Original subtitles

[Male Narrator] Previously on Ink Master.

[Joel] You must create a portrait of a service dog.

It's Puppy Town, we're goin' to it.

[Male Narrator] Portraits revealed

the Young Guns as a threat.

I love doing dog portraits.

[Ryan] This tattoo, it was close to perfect, Cat.

Thank you, guys.

[Joel] Cat, you are safe from elimination.

[Male Narrator] And exposed the OGs' weaknesses.

[Joel] Lucy and James,

you two had the lowest-ranked tattoos.

I'm just shocked that you have an Achilles' heel.

I mean, it is my second dog portrait in my whole career.

What you don't know is this is a double elimination.

[Male Narrator] In a shocking twist...

[Joel] You must each challenge another artist to face off.

Battle to the death.

[Male Narrator] The artists had to tattoo for their lives.

Now's the time to try and do the best thing possible

to fuckin' take out James [indistinct].

[Man] Fighting for your life right now.

I really wanna out-tattoo Lucy.

[Male Narrator] In the elimination...

First up, the face-off between Lucy and Joseph.

Lucy's panda is interacting with the graffiti.

Joseph's, it's two separate tattoos

that don't interact.

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

[dramatic music]

[Joel] Next up, James and Trevor.

The problems in James's were to add a few things.

A lot of the problems in Trevor's

were to take away things,

which is very hard to do.

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

[Male Narrator] Seven artists remain,

but only one will earn a $250,000 prize

and the title of Ink Master.

[rock music revving up]

[rock music]

[dramatic music]

-That was crazy. -[Lucy] Yay!

[Anthony] That was fuckin' close.

-[Pony] Yeah, yeah, that was... -[Anthony] Jesus.

[Pony] Too close for comfort.

[Anthony] Absolutely.

[Stephanie] You just feel like a weight is lifted?

So happy I'm here.

[Cat] I do think we saw your best tattoo

here in this competition.

Yeah, Joseph, go home.

I feel, uh, I feel good that I'm still here.

Must not feel good being at the bottom there.

[James] No, it feels like shit, yep.

But hey, it's nice to have a taste, you know?

Yeah, just a little fire under your ass, then.

The fact that it was that close was surprising.

Trevor gave you a run for your money.

Well, yeah, there's only two of you guys now.

Where's all the Young Guns?

That's all you need.

[Stephanie] The final seven.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

What the heck is that?

[Jade] Do you see those power tools?

[Cat] Yep.

Show these kids how to use the tools, eh?

[tense music]

Welcome. Seven artists remain.

Five OGs...

Still here, guys. Still here.

And two Young Guns.

The two of us.

But the battle is just heating up.

Only one of you will walk away with $250,000

and the title of Ink Master.

[Lucy] Let's fight for it.

This week, we're testing contrast.

Good thing you're a black and gray artist.

I know, right?

Contrast is all about making things bold and exciting.

You're playing with opposites.

So, light and dark,

contrasting textures, and even in size.

Today, you must create a masterpiece on concrete.

Using what, exactly?

It's gonna be fun.

Oh, I do art on concrete all the time.

No, never! Who the fuck does that?

Your canvas is a 7 1/2 foot by 20 foot

painted concrete wall.

You guys gonna be able to cover all that?

Don't worry about it.

That's a lot of area for two people.

Using rotary hammers, angle grinders,

and die grinders,

you must strategically chip away at the dark surface,

revealing the lighter concrete below.

[Jade] What do I look like, a contractor?

I barely know how to use a hammer.

[DJ] Often, you're trying to add your darks.

In this, you're kinda building your lights.

Since you're just going to have solid black for the paint

and solid gray concrete,

that's only two different tones.

So, you have to think about different textures

and really use contrast that way.

[Nikko] You're gonna come across cracks and breaks

just like you would stretch marks or moles.

Can you pivot and adjust just like you would tattooing?

[DJ] This is gonna be much like tattooing.

The things you put in, you can't really take away.

So, go in with a really good strategy.

We've been slowly chippin' away at the competition already,

so it's just another day in the office.

Young Guns, because there are only two of you remaining,

and the OGs have five,

you now have the power to even the playing field.

Like the sound of that.

Fuck.

You must pick one artist from the OG team

to join the Young Guns for this flash challenge.

Shit.

Who do you choose?

Alright, OGs, time to make some people angry.

Because we're not super tool-savvy...

Well, shit.

We're gonna choose James.

I knew it.

Ah, nothing would annoy James more

than joining our team right now.

[laughter]

-Bye! -We'll miss you.

Well, here's my worst nightmare come true.

Welcome to our team.

So, this is what it's like to feel young again.

Fuck, the one person I didn't want 'em to pick.

If they win the skull pick,

I know he's not gonna target Anthony,

and he can't target Cat or Jade.

Welcome to the team, buddy.

So, that puts the crosshair right on me.

The teams are set for this flash challenge.

You guys are lucky you got the sharpest tool in the shed

in this one, eh?

Yeah, you're a tool, alright.

The winners of this flash challenge

will have the power to assign all the human canvases

in the elimination tattoo together.

If we win, we can use our skull pick

not only to take out Cat, but also James.

We have to nail this challenge.

This is about to get crazy.

Oh my gosh.

You have five hours, and your time starts now.

-Oh my God. -Come on, James!

You need your walker? Let's go!

Let's get drawing, guys.

Since it's a black background, we should utilize it.

Like, maybe something kinda, like, space theme-y?

[DJ] This is a big black wall.

These artists don't have colors to create contrast.

They only have black and white.

You can play around with light source,

play around with textures.

To create contrast, they gotta give us bright lights

and dark darks.

[James] Contrast, less is more, remember that.

I'm expecting to see mind-blowing contrast,

or the next stone they'll be chiseling is their tombstone.

If we add a goldfish, and it was like...

We just did an underwater fish.

-Sorta tryin' to mix it up. -[Cat] Oh, okay.

I could whip on a huge dragon right now

with contrast on it, right?

-Oh... -Frickin' rad, right?

-I'd be down to do a dragon. -[indistinct]

You can have the dragon, like, holding, like,

one of those orbs that, you know...

-[James] That glow. -Then the glow.

-Alright, let's do it. -Whatever you guys wanna do.

You pick, I'm just here to help.

But, you know, we're gonna win though, so it's fine.

-Let's do it. -[James] You sure?

It'll be fun, it's, it's a big one.

It's a big one, let's do it. Let's do a dragon.

Okay. I need Anthony's long arms.

I have, uh, inspired from the weather because it's so hot.

Contrasting feeling; something, like, wet and cold.

-[Stephanie] Okay. -So, my feeling is, like,

a mushroom or frog or snail.

I love snails.

[Pony] Snail would be a really good main.

So we can add in, like, mushrooms around it.

I always think having your main focal point

should be not busy around it.

So, I think having the face,

you know, it's coming out at you, right?

Losing James, it's gonna take a little bit of a hit

because he is a leader.

But, you know, so am I.

Are we gonna try and map out some shit?

Can you draw with the chalk where the areas are...

-[Anthony] Yeah. -That we're gonna be cutting,

-that way we don't get confused? -[Anthony] Okay.

I wanna show that I can take the reins,

and we don't necessarily need him on our team

in the way of winning flash challenges.

[James] What's Anthony drawing? He's drawin' somethin'.

Are they goin' for snail? Or are they goin'...?

-[James] That's a lotta shit. -[Cat] Yeah...

What the hell's he doin'?

Can't worry about that.

[Cat] Yeah, can't worry about them.

Let's just do us.

I'm doing the dragon with James!

This is crazy, this is what he does.

It's so cool to see him, like, actually create it.

[James] I have a different way of doing dragons,

but top of the head here.

Artists, you have four hours left.

[dramatic music]

[Stephanie] Anthony, you're tall.

Hold it up towards the top.

Somewhere wherever you want the light source.

[James] Horns are the coolest parts.

Gotta make sure we get a horn in there.

I have no problem being on a team with

Cat and James kinda leading it,

because I know that I don't really have

the illustrative skills yet

to be able to create cool designs.

Well, is this gonna show enough contrast?

[tense music]

No, we gotta pivot. It's not gonna work.

Goldfish it is.

[Cat] Goldfish it is. Alright.

I do think the fish idea is a little underwhelming,

but we're running out of time.

Okay, gold-fishers, let 'er rip.

[rock music]

Jade is gonna try and get redemption on those bubbles.

[rock music]

So many problems, but I'm gearin' for these skulls.

[Stephanie] And then we just kinda take that grinder

and do those, like, round grooves.

We gotta make sure that another Young Gun does bite the dust.

[Lucy] When we grind things, go, we go this way.

Thick to thin, right? So, this is the dark point.

-That means... -[Anthony] You're gonna fade

-into the dark, yeah. -[Lucy] Yes.

[James] Alright, kids.

Looks good.

-[Jade] What? -[James] I'll start.

[rock music]

[Anthony] They're already grindin'.

[Stephanie] It's okay, we have a really solid plan going.

[rock music]

This, this is their contrast,

and other things that I, I think works more than

[indistinct], right?

[rock music]

Our design isn't turning out exactly how I had hoped.

It's a little messy,

because there's a lot of people trying to work on one piece.

So, the light's hitting that top all through here.

[Pony] Yeah, and that drop shadow

would probably be, like...

[Stephanie] Okay.

It's really hard with these tools

to work under somebody else while they're using them.

[Pony] Fuckin' hard.

Normally, you draw something and fill it in,

but we have to chip away the things

that aren't being drawn,

and that's really fuckin' with my brain.

[Stephanie] I think you could get away with

doing more shading on the stem.

[Lucy] That mushroom could be a little better.

[Stephanie] Yeah.

There is one hour left.

[Pony] Well, I guess I know what Michelangelo was thinking

when he chiseled David.

"This fuckin' sucks."

[rock music]

[Cat] Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Still have my head, all ten fingers,

everything's fine.

[James] I was in the bottom last week.

I do not wanna be in the bottom again.

Give me a jackhammer and give me a chisel.

I'll use my fuckin' teeth if I have to,

to chew away at this block of crap to make art.

[laughter]

I just want the skull pick. That's the main goal.

Thirty minutes remaining.

[rock music]

What do you think about leaving the dust on those mushrooms?

Everything in the front will have, like, the powder.

It's a nicer, smoother transition

-from our highlights. -Yeah.

[Cat] Yeah, that's good,

and then it looks like it's shaded off of there.

[tense music]

Five, four, three, two, one.

That's it, time's up.

[Cat] That looks pretty darn cool.

Yeah, looks pretty good.

I just gotta commend you guys, like,

I don't think I've seen a glowing fish

on this competition yet.

[James] Sometimes you don't have to pull out every, uh,

trick in the book to make a winning thing.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but...

-Ooh! -Ooh!

It's shitty.

[dramatic music]

It's time to critique your work.

Anthony, Stephanie, Lucy, and Pony.

You're up.

[DJ] You guys achieved amazing contrast.

The snail, it comes out of that bright light

and goes into this dark,

fading out as it gets deeper into there.

The lighting is sick.

I could really feel where the lighting's coming from.

You made it look airbrushed, somehow.

Adds another texture.

I love the play you guys did with texture versus smooth.

I mean, this is a rock-solid piece of art.

How did guys get along without your senior-most artist?

It was refreshing, traitor.

Ooh, did you rehearse that?

Off the dome, baby.

Young Guns and James. You're up.

[Ryan] I mean, I think I'm just as captivated

by those glowing orbs as the goldfish is.

The secondary light source behind the goldfish

is shining super bright on that back fin,

and it's casting a shadow onto the body of the goldfish,

that is so crazy.

[Joel] The bubbles look wet and shiny.

The scales on the fish have texture to them.

You really nailed it with the fish being up front

and the back being so dark.

I really love this fish.

It really feels like it's floating in water.

You guys stone-cold killed this contrast.

Good job.

-Kids. -Yes, we did it.

We might be.

It's time to determine

the winner of the flash challenge.

The OGs pulled off a bunch of different tricks with texture.

But then James and the Young Guns

really showed some stark contrast.

Oh, I think they both crushed it on contrast.

I'm gonna go with the Young Guns featuring James.

I just am so impressed by all of the subtle details

that show light and dark.

My vote goes to the Young Guns and James.

The focus of light really is amazing.

That's two votes for the Young Guns and James.

These are both amazing pieces.

For contrast, my vote is for the Young Guns and James.

Woo!

The judges have determined the winner of

the flash challenge is Young Guns and James.

Oh, just, just high fives. Just high fives.

Congratulations, you will have the power to assign

all the human canvases in the elimination tattoo together.

Hi, guys.

[Cat] It's been awhile.

Knowing that James and the Young Guns

are gonna be passing out the skulls,

I wonder if he's gonna come for us.

Get some rest, and we'll see you tomorrow in the shop

for the next elimination tattoo.

-[indistinct] -Thank you, guys!

[Pony] I thought we had that one for sure.

[Anthony] I thought so, too.

[dramatic music]

I'm really curious where your head's at

with the skull pick,

now that you're on their team and you won.

I'm not on their team.

I was on their team temporarily. This is totally different.

He's kinda behind enemy lines right now,

so I think he's just in a crazy position.

But, I mean, you kinda watch out for all of us at the same time.

But I think most people are ready to throw me under the bus.

To be honest, I felt it when I was on the bottom with Trevor,

I don't think my team had my back.

[dramatic music]

I feel like I was the only one that was actually defending him.

James's tattoo reads as a whole piece

a lot better than Trevor's does.

I think the Young Guns and the OGs,

if they got a chance to sabotage me, they would, so...

[Pony] You're a strong player, you know?

You're one of the best here, if not the best.

So, it'd be dumb not to, right?

[Stephanie] We didn't speak against your tattoo.

[Anthony] If I was at the bottom,

I would hope that my team would have my back.

[tense music]

[dramatic music]

Welcome to the elimination tattoo.

Ready to go?

Today, you must take on your competitors

by tattooing a new school...

[dramatic music]

...monster.

Yes!

I almost got sent home on a new school tattoo.

I have to redeem myself.

[Joel] Whether it's a completely made-up creature

from another planet

or a scary monster from under the bed,

one thing is certain.

We're looking for high-contrast monsters

that pack a punch.

-I can handle that. -Yeah.

New school isn't just skewed proportions.

It's pulling tricks and techniques from every style.

Whether you're an illustrator or you work with realism,

both of those come into play.

Usually, new school tattoos

have a lot of different colors and pops,

but with contrast really focused on

where the lighting is, where your darks are,

and just create something dynamic.

Remember, contrast can be different textures,

different colors.

Choose the personality you want this thing to have,

and really emphasize those characteristics.

I might need a little help.

I'm not a color artist, and I've never done new school.

So, this is literally worst-case scenario

for me right now.

Remember, the team whose artist wins tattoo of the day

will form a jury of peers.

That team will deliberate

and put one artist up for elimination

regardless of team.

[Anthony] We've had it every single time,

so let's fuckin' get this again.

Let's meet your canvases.

Let's go.

[tense music]

Young Guns and James.

You won the flash challenge,

you have the power to assign the canvases together.

A bad skull pick can make or break you in this competition.

Don't mess it up.

I'm questioning where James's loyalties lie.

We didn't stand up for him during his critique,

and this is his perfect opportunity

to take it out on us.

What would you like to get today?

I wanna get a new school burger monster on my arm.

[James] Burger monster it is.

A new school anglerfish sea monster.

Oh, the dangler.

A new school, full-body zombie with the top of his head

and heart exposed, missing a limb,

with his mouth sewn shut on my ribs.

I'm looking to get a new school guitar monster

on my shin.

I've tattooed guitars in the past,

they're super detailed and complex.

Yeah, no.

New school snake monster weaving through a bulldog skull

on my ribs.

[Jade] And you're set on the ribs?

I am.

Another cool design, horrible placement.

An angry avocado cowgirl monster on my thigh.

I'm looking to get a new school colossal galactic space monster.

Awesome.

Colossal feeling, not necessarily in size, right?

[James] My strategy is

I'm gonna take the best one that I want for myself.

Period.

I like the space monster, myself.

[Jade] You do?

And then just do what I want.

What about the burger?

[Cat] Who do you think wants that one?

Anthony.

I'm gonna try to hook up Anthony with a good skull pick.

He had my back, so I'm gonna have his.

Which one do you think would be easier with, like, contrast

in terms of, like, color?

The avocado, you could have a lot of contrast in color.

Steph really wants that one, I saw her reaction.

Do you think we should give Steph the one she wants?

Or not, because she wants it?

You guys gotta [indistinct] what you want first.

I kinda wanna do the zombie, honestly.

But the rib placement is a little bit...

He's set on it, did he?

That zombie canvas did not seem 100% on the ribs.

[James] No matter what I do, I'm fuckin' this shit,

so, I'm fucked, so...

Hm, I think James is just lookin' out for Anthony,

and not necessarily the whole team here.

[Jade] Okay, here you go.

[James] And yours was...?

-Space monster. -[James] Space monster.

-Guitar? -Guitar.

Okay. Here you go.

Steph, Lucy, and Pony, whatever's left over,

they're gonna have to deal with.

[dramatic music]

Zombie.

On the ribs.

100%?

Ribs.

[Jade] There's no question about you moving it whatsoever?

Correct.

Oh, you guys are gunnin' for somebody.

-You do it. -[Man] Thank you.

-[James] Good luck, bro. -[Pony] Thank you.

That felt very targeted.

[Anthony] Oh, what'd you just do?

I didn't do shit.

[Anthony] Jade, what'd you do?

About to find a lot out about you right now.

[Joel] Canvases, one by one, please read the artist's name

on the bottom of your skull.

For you.

Anthony.

I'm your guy.

Figured you'd get a hamburger with that hotdog,

you know what I'm sayin'?

1000% James wanted to be able to protect Anthony,

and he did just that.

Cat.

That's me.

...on the ribs.

[tense music]

Pony.

That'd be me.

Tried to look out for you, Pony.

Man, those girls are playin' the game.

I fucking knew it. I fuckin' knew it.

[James] Two against one, man.

I know James is controlling the situation,

and I know he took his shot.

The snake and bulldog skull?

-[James] Yeah. -[Anthony] Yeah.

Lucy.

That's me.

Again? Another hard ask?

And this time, it's on the rib. It's frustrating.

[dramatic music]

-Jade. -That's me.

How did I know?

Stephanie.

That's me.

James.

That's me, man. Let's do it.

You will have six hours

to create a new school monster tattoo.

If your monsters aren't scary good,

you will be packing your machines.

Good luck.

[Anthony] How's it goin'?

-Hi, good, how are you? -[Anthony] I'm so stoked.

I can't wait to hear all of your ideas.

I used to do a lot of new school back in the day,

before I got real heavy into realism.

-Okay. -So, I was pretty pumped

about this challenge.

Obviously, I do feel like they were targeting me,

because it was the biggest ask in the room.

Right, especially when it comes to ribcages.

-Okay, that's fair. -[Pony] It's almost like a,

a kill shot.

My first question is if there's any way we can move that

from the ribs, that would be the best possible outcome,

just because the tattoos like to double in size

when we do them.

I guess I do understand that it's a big ask.

So, you know, with that being said...

Okay.

I mean, literally any other spot would be wonderful.

So, there's a bulldog skull,

and the snake goes through the mouth and out the eye.

Can I see the canvas? Right here?

-[Man] Yeah. -[Lucy] We have six hours.

Full color is not gonna be possible.

So, do you have any other area where you mind?

No.

Why I always get the stubborn canvas?

How's your pain tolerance?

-Normally pretty good. -Okay.

[rock music]

What do you think about the tongue from the mouth

turned into, like, a lasso?

That's actually a really cool idea.

I don't really, like, illustrate or draw or anything.

Like, I am a replicator. I'm a printer.

I will do exactly what I see.

I'm just tryin' to act cool, like I'm not that scared,

but I am shitting myself.

Make sure this doesn't end up looking like a strawberry.

[Jade] Okay.

I hope I don't turn this into guacamole.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

Don't get comfy yet.

Artists, you have six hours to show contrast

with a new school monster tattoo.

This is your chance to scare the competition.

And your time starts now.

Okay, so bring your arm down right there for me.

[Stephanie] That looks so awesome.

If you don't know how to do new school tattoos,

these monster tattoos could be a nightmare.

[Woman] How excited are you?

[Jade] It's gonna be a first.

[DJ] You need to create color blends,

you need to create textures, different line weights,

cool lighting on this piece.

So many tricks involved.

[James] Fuck yeah, dude. It's a good size.

So, you better fuckin' hang on to this one.

I really wanna see a good illustration.

Show me that you can draw.

[Pony] Sweet.

[DJ] And if these artists mess that up,

the Ink Master monster's gonna haunt their dreams.

Okay, [indistinct]

We better take it forward.

[Man] Just keep goin', don't stop.

Oh yeah, let's get it.

[rock music]

Alright man, we're gonna start at the bottom

and, uh, [indistinct]

This isn't gonna hurt, right?

[James] No. [chuckling]

Last week, I was on the bottom for doin' a dog portrait.

This time, I get to show off what I'm good at,

which is drawing and creating.

This is new school colossal day.

It's a monster, it should be big.

-Is that your kid over there? -That's my son, yeah.

[Man] You're competing against him?

-[James] Yeah. -That's awesome.

Beat his ass. Hopefully.

[laughter]

I'm sick of being in the middle of the road.

James has gotten tattoo of the day

after tattoo of the day,

but it's my fuckin' turn.

[Woman] I love food.

Yeah, just makes for fun tattoos.

[Woman] Yeah.

[Anthony] I guess I'm a food guy now.

There we go.

[indistinct]

There are five hours left.

[tense music]

[Lucy] Don't hold your breath.

It's more painful if you hold your breath.

My canvas is rolling around.

I feel like I'm on the line, it makes it crooked.

[Man] It feels like it's in my armpit.

I don't feel good about this.

[tense music]

[rock music]

There are four hours left.

[Man] If you need me to move, just yell at me.

[Cat] You gave me permission.

[Man] Hell yeah.

[Cat] My tattoo is a scary anglerfish sea monster.

The most difficult aspect of this

is making it more monster-y,

because anglerfish already kind of look like monsters.

I'm gonna pour some more colors.

To combat that,

I'm forcing some of these really spidery

kinda looking fins,

and this big, glowing, reddish-orange eye.

Don't be scared.

This is only gonna be extremely painful.

[Man] Well, thank you so much.

Yeah, I actually feel better now.

[Cat] Good.

Since the beginning, this is the first real color tattoo

that I've done.

This needs to prove that I can do color

and I can do linework really well.

[dramatic music]

[Ryan] Oh, he moved it.

[DJ] Little self-portrait?

Kind of.

[laughter]

I thought about makin' it a zombie girl,

and, uh, makin' it look like Jade

'cause she's dead to me.

[DJ] Holy shit.

I think I've tattooed one new school piece

in the past 15 years.

We haven't seen you really, like, draw from your head yet.

I know, I haven't had to. It's been nice.

My mom has been encouraging my drawing

ever since I can remember.

She's been struggling her entire life

just to help me pursue being an artist.

And if I can make it through the finale

and win the $250,000,

then I can at least show her how much I appreciate her.

[tense music]

Avocado cowgirl.

How do you feel about new school?

I mean, I've never done new school before.

It's not only new school,

which I've never done and don't do,

but it's also monsters.

I hate monsters.

Like, I hate anything scary. I'm afraid of the dark.

I'm excited to do some color.

We're excited to see some color from you.

I just started experimenting with color

within the last, like, not even year.

Looks like you guys just started.

Yeah...

Yeah...?

It took me a sec to do the linework.

Yeah, I don't have the most experience,

but I'm not ready to go home.

I haven't proven to all those people

who said no to me that, like, I can do this.

[rock music]

Oh, that's awesome.

[Stephanie] It's taking me a little while.

Do you know how much time we have left?

No.

I can't coast in the middle. It's too risky.

I need to start stepping up my game.

[Pony] Hour, 24.

[Stephanie] Okay, everything is fine.

It's been a while since I've had this much motivation and drive.

I had my daughter when I was 19.

It actually kind of led me into this career.

I started my apprenticeship

when my daughter was only six months old,

and now she's almost 16.

I just wanna make sure that she knows she can do anything,

and prove to her that I can do anything that I set my mind to.

So, I'm gonna make it to the end of this competition.

There is one hour left, everybody.

[Man] You're good.

[Lucy] There's still a lot of color.

For some reason, the color is not going through the skin well.

You can do it.

[Man] It'll, it'll be problems, but I'll do it.

This is nightmare.

You have 30 minutes.

[Woman] Literally can't handle this.

-[Jade] Do you want me to stop? -No.

[dramatic music]

Five, four, three, two, one.

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

-We did it. -Okay.

Are you happy?

[Woman] Yes.

[Man] Oh, hell. Dude, that's nuts.

[James] That means it's good, right?

Yes, that's so good.

[gasping] That's so cool!

[Anthony] Crazy burger monster guy.

Looks like he was goin' through some shit.

He was like, "I deserve it."

-I told you. -I told you, I told you.

[dramatic music]

[tense music]

Today, you had to show contrast tattooing new school monsters.

Let's see how you did.

Anthony. You're up first.

Anthony, this thing is sick, bro.

This illustration is off the chain.

This thing has killer flow, there's a lot of tricks.

Just seeing some of your subtle tones

where you brought that teal into some gray,

this thing's bananas, dude.

Very creative use of the olives for the eyes.

[DJ] The olives are beautiful.

[Joel] I hate olives, and I love those olives.

American cheese we all know would be better on this burger,

but the Swiss cheese for the contrast

really brought it home.

-[Ryan] Yeah. -[Nikko] I would wonder if

I'm gonna eat it, or if it's gonna eat me.

[Anthony] Yeah.

Jade.

This tattoo is super cute,

but it doesn't scream new school monster to me.

There's no movement, there's no flow,

there's no pop colors, there's no reflective light.

It's just flat.

There's a lot of tricks to make it read as new school,

and I don't think you did any of them.

Stephanie.

[serious music]

There's tons of contrast in this.

With the design, you have this soft versus hard,

and there's definitely new school

in the neck of the guitar.

But it definitely feels like

it's a monster in front of a guitar

that's busting through or something.

It doesn't look like it's one object.

Pony, you're up next.

Your color choices are really awesome.

They're bold, a lot of the blends are really cool.

[DJ] I just would wanna see, like, a switch in textures.

It's a zombie.

I think you could've played around with scabs

or little pits in the face,

or just make that little character

look a bit more dead.

James.

This tattoo is bad ass.

[DJ] The hands are sick.

I love that you went with three fingers.

[James] More cartoony.

Not four, you went with the three.

You could see every single joint,

how it bends perfectly.

The hands themselves have so much personality.

You have these cool little tricks in the tongue.

Feels like it's really licking and pressing

against that space ship.

[Ryan] The reflective light is so impressive.

[Nikko] You have this nice purple

and then you have this yellow and your opposite colors,

so that's major contrast points.

Monstrous tattoo, bro.

[dramatic music]

Lucy.

I do see new school in the design;

the snake head and the skewing of it.

What's scary in this is the technical.

From your color choices to a lot of the linework,

this tattoo's just all over the place.

[Ryan] For a day where we're testing contrast,

there's no rhyme or reason as to why these colors

are put in where they are.

The skull should've been left negative

instead of being this tie dye of color

for no reason

that's shaded all over the place.

This one just got away from you.

Cat.

[tense music]

I love how bright that light source is.

You really used these colors to show contrast

and utilized them in a way

where they balance each other so beautifully.

You have that dark, dingy ocean water color at the bottom,

and it comes into this brightness at the top.

Super successful.

I feel like you're just hitting your stride,

'cause this tattoo is badass.

I love this tattoo.

[tense music]

Judges, it's time to determine who had

the best tattoo of the day.

There's a few really cool ones.

Cat's tattoo is awesome.

[Ryan] So solid, so much contrast.

The definition of a new school tattoo.

Anthony's cheeseburger, sick.

[Nikko] And it shows tons of contrast.

But it doesn't read as much monster to me.

If I picked that burger up, I'd be scared of it.

I also think James's character is sick.

Great contrast, a lot of readability.

[Ryan] Anthony's is my favorite illustration,

Cat's is my favorite saturation,

and James is my favorite overall concept.

Taking something that's normally not a monster

and creating it into a monster, like to take a burger.

We eat it, we have no fear of it.

This is a burger I feel like I could choke on.

My vote is for Anthony.

[Joel] It's a different take on a monster.

My vote is for Anthony.

I'm goin' with Cat.

Those colors wow me. Clean, solid new school tattoo.

That's two votes for Anthony and one vote for Cat.

[dramatic music]

With Cat's, I think it could've been

just a little more dynamic on the drawing side.

My vote's for Anthony.

This thing's sick, dude.

[Joel] The judges have decided the best tattoo of the day

goes to Anthony.

Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

That means this week, the OGs will form the jury of peers.

You must deliberate as a team

and put one artist up for elimination.

Head out, and we'll call you back

when a decision has been made.

[dramatic music]

[rock music]

So, how are you feeling?

A little nervous, for sure.

I mean, it was my first new school tattoo, so...

Congrats on your first new school tattoo.

You know, it's funny, 'cause, like, the little avocado guy,

it immediately made me think of my mom,

'cause she's, like, obsessed with avocados.

What's your mom think about, like, you being here?

She's super excited and, like, supportive about it.

My whole family is.

It was tough, though, at first,

because I come from, like, a super conservative family.

I'm adopted, and my brother's adopted.

Like, growing up, like, I had to wear super conservative clothes.

Nobody in my family has tattoos, like, still to this day.

Same with my family.

Like, "Oh, the only people with tattoos

are just criminals and gangsters."

[Jade] Literally, yeah.

I honestly didn't expect to come this far.

But now that I have,

I wanna continue to keep getting farther in here.

You've been quiet this whole competition.

What I wanna see is for you to get out there

and speak up more than you've ever spoken up before

and show that you're fighting to be here.

You need to show up.

[bell tolling]

[dramatic music]

We're here as the jury of peers

to determine who should be put up for elimination.

[Pony] We're not gonna vote for one of us,

because we've been having our team's back this entire time.

So, it's gotta be one of the Young Guns.

The only option is Jade.

[Anthony] Jade's just looks boring.

[Pony] New school's like, have some fun with it.

Like, add dramatic shadows, especially for contrast.

The drawing aspect is, I think is number one in tattooing,

for me, and that's where this one falls short.

I think I was confused looking at it,

if the nose was a mouth.

One's just kind of like, "Hm!" And the other one is like, "Eh!"

[Pony] I think it's two mouths.

Mine's definitely at the bottom.

[Anthony] there's energy, there's flow, there's movement.

That's a key component in new school.

[Pony] Definitely more new school than Jade's.

[James] Absolutely.

Alright, it's settled.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

I know I can do way better technical than that.

What you were able to accomplish in six hours,

compared to a tiny avocado that should've taken two hours?

But if I do that, I can do it cleaner, too.

Yeah.

When I first came to America,

I look for a job and nobody wanna hire me

'cause I don't speak English.

My mentor opened a door,

take me as the first female student.

And I've been with him for 21 years.

I'm the only one to support my whole family financially.

I'm here today because my mentor.

So, I wanna honor my mentor.

Like, this is important.

You can't go.

I wanna see us both to the end.

I'm gonna go down there, fight for myself,

and show them I'm samurai.

[dramatic music]

Today, you were being tested on contrast.

Anthony, which artist is the jury of peers

putting up for elimination?

As jury of peers,

we have decided to put Jade up for elimination.

[tense music]

The judges have decided

the second artist in the bottom is Lucy.

[dramatic music]

The third artist in the bottom is Stephanie.

[tense music]

Based on your work,

one of you will be packing your machines.

Anthony, why did the jury decide to put Jade up for elimination?

Her tattoo didn't come anywhere close to the challenge.

Contrast, none.

For sense of new school, very little.

This was my first time, like, attempting new school,

but at least I did get clean, solid lines

and packed-in color.

But the overall design was just

not the style that was asked in this challenge.

[tense music]

Stephanie, you're in the bottom

because it was a little bit incomplete.

I think I got in my head about trying to mix textures.

I just wanted to show contrast in some other way,

and it ended up looking disconnected.

I'm proud of my face,

I do feel like it has some fun personality,

and I just wish I would've had more time

to push the limits a little more.

Lucy, you're in the bottom for your overall technical flaws

in this tattoo.

[Lucy] I got the hardest canvas in the house.

I can do way cleaner and better tattoo than this.

Some of the choices you made in this design

didn't hit the mark on contrast.

I do appreciate aspects of that drawing.

The snake head does speak new school to me.

She hit the challenge more than Jade.

Yes, she definitely hit new school way more than me.

But the lines are super shaky, the gray's not even packed in,

and she has over seven times as much experience as I do,

yet I was able to pull a cleaner, more solid tattoo.

If I have it smaller like the avocado,

I definitely can show my technical ability.

Judges, it's time to make a decision.

I have no problem with what's in the skin

with Stephanie's tattoo.

The contrast is there and the new school is there,

so Stephanie is off the table for me.

-I agree. -Yeah, I agree.

Between Jade and Lucy,

I am extremely underwhelmed by Jade's design.

When I look at the avocado, I don't see new school

and I don't see major contrast.

We've been hitting Jade for contrast,

but Lucy's has less contrast than Jade's.

It's so tonal, it's so dark,

and it definitely hits more new school

when it comes to the illustration.

But when it comes to the coloring of it,

does it really?

I don't think so.

[dramatic music]

My vote is for Lucy.

Jade's might be simple and just a little cutesy design,

but there's things in Lucy's you just can't take away.

My vote's for Lucy.

My vote...

[tense music]

Is for Lucy to go home.

The judges have decided, Lucy, you do not have what it takes

to be Ink Master.

[DJ] It is a sad day.

Lucy, I know you are an amazing artist.

We've seen you do amazing tattoos in here.

I'm sad I'm not able to shine my mentor's name.

I think that's the most important for me.

[Nikko] I think you did shine your mentor's name.

I've seen you shine many times,

and you did a lot of honor to your family

and to yourself.

[Joel] Absolutely.

In a moment of personal defeat,

the fact that you're thinking about someone else

says everything about you.

You have so much integrity.

Thank you for all the opportunity

and for all the critique,

and this is such a memory for, for my life.

Thank you for, very much.

Please pack your machines and close shop.

[dramatic music]

[Lucy] My mentor is my second father.

He took a really big chance to take me as

his first female student.

By not winning this is letting him down.

Thank you.

I've been tattoo for 21 years.

But coming to this competition make me feel

I have so much more I need to learn.

So, now I'm gonna go home to study.

I wanna show the world I can do amazing tattoos.

[Male Narrator] On the next episode of Ink Master.

[Nikko] This isn't the minor leagues anymore.

There's only six artists left.

Today, you must tattoo the face.

We all here have a common enemy in this competition.

This is a kill shot.

I risked a lot in my design.

Sometimes it bites you in the ass.

[rock music]

[music]

[music]