Ink Master is an American reality competition television series airing on Spike. The show, which premiered on January 17, 2012, features tattoo artists who compete in various challenges assessing their tattoo and other related artistic skills. They are judged by renowned tattoo artists and enthusiasts, with one or more contestants being eliminated each episode. The last contestant standing each season receives a $100,000 prize and the title of Ink Master. The series is produced by Original Media, which also produced the reality show Miami Ink.
The eighth season (subtitled as Ink Master: Peck vs. Nuñez) premiered on August 23, 2016 on Spike, and had its first female winner. The show has been renewed for seasons 9 and 10, the former of which premiered on June 6, 2017, and ended on September 26, 2017. Two spin-off shows, titled Ink Master: Redemption and Ink Master: Angels, have also been released. The series has also released a number of special standalone episodes generally themed around an upcoming event or holiday such as Halloween.
The tenth season (titled as "Return of the Masters") will premiere on January 9, 2018, and will air its first two episodes on Spike before the network's rebranding as the Paramount Network.
Show format
Basic format
All episodes aside from the finales have the following format, with some minor variations to the application of the format:
First, there is a Flash Challenge that will be evaluated based on how well an artist met the skill of the week. Some Flash Challenges involve tattooing, but typically, flash challenges do not incorporate the act of tattooing; but, instead, will require a non-related artistic skill (i.e. painting, hair cutting, etching, burning, etc.) The winner of the flash challenge wins the right to select their own human canvas in the elimination challenge, and, as of season two, pair up the other contestants with their human canvases.
After the Flash Challenge comes the Elimination Challenge, a further test of the skill of the week on a human canvas, typically incorporating a prominent style of tattooing. Once the contestants are paired up with their canvases, they are given the day to consult with their assignment. The next day, each contestant is given four to six hours to tattoo their design. Once completed, the contestants meet as a group with the judges and are critiqued one by one. The contestants then are dismissed, with four later being called back. The four typically represent a top two and bottom two for the week, though this breakdown can change. At the end of each episode, a winner is typically declared and one contestant is eliminated.
Special format
For the finale of season one, the final challenge was a marathon tattooing of up to 18 hours. The season two finale did not share this format, and instead consisted of each of the three finalists meeting with his or her respective canvas for four six-hour sessions to create a final piece. This final piece did not require a specific tattoo genre or location for the artist to tattoo. Instead, the artists were able to choose those aspects for themselves, and the only restriction they faced was a time limit. The season three finale followed a similar format to the season two finale, but the artists were allowed five seven-hour sessions for a cumulative 35-hour master canvas tattoo.
Judging and Judges
Musician Dave Navarro and tattoo artists Chris Núñez and Oliver Peck are the show's primary judges; Dave and Chris have appeared in all episodes to date; however Oliver missed two episodes of season nine as he was having surgery after a heart attack. Some episodes incorporate a fourth guest judge, usually a well-known tattoo artist who has knowledge or reputation in the style of tattoo (such as New School, Traditional, Japanese, Portrait, Black and Gray, etc.) chosen for the week's elimination challenge.
Season two judging was taken to a new level with audience voting participation through the Ink Master website, and also via Facebook voting. The audience vote affected the final ruling by the judges. Sebastian Murphy was eliminated from consideration by the judges in the season finale because he was the contestant whose work in the elimination challenges received the fewest votes by the audience.
Season three introduced the human canvas jury, in which the human canvases review each other's tattoos and nominate for elimination the artist who did the worst piece.
Season four introduced the elimination challenge winner's selection, where the challenge winner picks an artist for elimination from his/her perspective.
Season five brought back Joshua Hibbard and Jason Clay Dunn from season three, along with eight other pairs of rivals. The winner's worst selection did not return for season five.
Seasons
Specials
There have been various standalone holiday and special event themed episodes made that do not follow the series seasons. They have typically followed an upcoming or recently passed holiday. These episodes feature previous Ink Master contestants competing for smaller cash prizes.
Ink Master licensed a Dutch/Belgian edition called Ink Master: Meesters van de Lage Landen (Masters of the Low Countries) to Spike NL in 2017. The format remains largely intact, filming takes place mainly around Amsterdam. The winner of the first season of this edition was the Belgian contestant "Djoels"
Spin offs
Ink Master: Redemption
Spin-off series Ink Master: Redemption premiered in September 2015. The spin-off features canvases who are unhappy with the tattoo they received during the competition. After discussing their tattoo with Navarro, the canvases are given the chance to confront the artist who did the original piece. The artist is offered the chance for redemption by being able to consult with the canvas on a new tattoo (or modification to improve their existing Ink Master piece). After reviewing the artist's new drawing, the canvas is given a no-strings-attached choice to either proceed with the new tattoo or leave the shop. Episodes sometimes feature a twist, such as rival artists returning to draw a design for the same unhappy canvas, potentially stealing the original artist's chance at redemption. Ink Master: Redemption was renewed for a second season to coincide with the premiere of season 7 of Ink Master.
Ink Master: Angels
In June 2017, Spike announced a new spin off series titled Ink Master: Angels. The premise follows four female contestants from the eighth season of Ink Master - season winner Ryan Ashley, Kelly Doty, Nikki Simpson and Gia Rose - as they travel around the United States to face other artists in tattoo challenges with a spot on season ten of Ink Master on the line. The show premiered on October 3, 2017.
See also
- List of tattoo TV shows
References
External links
- Official website
- Ink Master on IMDb
- Ink Master at TV Guide