Original subtitles

[Male Narrator] Previously on Ink Master...

Most people are ready to throw me under the bus.

You're a strong player, one of the best,

if not the best.

So it'd be dumb not to, right?

[music]

[Narrator] The flash challenge forced a divide amongst the OGs.

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

you now have the power to even the playing field.

Shit.

We're gonna choose James.

I do not want to be in the bottom again.

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

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

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

but then James and the Young Guns

really showed some stark contrast.

The winner of the flash challenge is

the Young Guns and James.

No, just high fives. Just high five.

Sorry, guys.

[Narrator] In the elimination tattoo...

I fuckin' knew it. I know he took a shot.

[Narrator] New school monsters scare the competition.

I'm excited to do some color.

We're excited to see some color from you.

I am shitting myself.

[Lucy] My canvas is rolling around.

He struggle with the pain. This is nightmare.

[Narrator] In the elimination, Jade, Lucy, and Stephanie

were the bottom three.

With Stephanie's tattoo, the contrast is there

and the new school is there,

so Stephanie's off the table for me.

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

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

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

[Narrator] Six artists remain.

But only one will earn a $250,000 prize,

and the title of Ink Master.

[theme music]

-Well, Lucy's gone, sadly. -Fuck.

She's been a fucking strong competitor,

but just this one tattoo tripped her up.

That's all it takes is one.

That was my first time being at the bottom,

and I don't ever want to be on the bottom again.

I think you've been the only one

that hasn't been on the bottom so far.

Yeah, that's crazy to think about, actually.

-[James] It depends, right? -There's still time.

-Are you bragging? -[Anthony] There's still time?

[music]

It's actually quite insane how close we are.

We've got a few battles ahead of us, I think.

I wonder what everyone's thinking about us.

They're probably thinking that we're like, teamed up,

but I've never coddled you my whole life.

You know that.

You coming up in tattooing, I didn't treat you any different

than anyone else who worked for me.

I treated you like an equal.

And it's the same in this competition.

Of course.

There's no way you should deserve to win

if I'm fucking pampering your way through.

If we're in the right position to help each other out

because we have an alliance, that's different, right?

-[Anthony] Yeah. -And you know might beat you.

We hate losing.

Yeah, I don't wanna lose to anyone.

Coming into this, we knew one of us was gonna beat somebody.

-Yeah. -That's gonna be me beating you.

You can dream.

[music]

[music]

-Three stations. -Ruh-roh.

Welcome. Six of you remain.

Four OGs and two Young Guns.

That's it.

But the fight to outlast your competitors is harder than ever.

Bring it on.

This is your final flash challenge.

Oh, shit.

Gotta make this one count.

This week, we're testing adaptability.

We're testing adaptability this whole time.

In order to elevate your art, you need to be able to adapt

to new materials and mediums.

If you can't do that, your art's never gonna evolve,

and you're never gonna grow as an artist.

Today you must create not one, but two different works of art

on a single pane of glass.

[music]

How is that gonna work?

Working on a four foot by four foot pane of glass,

you must paint one side of the glass with one image

and the opposite side of the glass

with a completely different image.

-That's not it. -There's some kind of twist.

But much like this competition, not everything is as it seems.

As always.

Your two images must share the same negative space.

-Oh, shit. -Wild.

You will have to adapt your designs,

so the silhouettes match,

so when your glass canvas is rotated,

an entirely different image appears on the other side.

How do you make two separate images with the same outline?

Like, I don't-- I don't get it.

The challenge of the day is to use the same silhouette

with two completely different pieces of art.

[DJ] Whatever image is on the front side of the glass,

we wanna see something completely different

in the back.

Make a cool image, something that blows us away.

And don't shatter under pressure.

[Joel] One artist will work on one side of the glass

while the other artist works on the other.

Oh, shit.

You will compete in teams of two.

OGs, since you have four artists remaining,

you must decide as a group how you will divide your team.

You wanna be with your baby boy?

Hey, I'm open. I'm easy.

Let's split them up.

I'd love to work with Stephanie, but we can't chance the Texes

winning the skulls.

I'll partner with you.

If the Texes have the power, then anything and everything

will go wrong.

OGs, how are you gonna divide your team?

It's gonna be myself and Pony. And James and Steph.

Try to split up the Texes, it's smart because putting us

on one team, we'll fucking crush it.

But us splitting up, one of us gets the skull pick.

We're still helping each other out.

[Joel] The teams are set.

Win this flash challenge, and the two of you

will have the power to assign all the human canvases

in the elimination tattoo together.

This is the big one.

Lose, and you will be forced to adapt to whatever skulls

your competitors throw at you.

-I'd rather win. -Yeah.

You have four hours. And your time starts now.

[music]

So what we have here is a piece of glass.

[DJ] Today is not the day to leave the glass half empty.

I want to see the glass full of good art.

So we have-- Are we working with--

-A square. -Pretty much.

-Yeah, it seems square shaped. -Four by four.

[DJ] This is the last flash challenge for these artists.

They really have to impress us to get those skulls.

I wanna remember all the rules. Composition, contrast, and flow.

[DJ] If these artists don't show good adaptability

in this challenge,

then their dreams of becoming Ink Master will be shattered.

On one side I think we should really play up

the super girlie element, and do like, a negative space part.

Big, cutesy, bubbly like, happy frog.

I really wanted to cling to the idea of, like,

when people see you and stuff, they just see like, skirts

and, like, prettiness.

And on the other side, that heart would actually be

the opening of this really grotesque

kind of bear inside the mouth.

Yeah, I like that contrast a lot.

Two totally different imagery.

There may only be two of us, but we did send an OG home

last week.

We're still a force to be reckoned with.

Don't underestimate us.

Octopus tentacles can go in so many different ways

that I feel like a flower's a little bit more stagnant

and we don't have as much room to play with the way

-these petals move. -But--

-Can we do that? -We can just silhouette leaves

-coming in the background. -Perfect.

Steph and I have totally different styles of tattooing,

so actually working with Steph could work in our favor.

If someone sees something on one side

and they don't expect what's on the other side,

they're pleasantly surprised.

How do you feel about leaving a gap, like, all glass

all the way around, like, the outside?

We're creating, like, a frame within a frame.

-What was your original idea? -I don't know.

I was just gonna see what you had in mind first.

So I was just thinking traditional rose,

but we can shape it any which way with leaves and whatnot.

All of us know that Pony's not the most creative guy,

so I was gonna make him put on some blinders,

lead him by the bit, and let's do this challenge.

You have your rose. If this is the leaves,

then I can do a fucking Hanya, and do, like, a fucking horn

or something, you know?

[music]

We both start drawing and we get our flow down.

You just start doing yours and I will figure out a way

to mimic my flower.

[music]

I'm gonna have a lot of texture on my side.

Do you paint at home?

[Jade] In high school, I painted a little bit.

It's been a minute.

I'm a little nervous because I know with, like, the bear,

she's gonna be able to render it super realistic and great,

but with this frog, painting is not my strong suit.

So I'm extra panicking.

Maybe having my side be more graphic.

I think it could look really cool with, like, the paint.

So, super like, color blocky.

It could be, yeah.

Artists, there are three hours remaining.

All right, here goes nothing.

[music]

I can't wait till my son gets old enough to where I can do,

like, fun painting projects with him.

[music]

[Anthony] Nothing beats essentially looking into

Pony's eyes while you're doing painting.

[music]

So I have a big, long, swooping petal that comes up right here,

but that's right where it would cut through, right here.

James got his design on the glass as fast as possible.

And, now I'm the one who has to adapt my design to his.

[Stephanie] The octopus tentacles can move freely

and it'd be easier to adapt an octopus to a flower.

Just a constant battle right now.

How's it going?

I'm going over white with light blue,

so I can't really see much of a difference.

We can always add shit to this whether it be thorns,

or throw a little sticker on there somewhere.

Obviously, my American traditional's not gonna fit up

exactly with the Hanya, so I'm making little characters

and stickers to fill up all those awkward spaces.

I wonder if I should've went white first

just to block all that in there.

[Anthony] That's your call, bud. I don't know.

[Pony] It's just tough.

Two hours remaining.

[music]

Are you enjoying your first real painting session?

Um, I am struggling a lot.

-Aw, just block it in. -[Jade] Okay.

I am dead-ass struggling right now.

I'm just trying to get this paint on there

and make it look somewhat like a frog.

Dude, my looks like a fifth grader did it.

[music]

Your entire side is full in, so you've met the challenge.

I have not met the challenge on my side yet.

The flower's cool.

But it needs to be kind of big, like, proportionate size

to these ones.

In order to win this thing, I gotta get Stephanie to relax.

Okay, all right. Draw it and I'll change mine.

I got an idea.

She needs to get out of her head.

She's overthinking it.

Oh God, I have so much to go.

We win or lose as a team, so...

I need to stop focusing on, like, such smooth lines

and get all these shapes matching.

Yeah.

One hour left.

[music]

Oh, this thing looks dark.

But in a good way.

Don't you fucking drip on me.

[music]

[Joel] Five, four, three, two, one.

That's it. Time's up.

No more paint.

Okay.

You got a bunch of paint on your forehead.

Oh, it's really cute.

[Jade] It's so bad. It's so bad.

Yours is so good.

[Joel] It's time to critique your work.

All right. Let's do it.

Stephanie and James, you're up first.

[Ryan] I would never guess what's on the other side

by looking at either side.

I love the composition of the flower,

how it rolls off of the canvas,

the flow and the curls of the petals.

It's really elegant.

This octopus is sick. So much movement.

The composition's great.

I like how there's points that are coming really out at you 3D,

and then it kind of dissipates as it gets back.

The piece is really balanced all the way to the border.

It feels framed.

You guys really completed something

and adapted well with each other as a team.

I was thinking we have the best composition.

And flow.

Pony and Anthony, you're up.

Oh.

I do like the mixed style of the ghost and the smiley face

on top of the traditional rose.

But I didn't know if it was a potato back there.

[Ryan] It's like an orange strawberry or something.

It's just a little confusing as to what everything is.

We can turn it around and look at Anthony's.

Let's do that.

The Hanya's really cool. I love the color.

I love the blends. Anthony led the way.

And then Pony kind of just

shoved everything into that shape.

His is so good and mine's like, so bad,

so it's got a lot of contrast, I would say.

I mean, there's contrast there,

but the challenge is adaptability.

Dammit.

Young Guns, you're up.

That's sick.

That thing is gnarly.

Scary beary.

Wow.

[DJ] Happy land.

I think I'm more scared to go to this world.

Me, too. Me, too.

[Nikko] It's really happy. It's almost too happy.

I love the texture in the frog. It feels velvety.

And to me, the eyes are real menacing.

This thing's looking at you like, come on in.

You know what I mean?

And it knows what you're gonna get into.

The bear is bad ass. The tongue is insane.

[Ryan] I love all of the splatter

of all of the spit coming out. The texture is really good.

And the cut-out in the middle of the throat being a heart,

I think is a really ironic play on the whole scene.

This by itself, I think would be a little bit rough,

but knowing what's on the other side

makes this thing 100 times better.

I could not disagree more.

This is like, avocado two point O.

I think it's a total suckerpunch because that bear is so crazy,

this is allowed to be so simple.

That, to me is why this thing works.

It makes me smile every time I see it.

I think you should just do avocados for a living.

Fuck realism. I'm just gonna do avocados.

It's time to determine the winner of the flash challenge.

James and Steph, they both used such an unexpected shape,

such unexpected composition,

the negative space was so well thought out that each side,

though not related, was just surprising.

[DJ] But less unexpected imagery.

Amazing octopus, amazing flower, but dare I say, boring to me?

I kind of like the Young Guns.

I can hear music with the frog, de-da-de, you know what I mean?

And then there's this little heart,

and these little children are walking right up to that

heart of that frog ready for happy land

and they slide down this thing into a pool of blood.

I think it's a whole story combined.

Well, you can't just say it's part of the story--

I'm with it.

-Because it goes from simple-- -You're making me like it more.

Oh, my God.

I mean, art's supposed to invoke some emotion.

And I definitely feel an emotion about this frog.

We're arguing about it.

That's what I like about it.

I guess. I guess.

There's something exciting about that basic frog,

turning it around and there's the crazy, terrifying bear.

So, my vote is for the Young Guns.

My vote's for the Young Guns.

I'm still gonna go with James and Steph.

They showed the best adaptability at creating

two entirely different pieces of artwork

with that same silhouette.

That's two votes for the Young Guns

and one vote for James and Stephanie.

My vote goes to...

...the Young Guns.

I love the way it read. I love the story it told.

The judges have decided the winner of the flash challenge is

-the Young Guns. -Thank you.

That was crazy.

Congratulations, Young Guns.

You will have the power to assign all the human canvases

in the next elimination tattoo together.

[Jade] That's fucking wild.

Head back to the shop and get ready for the next

elimination tattoo.

[music]

Fucking frog. It was so bad, it was good.

[music]

Well, I think we all here have a common enemy

in this competition.

James.

-Am I wrong? -Is he wrong, Steph?

-I'm 100% in to take out James. -[Cat] All right.

I think Anthony is almost as strong as James,

so in my mind the two of them are the biggest competitors.

[Pony] Absolutely.

Skull picks, as far as that goes,

the hardest ones, you know who those three are gonna go to.

This really could be the pivotal thing that changes everything.

[music]

At this point in the game, I consider us targets for sure.

You'd be stupid not to.

We just have to save our own fucking ass today.

And let everyone else take themselves out.

Yep.

[music]

Welcome.

Only five artists stand between you and $250,000,

and the title of Ink Master.

We're so close.

As the number of artists in this competition goes down,

the pressure goes up.

Today, you must create a tattoo on a very prominent

part of the body.

What's it gonna be?

The face.

I don't even know where to start,

what would be easy or hard.

You must use adaptability to create a design

that flows seamlessly from the side of the head,

down the bony jawline

and onto the fleshy part of the cheek.

I got some of those.

The skin of the face is really delicate.

Go too hard, you're gonna blow out lines.

Go too light, doesn't go in and tends to get overworked.

Really gonna have to adapt and pivot.

Everyone needs to really dig deep and do the best tattoo

that you can possibly do because you're changing

someone's identity forever.

This is serious. It's on someone's face.

You can't hide that. This is no joke.

Remember, the team whose artists wins tattoo of the day,

will form the jury of peers.

That team will deliberate and put one artist

up for elimination regardless of team.

If one of the OGs take this, they're putting one of us up.

We need to win this.

Let's meet your canvases.

[music]

Young Guns, you won the flash challenge.

You have the power to assign the canvases together.

Here we go.

What are you looking to get?

A black and gray realistic grim reaper

riding an armored horse holding a scythe

starting on my sideburn, going over my ear,

and onto my neck.

It's way too many things for such a small area.

No thanks.

I would like a neo-traditional, colorful chipmunk

with bright orange flowers on the left side of my head

going over my ear onto my sideburn and up to my temple.

Black and gray traditional dagger going through a skull

starting at the temple, going down the sideburn,

and ending at the jaw.

Black and gray, fine-lined feather mandala

from my temple down to the back of the ear,

and down the sideburn.

Mandalas are supposed to be super clean, simple,

and pack a punch.

All the feathers is gonna make it look really messy.

Black and gray, illustrative Nordic wolf

starting from my sideburns wrapping around my ear.

I want black and gray, realistic flowers and butterfly

going from my sideburn up to my forehead,

down to my jaw and going onto my ear.

-Can we see the area? -Yeah.

This one, honestly, seems right up my alley.

I love florals. I love black and gray.

Are there any standouts for you of what you would want?

The last one, the flowers.

[Cat] The flowers with the butterfly?

That'd be pretty.

[Cat] What is worrying me is that

she had a little bit of breakout.

I feel like I have a light enough hand that I can work

with her skin and stuff,

especially since I have worked on the face before.

So I'm leaning towards that one.

I don't want this canvas to go to somebody

who won't be able to do it, or will give her a bad tattoo.

So I really want to take this on.

There's also the fine-lined mandala feather.

I thought you were gonna hop on that one because you do, like,

delicate black and white work.

I just can't, like, visualize it right now.

Jade and Cat don't exactly have the best track record

when it comes to the skulls, so hopefully,

if they're gonna fuck up, they shoot themselves

in the foot and don't aim at me.

Okay.

[music]

Canvases, one by one, please read the artist's name

on the bottom of your skull.

-James. -You're in good hands.

This is a kill shot, but I'm not going out without a fight.

-Stephanie. -That's me.

I love animals, the chipmunk.

-Pony. -That'd be me.

-[Anthony] The skull and dagger. -Fuckin' A.

Anthony.

Sweet. I love animals.

I do wolves almost every week. Thanks?

Cat.

Jade.

That's me.

You will have six hours to create a sideburn tattoo.

If you fail to adapt, you will fail to move forward

in this competition.

Good luck.

-Hey, my name's Stephanie. -Max, Pony, nice to meet you.

Head tattoos, let's go.

Any like, forestry creatures, I love tattooing.

So I'm like--

Like, I'm over the moon that I actually got you as my canvas.

Would it make sense to have a chipmunk eating a blueberry?

Because you have the blueberry plant right there?

Yeah. Oh, totally. That'd be so smart, actually.

Um, so I know you want a reaper.

And a horse and a scythe, I think.

We can't do all that.

Having a reaper riding an armored horse,

you need a huge area.

This ain't for the side of the face.

The main thing I would definitely hope for is just,

like, the armored horse.

That was like my main, uh, one I would like, love to get.

Because I was hoping you'd just do the reaper and scythe.

That would be cool.

I could show you a couple of drawings.

See how cool it looks when you just do a head and that?

You have to be able to show your canvas what needs

to be done in a tattoo, not just tell them.

I really love like, the cowl on him and everything.

[James] Once you have the canvas's trust,

you open their mind to cool new ideas.

And that comes with experience.

So you trust me and we'll get this fuckin' done.

-I trust you. -Okay, buddy?

-Stoked, man. -Thanks, man.

What was your like, vision exactly?

So my vision was to have feathers like come up

and then maybe have, like, a feather wisping

to incorporate it with the sideburn.

Mandalas are so, like, precise and exact,

and feathers are just more organic and wispy,

so, like, I'm having a really hard time

visualizing how to incorporate that in with a mandala.

Would you trust me to design this tonight

and show you tomorrow?

I need time to like, mull over it and like

play with a bunch of different options.

If I don't figure this out, I'm going home.

[music]

[music]

Hey, brother. How's it going?

-Want to see what we're doing? -Yeah.

Oh, man.

[Anthony] We're gonna do something like that.

[Man] That's so killer.

I redrew it 'cause I think it's gonna fit better and readable.

-[Man] Hell, yeah. -You down?

Yeah, let's do this.

The hardest part is gonna be shaving your fucking head.

It'll frame your face really nicely,

and be really like, delicate and look really good like, right

-in your hairline. -[Woman] I like that.

-Let me show what I've got. -Okay.

That's the mandala and they're slowly turning into the--

These guys kinda, kinda out of place a little bit.

I just think they look kinda blocky.

Just maybe make those look more feathered?

You think if I just make them not so wide that could work?

That could work.

-Let me adjust this. -Okay.

Artists, you have five hours to prove your adaptability.

And your time starts now.

All right. Game time.

This is a scary-ass challenge. You're tattooing someone's face.

You're changing their appearance.

Okay, head nice and straight.

[DJ] You can cover up any other tattoo.

You can't cover up the face.

[Pony] Fits like a glove, man. That thing's perfect.

[DJ] These artists have to show great technical skill

on a part of the body that's always seen.

The skin on the face is different than

other parts of the body.

So you have to be mindful of what type of skin

you're tattooing.

Much better, 110%. Thank you.

You have to fit the flow of the face.

Yeah, that looks beautiful.

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

There's only six artists left.

These artists really need to step up to the plate

and hit a homerun on this one.

Nothing to it, but to do it. Right, buddy?

[music]

What does your family think about face tattoos?

I didn't tell my dad.

I got my mom's opinion.

I told her while she was working

so that she couldn't uh, say much.

I'm super nervous what's gonna start happening

when I start tattooing.

Even shaving is getting it to be red and enflamed.

Has your family been supportive of it?

Uh, not always, but they definitely are now.

Both of my parents were immigrants

when they came to this country.

I'm actually first generation born in the U.S.

My dad was, like, pretty strict and hardcore.

And then he had people at his work saying like,

"Oh my gosh, I follow your daughter.

Did you see what she did? You must be so proud."

I have a big, massive Mexican family.

They are all rooting for me.

-You ready? -Yeah.

I want to make them proud.

[music]

[Stephanie] I'm way more delicate right along the face

because the tissue's different right here.

[Woman] You can feel the 14 years experience.

I'm gonna show adaptability in this tattoo

by incorporating her existing tattoos.

I'm matching the leaves and adding a blueberry.

-[Woman] Do you travel at all? -[Stephanie] I do guest spots.

I haven't been as active because of having babies

the past few years.

I've had two kids in the past three years.

A lot of my time is dedicated to that.

[Woman] And do you have a great partner?

[Stephanie] My husband's extremely supportive.

He's an amazing dad. I'm so lucky.

Being here is making me kind of really appreciate how lucky I am

to have the family I have.

I'm not gonna let them down.

Four hours.

[music]

The Young Guns clearly shot at me.

I need to show them with this tattoo

that I'm not easily fazed.

And I'm gonna be here till the end, like it or not.

Looks like you're headed in the right direction, right?

[James] You gotta keep your head on a swivel

when you're in this tight competition.

The dad jokes, that's all I have, man.

[Nikko] I know.

-Do you have kids? -[Nikko] Yeah, I got three.

-Oh, really? -[Nikko] Yeah.

My daughter just graduated.

Actually wants to learn how to tattoo.

[James] Cool.

It's pretty cool to see you and your son and stuff.

It's inspiring.

I'm pretty lucky he's not an idiot.

It's a weird place to be in having to

go up against your son in any competition.

I want Anthony to win.

I wanna be proud of what he can do,

but I also wanna win.

So as much as I'm conflicted,

I'm still keeping my eyes on the prize.

This is part of the more extreme challenges

'cause of placement.

I've had people tell me,

"Oh, you're just riding Daddy's coattails.

That's a big shadow, big shoes."

That's why I'm here.

I'm technically an OG, you know, I'm like,

I kind of see myself as a Young Gun.

It's an ingrained skill with, like, James being my father.

I don't wanna play it safe. I want to impress James.

I put that on myself, though, right?

I'm the son looking to the father,

the apprentice to the mentor.

But, I also feel like him teaching me everything,

I don't wanna let him down.

Good tattoos go home now.

I'm just trying to make sure that I do the best good tattoo.

There are three hours remaining.

[music]

Look at you.

I'm trying to make the cleanest tattoo possible.

I know everybody else is going crazy with it.

[Ryan] It's your favorite style.

[Pony] I genuinely love it.

And color in the hilt or anything?

I might play around with it and see if maybe, like,

-some red splotches behind it. -Clean.

[Pony] Yeah, there's nowhere to hide.

One hour left on the clock.

Were you pretty nervous when you heard the ask?

Yes. I was like, "Wow, I've never done this before."

Welcome to Ink Master.

I feel like newer tattooers are very adaptable,

and just kind of learn on the fly,

learn as they go.

What's your experience behind tattooing?

Honestly, I don't have a huge art background.

I got BFA in contemporary dance.

With dance, I'm very fluid and soft, and free moving.

And I feel like that also transitions into, like,

the way I tattoo because my tattoos come out

very soft and flowy as well.

You do a lot of these, like the mandala stuff?

Um, I've done a few, yeah.

There's a lot of really fine little dots within this mandala.

I really wanted to show, like, this fine, detailed dot work.

But they're literally blending in with all the hair.

I'm literally, just like, figuring it out as I go.

[music]

You've got this.

Almost there.

Five, four, three, two, one.

That's it. Time's up. No more ink.

-Fucking done. -Awesome.

Now you get to reap the rewards of my hard work.

Boom, I still got it.

Oh, my God.

I love it.

If you don't win, there's a problem.

I love it.

-[Jade] You like it? -I love it.

Dude, that's fuckin' sick.

[Pony] Thanks, man. I love it. I'm kinda jealous.

Six people left and three at the top,

three at the bottom?

I think it's possible that anybody here

-could be in the bottom. -[James] Dun, dun, dun.

[music]

[music]

Today, you were being tested on adaptability.

You had to create a tattoo on your canvas's face.

Based on your work, one of you will be packing your machines.

Let's see how you did.

Stephanie, you're up first.

I freakin' love this tattoo. Beautiful, bright.

All of the leaves are flipping and moving in the same ways

as her pre-existing tattoos.

Taking these other tattoos and connecting them,

that really takes some adaptability to

make 'em look really seamless.

[DJ] I love the flowers.

I love those little buds that come down in front of the ear.

This piece fits the side of the head really well.

[Ryan] This is hand's down my favorite tattoo you've done.

This is rad.

Thank you.

Pony.

This tattoo is sick.

The lines are super clean, bulletproof.

I like your really dramatic, heavy, black shaded areas.

It blends and holds to that traditional style.

I had something to prove on this one, I feel like.

This canvas is gonna look bad ass for the rest of his life.

Just a straight up, bold, simple, bad-ass tattoo.

Anthony.

[music]

It has a cool expression. It fits really well.

[DJ] I like that really aggressive front fangs

on the face, but these very repetitive shapes

that you brought down the muzzle,

it throws off the proportions of the wolf.

It kinda creates this wider, almost bear muzzle.

The one thing that gets a little confusing for me,

it's either spit or like, saliva, or lightning.

Like, I wasn't sure what you were going for.

More saliva sort of thing. Yeah.

[Joel] I don't think you needed as many negative spit streaks.

The top one kinda distracts you from the texture of the wolf.

[Ryan] There's just a little bit of issue with readability

with those textures right there.

[music]

Cat.

I do like the flower in the center.

It's got nice, light contrast in it.

Beautiful depth in the butterfly.

Super dope, but the butterfly

and the daffodil look completely separate.

The daffodil looks unfinished to me.

I just wanna take the top two forget-me-nots

and just flip that part of the stencil.

[Joel] I just feel like those flowers are just not necessary.

It just looks disjointed on top.

Jade.

There's a lot of good areas in this.

You have your blacks solid and it's not overworked,

but parts of it should be a lot heavier.

As it heals, those thin lines on the head

are gonna get really faint.

I really don't like the feathers.

The way that, that bottom feather ends

cuts off her jawline about an inch too high.

And because the feathers are so light,

they aren't really matching with the black-work feel

of the mandala.

I was struggling trying to figure out

how to add them.

[Nikko] They look like a forced afterthought.

That's what they feel like.

[music]

James.

This is a bad-ass tattoo. It fits the head really nice.

I like this pose. I like the hand on the sideburn.

And all the little details you put in the skull and that big,

open light source at the top creates this cool cut into it

and it doesn't block out the whole thing.

Super smart.

The teeth are really cool. There's like, this nice,

little highlight on each tooth that's really beautifully done.

This is a sick tattoo.

[music]

Judges, it's time to determine

who had the best tattoo of the day.

James's is just super graphic.

[Ryan] My favorite part about this one is how the entire thing

perfectly fits the shape of the head.

I mean, Stephanie's tattoo, the design, the colors.

And the way it works with the other tattoos,

it really is a shining moment for Stephanie.

It's a great tattoo.

I personally like James's tattoo better

for just the design and the graphics,

but when I think about the challenge with adaptability,

Stephanie slightly edges out James's tattoo.

My vote is for Stephanie to have tattoo of the day.

My vote's for Stephanie.

My vote's for Stephanie. Woot, woot, woot.

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

Stephanie.

Thank you.

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.

[music]

[music]

I feel pretty happy.

No.

On the other hand, it's sad that the Young Gun's

skull picks didn't really do fuck all.

You're not wrong. I definitely fucked up today.

[Pony] I think it might have slightly worked on Anthony.

I feel like I risked a lot in my design.

I took it a little further.

Well, sometimes that bites you in the ass.

[music]

We're here as a jury of peers to decide which artist

we want to put up for elimination.

I'd say let's start with Jade.

I don't mind the feather idea behind it,

but she approached it not in an aesthetically pleasing way.

I just don't understand where she lost her imagination

with this piece.

It just seems so just mandala, three leaves.

I haven't seen any imagination from her at all.

It's clean lines. She's good at that.

We can't take that away from her.

She's good at what she does.

All right, who else are we thinking?

Well, Cat.

She's really the only other option.

Just those two leaves coming down, it looks like a fork,

two prongs going out.

[Stephanie] That bothers me the most.

[James] The composition.

[Stephanie] Those two sticking straight out, so dark.

As far as, like, retaining legibility,

five years from now,

I don't think Cat's is gonna be strong at all.

I know. I think Jade's is gonna last longer.

When you look at Jade's, there's just really nice,

negative space throughout the whole thing.

And Cat's tattoo, it just has, like,

really awkward negative spaces.

It's a tough one, guys.

[music]

Shit, that was a little brutal.

Yeah, I've just been, like, waiting to fall at some point

in time. It feels like,

how long can you realistically, like, just keep climbing?

So it obviously just, like, sucks.

Yeah.

I mean, I left my baby at home to come here.

Since then, he's turned six months old. He's gotten teeth.

He's learned to sit up and do all these things.

And I don't wanna, like, come back without it being worth it.

I think you're safer than me. It's been hard.

Everyone has so much more experience.

So I think I get, like, in my head a lot.

I didn't have, like, the confidence going into it.

I guess I've second-guessed myself a lot.

Being a Young Gun, there's just, like,

a lot I don't know.

You've had a lack of confidence this entire time

and you're in the top six?

You can't second-guess yourself anymore.

I believe in you. I think you can do it.

I think you have tons of potential.

I think you actually have it in you.

[music]

Today, you were being tested on adaptability.

Stephanie, which artist is the jury of peers

putting up for elimination?

We, as a jury of peers, have decided

to put Cat up for elimination.

[music]

The judges have decided the second artist

in the bottom is...

Jade.

[music]

The third artist in the bottom is...

Anthony.

[music]

Based on your work, one of you will be packing your machines.

Anthony, you're in the bottom because your tattoo lacked

readability and parts of it looked disjointed.

[Anthony] I got too tweaky with it.

I got too excited and just kind of went a little too overboard.

But I showed composition, contrast.

I think, flow, energy.

I still came up to the challenge I was asked.

[music]

Jade, you're in the bottom today because the feather element

of it didn't necessarily flow with that mandala.

I think I was just so tunnel vision on

trying to include everything that she wanted,

I just didn't take a step back and kinda look

at the whole picture further away.

But I'm at least glad I got some clean lines in there

and, like, a solid mandala.

Stephanie, why did the jury put Cat in the bottom?

When it comes to Cat's tattoo, the flow of the piece,

that piece that comes onto the forehead,

kept standing out to us.

I tried to adapt as much as possible

and really think about what this is gonna look like

for her with her hair coming in, or that's gonna fit her face.

And I'm still set on the decision that I made

to take this canvas.

I knew Jade, especially for her first tattoo,

probably shouldn't have taken this one.

And I knew that it was going to be more difficult.

So you took this canvas so Jade wouldn't?

Well, she was originally considering it, but I said,

"That's not a good idea if this is your first time

trying to tattoo this area."

So you said, "Take the mandala

"with seven million straight lines.

"That'll be easier for you than

what you're comfortable with at home."

[music]

It's time to make a decision.

When I look at them all three together,

I see a little bit more tricks in Cat's.

When I look at Anthony's,

I see some weight and aggression.

And it definitely fits the canvas.

Jade's, if it was just that mandala,

and those feathers weren't there,

it'd be a totally different outcome.

It's hard for me to look at a tattoo sometimes

when I feel like the weight is heavy on the front

and it's not balanced.

Especially with the mandala, where it's balanced.

My vote is for Jade.

My vote's for Jade.

Jade, my vote is for you.

There's just little slip-ups in your design,

and unfortunately, on this day,

they're major slip-ups.

[Joel] The judges have decided,

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

You outgunned and outlasted a lot of great artists.

And for the amount of time you've been tattooing,

for you to get up here and do what you've done,

I am really impressed.

Part of me's super happy to have, like, made it this far

'cause I don't really have an art background or anything.

So when I get out of here, I wanna learn more about

illustration, painting and everything.

Use it as fuel for your fire. And you're gonna burn so bright.

Please pack your machines and close shop.

[Jade] This competition was super important for me

because there were so many people who didn't even give me

the chance in the beginning.

Like, all those shops that said no to me.

I had something to prove.

Bye, guys.

And even though I got eliminated,

I did pretty well. Look at where I am.

I made top six and only with three years of experience.

Imagine I come back in like, 10 years, I'll fucking kick ass.

[music]

[Narrator] On the next episode ofInk Master .

This is a double elimination.

Whomp, whomp, whomp.

You got some whacky shit up there.

[Stephanie] This challenge is wild.

Instead of one turd, I got a turd pile.

I'm sorry. I'm losing my mind right now.

Let the fun begin.

[Cat] I need to pull out all the stops.

[Pony] This tattoos's gonna remove any doubts that

I'm the most technically-sound tattooer in the room.

[Joel] The three artists with the highest rankings

will secure a spot in the finale.

Let's go.

[music]

[music]

[music]

[music]