on your work,

One artist from each team will be packing their machines.

In order to win Ink Master, you have to be able to draw.

Lindsay, this one's challenged heavily.

You're still very stagnant, very rigid, very tight.

This drawing, it doesn't even feel like me.

I'm in my own way right now, and I want to get out of it.

If you are not able to be versatile artistically, everything is just going to snowball off

of that.

I think that I've shown that I'm versatile in a lot of ways.

Well, Amanda, this is definitely a lot better than the last tattoos we've seen.

But there are still some shortcomings.

I really just tried to show proportion.

That was the main goal of the challenge.

That's a very small piece of the entire picture.

There's no room for any error.

Jason, today the technical application puts you down here.

A lot of complications in this thing.

All right, let it get to me.

There's definitely a hard line between

How much creativity can you put in there versus how much challenge do you need to meet?

This is the stuff that I tried to really bring home and stress.

Let's move on to Team DJ.

Let's start with Sparks.

I can give you some tips and tricks and stuff.

And I feel like you just totally avoided what I said, which is really challenging as a coach.

We let some passion fly pretty early on in the competition.

But I think that's just because we give a about what we're doing, man.

You're right.

I felt like I've been asking lots of questions.

And I've actually approached this the wrong way.

I'm the one that got me here.

I really don't want to make any excuses for this, man.

I just had an off day.

All right, let's move on to Lil D.

Black and gray is a real weak point in what you do.

There's going to be a load of black and gray.

I knew coming into this competition, there would be days where I would be out on a limb.

But DJ helped me, and I tried to listen as best I could.

Next time, I'll get a little more traditional and stick with what I know.

I've done three tattoos now in this competition, and I'm definitely learning what I have to

do.

I feel like I'm close to rising from the ground.

This one looks old.

It doesn't look like a brand new tattoo.

I should have went smaller and taken my time more, and I feel like I would have successfully

gotten the tones in there.

We've had two challenges, and you've been on the bottom twice.

So you need to catch a groove, and you need to catch it fast.

All right, guys, it is time for the coaches to make a decision as to who's going home.

Anthony, what?

is your decision.

You already know that I'm artistic.

I have a pretty versatile bag, and I'm definitely a fighter.

I'm going to pick apart everything that I did wrong, and I'm going to do my damnedest not

to do it again.

I told you guys from the beginning I was in this with you.

But this is the way it goes.

Moving forward, I need people who are flexible, who will not waver.

I need technicians.

My choice is Lindsey.

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

You show a lot more promise than the tattoos we've seen.

I definitely think we're missing out on seeing what else you have to offer.

Please pack your machines and close shop.

OK, DJ, it's time to determine who's going home from your team.

It would be awesome just to show you that I can listen.

Drama between me and you aside, I'm looking at these like I'm flipping through a portfolio,

man.

Like, this is hard for us, too.

I understand.

I feel like I'm already a team player, and I bring 24 years of experience to the team.

This is hard.

What's your decision?

I know you guys are all great tattooers out of here, but this competition gets the best of

people.

I think I'm going to have to choose Sparks.

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

It's a very humble experience when you come in here.

Oh, I get it now.

But the only way to grow is to pass through a hard time.

This is going to be a growth spurt for you.

Please pack your machines and close shop.

What do you want, guys?

Rough day.

It is what it is.

I did a mediocre tattoo.

I did not do the worst, but I didn't do the best.

I should not be going home for this one.

I chose the wrong team, and it's blatantly obvious.

Ink Master beats law school by quite a bit when it comes to the amount of pressure that you're

under.

This is a major accomplishment just being here.

It's not $100,000, but it's pretty cool.

On the

next episode of Ink Master.

As a coach, I'm just pointing out the weak, and I have to eliminate them from my team.

Things are going to change drastically right now.

Hey, that attitude, it's not going to work.

Perform.

Because if you don't, you're going down.

This dude's on his own thing, man.

Jesus, he's got to start listening.

He's got this mentality that's better than all of y'all on your team.

That team's falling apart.

Can't let you slide, man.

It's rough.

If you don't know how to do a better job, then you can't.

I'm sorry, y'all.

That's weakness right there.

I am not weak.

I will sit here, look you in the face, and tell you who you are.

Aw, monster.