Skin Wars - General Discussion

[Lugal]

They cynic in me says this whole episode was to promote their steampunk show coming up next month.  Don't get me wrong, I love steampunk (still have my copies of Morlock Nights, The Anubis Gates and The Difference Engine on my shelf), but I think the challenge was flawed from the beginning: They wanted "futuristic-looking" steampunk, even though steampunk by its very nature is retrofuturistic.  What do you update it to? Raygun Gothic?  And like the judges I hate when people slap gears and goggles on something and call it steampunk.

 

Avi's cyborg and Aryn's absinthe fairy were definitely the best.  I liked Lana's as well.  Dawn Marie did the most traditional, almost clichéd steampunk looking of all the designs, she might have squeaked by if she had done the leather texture better.  Cheryl Ann's designs always look cartoony to me and she hasn't changed that (add to the fact that she paints on bodies like it's just any other canvas and her penchant for long confusing stories) annoys me.  I think they've only kept her around for the drama.  I liked that Rio was at least trying to bring other non-Victorian cultures into steampunk, but seriously the boob-eyes?  WTF?

 

 

That hideous "oh, we can do this!" body-painting show set in Las Vegas with the former Face Off contestant and the hyper-active woman business-owner was better than this.

Naked Vegas.  Despite that fact that everything on it was faked, I still have a soft spot for that show because I actually knew one of the models that turned up on it.

[Bella]

We have a forum for Steampunk'd, btw. I'm hoping it will be a lot better than Skin Wars.

[Maelstrom]

Every week, Avi continues to impress. His steampunk look was gorgeous!

 

WTF, Rio?

 

There's no excuse for Cheryl Ann still being here. She does the same storybook cartoony style on every challenge, and as others have said, you could put her "art" on a canvas and it would look no different than it does on the model. I call BS. Enough already, producers.

 

Naked Vegas.  Despite that fact that everything on it was faked, I still have a soft spot for that show because I actually knew one of the models that turned up on it.

And at least Nix was obviously super talented. I still don't see why they couldn't have just based the show around him and his (real) work.

[Kaoteek]

"You just can't deny Cheryl Ann's talent"... yes, yes I can. None of her work has convinced me at any point during this season, and her grating personality makes me think she's mostly there for the drama. Too bad, cos she's really detracting from my enjoyment of the entire competition.

 

Also what was up with all those octopii on the models ? Did I miss something at some point, was it a mandatory piece, or did they just woke up and decided "hey, you know what's steampunk ? An octopus ! Let's each put one in our painting !" ?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The opening credits are much better than the show itself. When I think of body painting, I think of models that are painted to blend into a scene or are painted with realistic clothing or body coverings. I especially like models that are folded into shapes and painted or when they use their hands or arms as part of the painting. I don't want to see storyboards or boobs painted as eyes or cosmic scenes on the back. I really don't want to see horsies running down the arm.

ITA - the opening credits look great so I keep expecting to see painting challenges that will produce similar results. I am not really interested in seeing models with horses, planes, or other things painted on their bodies every week. I want to see realistic clothing, camouflage, etc.

 

Oy, there had to be a pearl necklace, right? Where was Ru when we needed his arched brow. Aryn did a wonderful job, though.

Ha, because I am mentally 12 years old, I laughed when they announced she had a pearl necklace. If I had been in Aryn's position, I probably wouldn't have had a finished project because I would have spent my allotted time giggling about the pearl necklace and then trying to come up with anything that wasn't totally pornographic.

[Bella]

I couldn't get this to upload onto imgur, but this is the kind of thing I wanted to see from this show:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207122056193756&set=a.1797341257283.2102376.1352303928&type=1&theater

[joanne3482]

"You just can't deny Cheryl Ann's talent"... yes, yes I can. None of her work has convinced me at any point during this season, and her grating personality makes me think she's mostly there for the drama. Too bad, cos she's really detracting from my enjoyment of the entire competition.

 

Also what was up with all those octopii on the models ? Did I miss something at some point, was it a mandatory piece, or did they just woke up and decided "hey, you know what's steampunk ? An octopus ! Let's each put one in our painting !" ?

It was like Portlandia's version of steampunk. There's a photo going around Facebook of what looks like a rocky shore.  When you look at it long enough you can see the nostrils. That's the only thing that gives it away. This is not that. On the flip side, to be honest (and it is a complaint I have with most of the competitive artistic shows) how much can we expect in 5 hours? 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I couldn't get this to upload onto imgur, but this is the kind of thing I wanted to see from this show:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207122056193756&set=a.1797341257283.2102376.1352303928&type=1&theater

I can't believe it's six weeks and we have only had one camouflage challenge so far. I want them to do at least one more camouflage challenge and one realistic clothing challenge before the season ends. I am all for creativity but I want some realistic body painting required. I am tired of the cartoon stuff (mostly Cheryl Ann but I will include Rio's wonky eyed boobs in that too).

[GaT]

I couldn't get this to upload onto imgur, but this is the kind of thing I wanted to see from this show:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207122056193756&set=a.1797341257283.2102376.1352303928&type=1&theater

Even knowing what it was I had trouble finding the person. This is absolutely what I want to see also. I hate that the body painting on this show is nothing more than using people instead of canvases. 

[LillysPad]

As bad as we want Cheryl Ann gone, I have a feeling she will be there for 3 more weeks. I get the impression Cheryl Ann never always gets her way at home.

[Madding crowd]

I have to admit, I have no clear idea of steampunk, beyond gears and mechanics. I really don't understand the connection between octopus, blimps and steampunk. When I have seen it elsewhere it has been victorian clothing mixed with gears. I loved Avi's look and think he is in this to win. Cheryl Ann does not have any skills particular to skin painting and I wonder why she doesn't take her classical skills and use them to illustrate children's books or something that she can actually relate to.

 

I loved the green fairy too. Like the rest of you, I am hoping for more camouflage and clothing paint which is a little clearer to explain to the contestants as I don't think they always understand the challenge. 

[joanne3482]

Isn't the origin of steam punk the whole Jules Verne thing? The future as imagined by people who had no concept of what could be. Most things steam powered because that was the newest means of power. The concept of splitting atoms to make power was completely beyond their thought process. Kind of how we presume the future will be robots taking over or apocalypse/dystopia.

[Monty]

I actually learned this today: the word "Steampunk" was coined in 1979 by K.W. Jeter in a letter to Locus magazine to describe his book Morlock Night, along with Tim Powers' The Anubis Gates and James Blaylock's The Digging Leviathan, which (he hoped) were about to kick off a bunch of Victorian-themed fantasies.

[needschocolate]

I am on Team ABC  - Anyone But Cheryl-ann (technically, it should be Team ABCA, but I think using Cheryl-ann would bother her, so I will stick with it).  Avi is my favorite and is the most consistently good, but I don't care who wins a challenge as long as Cheryl Ann loses, and it is even better if she is put into the bottom group rather than just being safe - of course, the best would be if she were sent home, but I don't think that will happen - shows think they need villains. She is so Passive - Aggressive - "Oh, I have to sit out 30 minutes, so I will think of this as an advantage and go admire everyone's work" when she really means "I can't paint for 30 minutes so I will bother the others."  Hey, Cheryl Ann, if you turned your disadvantage into an advantage, why did it bother you so much?  At least she did go with the usual sore loser trope of "she picked me because I am her biggest competition."

 

Every time they showed the back of Aryn's steampunk model, I saw naked old lady boobs, with gears as nipples.  She should have made the wings more fairylike and non-flesh colored. 

 

Dawn Marie must have really good eyesight if she thought there was enough contrast between the "leather" and the skin tones, especially after the judges told her that her jewels were too close to flesh color to stand out.  I think she is one that would have benefitted from having more time - she was slower than the others and I don't think she ever showed us what she was really capable of. 

 

One of the complaints about all competition shows that have time limits is that we don't get to see what contestants are capable of because they don't have enough time, but the time constraints make sense for Skin Wars - you can't have models standing around naked for 10-12 hours (unless the underwear they have on are made by Depends).

 

Cheryl Ann still needs to STFU. Why shouldn't Lana give her the 30 minute penalty after Cheryl Ann used her advantage to take away her tableau in an earlier challenge? If their positions had been reversed and Lana had used some advantage against Cheryl Ann first, you KNOW that Cheryl Ann would have been waiting to get back at her. I also agree with the judges that Cheryl Ann has the same cartoony look to her work every week (and I don't see it as a good thing - it looks very amateurish to me).

 

She is so passive-aggressive - "Oh, I have to sit out 30 minutes, so I will think of this as an advantage and go admire everyone's work" when she really means "I can't paint for 30 minutes so I will bother the others."  Hey, Cheryl Ann, if you turned your disadvantage into an advantage, why did it bother you so much?  At least she didn't go with the usual sore loser trope of "she picked me because I am her biggest competition."  And her sing-songy voice - argh, if I were faster with the remote, I mute her every time she speaks. 

 

I am on Team ABC  - Anyone But Cheryl-ann (technically, it should be Team ABCA, but I think using Cheryl-ann would bother her, so I will stick with it - give her a taste of her own passive aggressive medicine).  Avi is my favorite and is the most consistently good, but I don't care who wins a challenge as long as Cheryl Ann loses, and it is even better if she is put into the bottom group rather than just being safe. Of course, the best would be if she were sent home, but I don't think that will happen - shows think they need villains.

[tobysmom]

Every time they showed the back of Aryn's steampunk model, I saw naked old lady boobs, with gears as nipples.  She should have made the wings more fairylike and non-flesh colored. 

 

I did too!!!!! I couldn't not see it and wondered what everyone was talking about fairylike - then they said wings!!!!

 

Loved Avi's - definitely on team Avi

 

Do not like Cheryl-Ann; I was thinking about her voice and how it bugs me and now I realize that it reminds me of Michelle Duggar - I've only watched bits and pieces of 19KAC - but I've seen her enough to hate the voice. 

What I didn't like about Cheryl Ann's is that it just seemed liked bits and pieces of things thrown in - oh I 'll put a submarine here; a fish here; an octopus here??????  I thought it was suppose to be one character -like Avi's!!!

[Maelstrom]

Sorry to see Kyle go, especially since Cheryl Ann is still around. And why is she still around? Is it just to irritate me into a rage-blackout? If so, it's working. I am so. damn. sick. of her that every episode until she's gone will be torturous to watch. Enough is efuckingnuff already, Show! Especially now that Face Off (and its refreshing lack of drama) are back on again. Take notes, Skin Wars - more talent, less staged Drah-ma.

 

Don't get too cocky, Avi. This shindig ain't over yet (though I'm starting to wish it were...)

 

Lana and Rio's performers were beautifully painted! I had to watch their performance a couple times because the paint jobs and their routines were so beautiful!

Edited July 30, 2015 by Maelstrom

[GaT]

Kyle was just enough "hippy dippy" to annoy the crap out of me, so I don't mind him going, but, it could have been Cheryl Ann show, why wasn't it Cheryl Ann?

[Lugal]

Cheryl Ann played the game, hung back enough to let Kyle take the lead and when it failed, it all fell on him, and he was gone.  I can't believe the praise she gets, like how wonderful her elephant design was, when Aryn and Lana did so much better (even though her tigers did look like kittens).  The first ting I noticed about Cheryl Ann's circus design was the model's face, not the elephant.  And it's the same cartoony design as all the rest of hers.  I'm hoping they're setting her up for a big fall, since most of the audience hates her, so we finally get the maximum drama out of when she finally is eliminated.

 

Lana totally deserved that win, those designs were awesome in Visible Light and UV.

 

I agree about Cheryl Ann's voice, with that false niceness.  It reminds me of a quote from that show with Sarah Shahi a few years ago: "You look sweet but you're not, like bees in the shape of a donut."

[OakGoblinFly]

Also what was up with all those octopii on the models ? Did I miss something at some point, was it a mandatory piece, or did they just woke up and decided "hey, you know what's steampunk ? An octopus ! Let's each put one in our painting !" ?

 

 

The octopus motif is very popular with steampunk; you see it in lots of artwork and it appears in many stories.

[OakGoblinFly]

I have to admit, I have no clear idea of steampunk, beyond gears and mechanics. I really don't understand the connection between octopus, blimps and steampunk. When I have seen it elsewhere it has been victorian clothing mixed with gears. I loved Avi's look and think he is in this to win. Cheryl Ann does not have any skills particular to skin painting and I wonder why she doesn't take her classical skills and use them to illustrate children's books or something that she can actually relate to.

 

 

Think Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (he is considered the "father" of steampunk) .... Cherie Priest writes a steampunk/clockwork series of books set in the U.S. western territories during the Civil War.

[Kaoteek]

The octopus motif is very popular with steampunk; you see it in lots of artwork and it appears in many stories.

 

Didn't know that. Still... not sure why. Had it been a squid, I'd have understood the direct connection between Verne/Squid/Nautilus/steampunk... but an octopus... O_o

[ElectricBoogaloo]

In a weird coincidence, this week's episode featured a UV painting challenge and then later there were several contestants who had to use perspective to incorporate the client's hand or foot into the tattoo. I know body painting and tattooing are two totally different things but I loved how creative the painters were with using their models' body parts in their designs.

 

I was so excited about this circus themed challenge! I know a lot of circus art/flow performers so I have been waiting for this episode all season (there was a snippet of it in the season preview so I knew it was coming). I have only used Kryolan so I am not sure how well the UV paints they used in this challenge stand up to friction. I was curious as to how much they would let some of the performers actually perform (as opposed to having them make it a priority not to rub the paint off).

 

Avi's self tattooing lizard lady was just okay. Not terrible but not great. Kyle definitely spent too much time on the face and not enough on the rest of the body. Sadly, the face didn't end up looking like anything special so I don't know how or why he spent mor than half his time on painting her face white and then giving her glittery diamonds around her eyes. I also hated that he wrote the word CIRCUS on his model. The body paint should tell the circus story. If you have to paint the word on your model then maybe you didn't do a great job with the design.

 

Aryn's human cannonball concept was a great idea and really well executed. Rio's strongman was also a good idea. Cheryl Ann's idea to use the model's arm as the trunk was a good idea but I was really distracted by the model's face. It really could have been been better executed. Lana's sword swallower was cute and as always, her color palate was great. My favorite thing was the beard she painted on her model's face.

 

 

In the elimination challenge, Lana and Rio were head and shoulders above the other two teams. The color palate was beautiful and the design/colors looked good both under regular light and under black light. The design was bold and readable, the colors went well together, all three models had a cohesive look as a group but each still had a distinctive look.

 

I wasn't crazy about Avi and Aryn's birth/life/death theme and I didn't think it looked great. But man, Kyle and Cheryl Ann's were a mess. Part of me likes that Kyle was so determined not to let Cheryl Ann steam roll him, but he was so adamant about claiming his role as the leader that he neglected to tell the judges that some of the stupid crap they disliked about their design actually came from Cheryl Ann (like the doors of perception). Lest you forget, a direct quote: "He hit on the note The Twilight Zone. And as soon as he hit on that, I was like dimensions. So the aerial hoop is the past because he's spinning in like a circle. The fire hoop is the present cause she's on fire. And then the future is juggling the possibilities of the future. So we've got dimensions of time - the past, present, and future. On the backs of their heads, they're going to have doors of perception that's going to be an hourglass." That was utter nonsense. The fire hoop is the present because she's on fire? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? That explanation was worse than listening to a stoned freshman philosophy major trying to explain existentialism.

 

On a shallow note, Cheryl Ann's outfit on the second day encapsulated so many things that I dislike about her. Between the fascinator, the feathers, the double buns, and the corset, I feel like she is this weird combination of trying to dress younger than she is so she seems cool and having no idea what is actually cool anymore because she isn't as young as she thinks she is, which just makes her look desperate and sad (for the record, I know people older than Cheryl Ann who are much more in touch with current fashion trends so it's not specifically her age that is an issue).

 

This is the second week in a row where we have had one of the contestants say that this is their thing only to get eliminated!

 

Ha, I loved when Aryn said that she's never seen Avi NOT feel confident and that she doesn't think he knows what fear is.

[needschocolate]

In a previous episode, I thought I heard one, or more, of the judges tell Cheryl Ann that she needs to stop outlining everything in black, like it is a comic book.  Then they make such a fuss over her elephant, which was outlined in black.  

 

The first season they had that guy with the orange (I think) hair that thought he was the greatest body painter ever.  He was obnoxious, but he was also pretty good at body painting, so I didn't get the feeling that he was being kept around for drama. Therefore, I thought of this show as more Face Off-ish than other shows - except for the "Oh, we can't decide, so we will have to make the two contestants who are best friends compete directly with each other to see who goes home."  The contestants got along pretty well, no back-stabbing, etc.

 

That has changed now.  I feel like the only reason Cheryl Ann's work gets so much praise is because they think they are convincing the audience that Cheryl Ann is good enough to be a contender - so it won't be so obvious that they are only keeping her around for the drama.   

 

On a shallow note, Cheryl Ann's outfit on the second day encapsulated so many things that I dislike about her. Between the fascinator, the feathers, the double buns, and the corset, I feel like she is this weird combination of trying to dress younger than she is so she seems cool and having no idea what is actually cool anymore because she isn't as young as she thinks she is, which just makes her look desperate and sad (for the record, I know people older than Cheryl Ann who are much more in touch with current fashion trends so it's not specifically her age that is an issue).

 

I just figured she was trying to dress like she was in a circus.

Edited August 2, 2015 by needschocolate

[Madding crowd]

I really can't stand Cheryl Ann and her affected way of speaking. She did not do the challenge and should have been eliminated. Rio had talent and I wish he could have stuck around.

[Maelstrom]

WARNING: RANT ALERT

 

I think this was the worst episode of this show I've ever watched, and I'm seriously rethinking wasting 42 minutes of my life on it again. Keeping Cheryl Ann despite her not doing challenge is total bullshit. Why the hell is she still here? She makes this show very nearly unwatchable, and I thought Felle and Dutch were bad enough last year. I had to cheer Rio when he told the judges off.

 

Not to mention it's pointlessly stupid IMO giving them a bigger challenge and less time to do it. But the most insulting thing of all was listening to the judges tell us what they want us to be thinking, like "Cheryl Ann's bear was beautifully rendered". No, it wasn't! You can say shit like that, but it doesn't make it true! For fuck's sake, I don't have problems with high blood pressure (or should I say I didn't before tonight) but I think this damn show is going to make me stroke out.

[RedRockRosie]

I noticed that the other judges were quiet when Rio told them this was BS...I had to totally agree with him. It was  BS. Plus...how can they really fairly judge an unfinished piece? Time management?? Really??

 

"Sweet" little Cheryl Ann's ass should have been gone weeks ago. Classically trained painter my butt. My four years in art college tell me that her work is always the same. That is not creativity. That is being stuck in what you already learned, not using that training to grow even more. She thinks she's good enough so she can just play it safe. Every week she might as well be painting on a flat canvas instead of a human body.

 

Arghhh...this blatant propping of her is really taking the enjoyment out of this show for me.

 

Was kinda disappointed Avi's was a bit political...but it's got to be really difficult to live in a war zone. Can't imagine.

[rasalas]

This is now the second time in the past three weeks that Cheryl Ann has not met the theme of the challenge -- first steampunk, now robots (notice a common theme?) -- and the judges have given her a pass because she does "beautiful work." And then the week in between -- ultraviolet -- she clearly was at sea, so she pushed Kyle to make every little decision, knowing that if they succeeded she'd be safe and if they failed he'd go home (which is what happened).

 

This is getting really old. If you can't even do the basic theme, you should be a nonstarter. Face Off generally does the best among competitive reality shows at holding the contestants to the chosen theme. Skin Wars is now among the worst.

 

Sigh.

[Bella]

If they can't do this show right, they shouldn't do it. Other programming is out there.

 

And I don't think they're doing this show right. Cheryl Ann shouldn't even be a contestant, she's so pathetic. If that's the kind of person they need in order to populate the contestant pool, they don't have a viable concept IMO.

[Maelstrom]

Well said, Bella! Surely there are body painters out there with actual talent who could be featured. Instead of a pathetic and insulting competition show, why not just have a weekly showcase? Each week show the work of one or two up-and-coming or well known body painters (as I mentioned up thread, Nix from Face Off and that other body painting show comes to mind). Hell, even watching little kids get butterflies and tigers painted on their faces at county fairs would be a step up from some of the crap that's been forced on us this season.

[GaT]

Unless they start treating the skin painting as something more than just using bodies as a canvas, it almost doesn't even matter what the contestants' skill level is IMO. There is nothing about this show that makes the fact that they paint on bodies amazing. They could paint a barn, or a rock, or a shoe, & it would be the same. 

[Bella]

Hell, even watching little kids get butterflies and tigers painted on their faces at county fairs would be a step up from some of the crap that's been forced on us this season.

 

Ever try to do full face paint on a squirming 4-y.o. who doesn't want to cooperate but whose parents are big donors at the event and insist that it be done? ("It's okay, Benjamin, the nice lady is going to make you look like a tiger in just another minute or two, but you need to hold still.") By that standard, I'm better than Cheryl Ann.

[Kaoteek]

Sure, Rio's look was probably the weakest of the bunch... but only if you pretend Cheryl Ann's "thing" did not exist. There's not much more I can say that hasn't already been said in this thread, but Cheryl Ann's presence in this competition, and the pseudo-drama editors are working into the show with her are slowly but surely making it unbearable. Especially now that Face Off is back on the air. I'll stick with the show as long as Aryn is in, but Rio's anger was totally justified.

[Texasmom1970]

I am so sick of Cheryl Ann kissing butt and scraping by each week. She must have black mail photos on someone. I am convinced she could send her model down the runway and come up with some spiel about minimalism and the judges would all gush! So sick of her.

[zxy556575]

Unless they start treating the skin painting as something more than just using bodies as a canvas, it almost doesn't even matter what the contestants' skill level is IMO. There is nothing about this show that makes the fact that they paint on bodies amazing. They could paint a barn, or a rock, or a shoe, & it would be the same. 

 

The models sometimes incorporate movement that changes the painting, and there are the combined tableaus of more than one person.

 

My favorites are the realistic clothing and camouflage challenges, but I realistically can't expect a show full of that.

Edited August 7, 2015 by lordonia

[OakGoblinFly]

I really can't stand Cheryl Ann and her affected way of speaking. She did not do the challenge and should have been eliminated. Rio had talent and I wish he could have stuck around.

 

 

Agreed.  

 

Not only did Cheryl-Anne put a bear (and I didn't think it was painted all that well) on her model because of "an impactful dream" she did NOT paint a robot or anything that could be misconstrued to be a robot.  I thought what she presented was very cartoony, messy, and just plain ugly. I don't understand how she is still there, her work isn't that good and she often fails to meet the parameters of the challenge painting whatever she wants.

 

When Cheryl-Anne said "this is right up my alley" I was hoping the curse of people who claimed that a task "was right up their alley" being sent home would continue with her.  Sadly it did not.  I knew Rio was toast as soon as we got a bit more of his past history - that's edit monkey code for "you're going home."

 

Sure, there were flaws in Rio's work (even my "untrained" eye could see that) at least he painted a robot - which was what this challenge was about.  If the judges are going to let someone who didn't follow the challenge parameters through, then why have challenge parameters.

 

Lana and Avi's work was so much better than everyone else - they really should be the final two.  I liked the story of each robot and each artist really used their model's body to great effect.

 

Aryn's worked suffered from not having a clear idea of what she wanted to do.  Rio should have stuck with brushing his model instead of using the air brush.

[needschocolate]

Cheryl Ann wins the first challenge even though they specified that they wanted it to look real and, once again, she outlined everything in black and.  Granted, I am no surgeon, but I am pretty you peeled off my skin from the waist down, my pelvis and muscles would not be outlined in black lines. 

 

I don't think Cheryl Ann is anywhere close to as "sweet" as she would like us to think she is - she is a devil in disguise.  I think the voice and the stories are an act ("Oh, I saw a bear in a dream and it scared me"). When she went around looking at the others' work because she had to sit out for 30 minutes, I don't believe she was trying to make the best of a bad situation, I think she was trying to mess everyone else up.  Same with Kyle last week, I think she continually asked Kyle questions to throw him off, make him waste time, and so she could say to the judges that he took the lead and it was all him. 

 

I thought she was there for manufactured drama! but now I think that she may be blackmailing the judges.  I can just hear her say to the bald one (I'm too annoyed to care about his name) - "Oh, I was taking pictures of daisies in the back parking lot, this was something that Senor Whatshisface, grand master impressionist, whom I studied under in Columbia, told me to do to better understand nature.  When I developed the film, all of us classically trained artists use film, I noticed something wonderful in the background.  I could see you gently caressing a lovely young woman. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, you providing this woman with love and comfort even though your own heart must have been breaking since your wife was out of town.  It was such a beautiful moment that I really want to incorporate it into one of my body paints.  Of course, it probably wouldn't fit the challenge.  So I have decided that I will put this on canvas and send it to your wife so she could see how caring you are, since she was out of town and couldn't see it for herself. I would send her the photographs too, so that she would see how classically trained I am.  Of course, as long as I am in the competition, I wouldn't have time to send any of this to your wife, but I could do it as soon as I was eliminated." 

[Maelstrom]

Cheryl Ann wins the first challenge even though they specified that they wanted it to look real and, once again, she outlined everything in black and.  Granted, I am no surgeon, but I am pretty you peeled off my skin from the waist down, my pelvis and muscles would not be outlined in black lines. 

See, this is where the classical training comes! Clearly her time studying in Europe (with nary a degree in sight) has taught her these secrets that we mere mortals cannot know! /sarcasm

 

Obviously we're all on the same page as far as Cheryl Anne and the larger shenanigans of this show. TIIC better get their shit together fast if they don't want the show to become A) a complete joke or B) cancelled.

[Pallida]

Can people buy their way into classical training? Most of the work I've found by Cheryl Ann looks like things a talented middle schooler could do. I'm starting to think she bought her way onto this show. "I'll buy the weekly rewards as long as you keep me on."

[Lugal]

Can people buy their way into classical training? Most of the work I've found by Cheryl Ann looks like things a talented middle schooler could do. I'm starting to think she bought her way onto this show. "I'll buy the weekly rewards as long as you keep me on."

It wouldn't surprise me, since she seems to come from money, as most of her bios describe her as growing up on an Arabian Horse farm, which is not a cheap thing.  The fact that she was able to study in Spain and under these various artists is not a poor person's pursuit.  (As a struggling artist myself I have never been to Spain and have to work a day job just to pay the bills).

 

I think Rio was right on to call the judges out, since she did not fulfill the challenge (the second time she's done that).  Her "robot" could at best, be some kind of techno-shaman and that's being generous.  Plus it had the same thick outlines that her work always has, I really don't get what the judges are praising.

 

They are clearly keeping her around for the drama, which looks especially bad now that Face Off is back.  Maybe she's their equivalent of Face Off's Crazy Joe and they're afraid to dump her.

[Texasmom1970]

Yeah, classically trained horse pain in the ass finally got sent packing, so happy!

[Eliza422]

This was awesome! My dream final two was Avi vs. Lana...and throwing in fun Erin is a nice bonus!

[joanne3482]

I'm liking Erin more and more each episode, but I really think it is Avi's to lose. He's just a cut above the rest. Even with his crooked tree trunk his girl was fairly hard to see. Both Lana's and Cheryl Ann's heads/faces were fairly obvious. 

[LoneHaranguer]

Did they do a "paint off" last season, or was this an attempt to justify keeping Cheryl Ann another week? The judges were slinging so much false praise, I thought we were going to see another BS decision.

[Maelstrom]

Halle-frikkin-lujah!! She's gone about four episodes too late, but at least they didn't force her into the finale. They better not pull this crap next season!

 

LoneHaranguer, they did have a paint-off last season between Natalie (season winner and last night's guest judge) and Gear (IIRC), her buddy. They were both upset about being forced to do it, and Gear didn't really do much to his model because he was so upset while Natalie completely changed (and improved) her piece and got to stay, whereas Gear was sent home.

 

There was so much manure on stage last night when it came to the judges and Cheryl Ann, I thought we'd ended up on one of those aforementioned horse farms somehow. And how is it that she gets about ten times more TH than the other contestants? Not only did they give her more time to ruminate, but whenever they needed a generic TH to set the scene, they go right to Cheryl Ann. Ugh.

 

I'm thrilled with the final three - they've been my faves all season. I'm leaning slightly toward Lana for the win, but I'd be happy with any of them. They all seem very talented and genuinely decent.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I just watched last week's and this week's episodes back to back so I went from full on raging about Cheryl Ann not being eliminated to HALLELUJAH, she finally got cut!

 

I know that on shows like this, the artists are given some leeway and their talent is often taken into consideration during judging (as the judges often say on Project Runway, "Do I want to see more from this person?") but it is complete and utter bullshit when someone does not fulfill the requirements of the challenge and somehow is not eliminated. Ink Master is guilty of this too.

 

When you compare this egregious lack of standards in judging to other shows, what if there was a wedding gown challenge on Project Runway and one of the designers made a bathing suit? Or what if Top Chef said this week's challenge was to make a dessert and one of the chefs made a steak? The first part of judging for me is: did the contestant fulfill the requirements of the challenge? If the answer is no, they should automatically be eliminated. If more shows/judges would have the balls to do that, we would have less contestants trying to skirt the requirements in the first place.

 

Rio was right to tell the judges they made a mistake. His might have looked sloppy but he still did a robot. Cheryl Ann painted a giant bear and then added some swirls and dots, which is not a robot by any stretch of the imagination.

 

While watching this week's episode, I kept trying to gauge who was eliminated based on the talking head interviews (on other shows, you can sometimes tell who stayed and who got cut based on their body language, tone of voice, facial expressions, etc in the interviews). In this case, the interviews were no help at all because Cheryl Ann was fakely upbeat as always and Lana was pretty stonefaced which is not unusual for her. I was still mad that Rio was cut so I was pretty sure that I would have to throw something at my tv if Lana got cut in favor of that cockroach Cheryl Ann (seriously, how many times can she survive?).

 

Thank goodness Cheryl Ann was finally eliminated. I agreed with Natalie (and it was so awesome to see her again!) about Cheryl Ann taking the easy way out by balling up her model in the corner of the cityscape. She was able to mostly paint trees on her model and a little bit of the freeway. Lana, on the other hand, chose a much more challenging pose and used much more of the background. She had to blend her model in with all those buildings as well as the freeway and the trees. It's about freaking time that Cheryl Ann was eliminated after all these weeks of not fulfilling the challenges and getting ridiculous amounts of praise from the judges for what amounted to middle school paintings.

 

Now that I got all that off my chest, I am so glad that they finally did a background blending challenge! Avi's was so gorgeous. You could barely see his model at all. Aryn's was great too, but I agreed that her model's face was a little too visible. I thought that Lana's feet issue was minor compared to Cheryl Ann's head problem.

 

The pregnant belly/nature challenge kind of annoyed me because despite what I just said about the artists needing to follow the parameters of the challenge, I don't think that any of them should have been penalized for doing trees. Unless they all sat down and asked what each person was going to paint BEFORE they actually started painting, what were they supposed to do one they noticed that someone else was also doing a tree? Wash off all the paint and start over? I also didn't understand why they added that little caveat to this particular challenge. They have never said that for any of the previous challenges and the remaining artists have such different styles that I don't think having trees made their finished products look the same. Lana's was my favorite for that challenge. I felt like they only gave Aryn the win because hers was the only one that looked really different (and to be fair, she had a tree on hers too but it just wasn't as prominently featured).

 

I am so excited about the final three. I agree that it's Avi's to lose because he is such a strong technical painter. He has done some beautiful work and his camouflage painting this week was amazing. I would love for Lana to win too though! Aryn could be the dark horse though.

 

I would have no problem with any of the final three winning and depending on the challenge and if anyone lets the pressure get to them, I think any of the three of them could come out on top. I know that sounds like an obvious thing to say, but on some finales there is someone who is obviously way better or worse than the others. In this case I think Avi is the most technical but Lana is so creative. All three have been in the top multiple times so I think it's going to be a pretty even race.

[joanne3482]

I don't think that any of them should have been penalized for doing trees. Unless they all sat down and asked what each person was going to paint BEFORE they actually started painting, what were they supposed to do one they noticed that someone else was also doing a tree? Wash off all the paint and start over? I also didn't understand why they added that little caveat to this particular challenge. They have never said that for any of the previous challenges and the remaining artists have such different styles that I don't think having trees made their finished products look the same. Lana's was my favorite for that challenge. I felt like they only gave Aryn the win because hers was the only one that looked really different (and to be fair, she had a tree on hers too but it just wasn't as prominently featured).

 

I actually liked that they gave that instruction this time because they all jumped to "the tree of life."  Aryn even said in one of her little talking heads that she thought of doing the tree of life but that was too obvious. I think the judges knew that's what everyone would jump to and that's why they said look around and don't duplicate. They were, in their own way, trying to push the contestants to think past the obvious. 

 

This was one of the few times I didn't like Avi's.  The weird root ball that looked like a kidney coming out of the side of the tree was not pleasing to my eye. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

In last week's episode when Cheryl Ann started telling the judges the names of the artists who taught her (I'm sorry, who she apprenticed with), there was a shot of Rio and Lana giving each other a "bitch, PLEASE" look that cracked me up.

[LillysPad]

Yes. CA is finally gone!

[Texasmom1970]

I like Lana, but noooo Avi should have won, at least in my opinion. My daughter and I were watching as soon as Rebecca mentioned the pose I blurted out they are going to give it to Lana.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I just found out that one of my friends is going to be on tonight's episode. Now I am even more excited to watch!