S05.E08: Ink My Oosik

[thewhiteowl]

 

The artists must scrimshaw walrus penises and face their pickiest canvases to date; one artist loses their cool and another is eliminated.

 

 

 

[ShadowSixx]

Why are they always asking Julia to prove herself or does she have what it takes to beat out the other artists? She's still in isn't she, she's far better than Booberella, Mark, and Don. She might not be better than the rest, but she's competent enough.

 

Angel's NY scripture was nice I liked it, Booberella can't do shit and shocking she's still in this competition while people want to get on Julia and Josh's cases all the time. Why isn't anyone harping on Mark for basically being shitty throughout the whole competition and Mark STFU you lost because you basically suck. 

 

I know it's manufactured but why must the contestants always put each other down? It doesn't endear people to them and if I saw any one of them I wouldn't want to get tattooed by them based off of this show and their nasty attitudes. Producers think that because this is Spike and it's geared towards men that men want to see this type of bitchy drama. If so might as well tell them to watch a soap opera with us ladies.

 

Umm Julia that's not how you talk to the canvas. Even if they're being the most picky canvas ever, you have to work within it. If he wants a robot then make it as bio-mechanical as you can get it. I can also understand somewhat on not compromising because the judges do make it a case of advocating the inktestants to do what the canvas doesn't want.  She knew she had no choice but to ink herself. Oliver that's kind of hard to do to give canvas what they want when you judges get onto the inktestant about color and telling them to hold their canvas down even when they're in serious pain or sick. So I really can't believe that strike against inktestants who don't tattoo their canvas. Julia did get some karma when Oliver told her to stop shaking her head because of how she talked to her canvas. 

 

This is what I seen, Julia was rude telling that guy to fuck off, completely out of line. Now as far as consulting, maybe I need to watch it again, I seen both give their ideas, she told him that they weren't bio, he did cut her off at one point, but I did see him willing to compromise more than she was. 

 

I'm liking Angel a little bit more cause at least he compromises with his canvases and don't fight with them and he does thrive on competition more than being about drama. Well too late to like him any further since he's been eliminated. If Julia hadn't done what she done and human canvas isn't stupid then Mark probably would have been down there in the bottom. 

 

I'm finding the rivals going down to the elimination completely useless and also the human canvas jury are just useless IMO. Wish they wouldn't have them. 

[PepperMonkey]

This better not be the beginning of a "redemption arc" for Emily. I hated that she got compliments on her work tonight. Also, she was mostly in the background and not nearly as annoying as usual, although she annoys me just by being on my tv screen.

 

I don't dislike Julia, but I hate, hate, HATE when they sob story and whine about not having anything and this is their ONLY CHANCE to make a life for their kids, blah, blah, blah... if you can't make a decent living off tattooing and you have a FAMILY, get a better job. I feel for her; my mom was a single mom who worked 3 jobs at various times, but she didn't go on tv to try to make her life better. If she has nothing and she has no help and she has no one, who are her kids with, ffs?  She should have gone home for her treatment of that client. I was shocked when they let her stay.

 

Not to sound like a broken record, but JOSH FTW.

[Bix]

Aside from how she told him to go fornicate, I thought Julia actually got a relatively favorable edit if the judges were accurately summarizing their viewing of the raw footage. It sure seemed like jacked up canvas guy absolutely refused to let her tattoo anything that took his idea from "mechanical" to "biomechanical."

[niklj]

I don't dislike Julia, but I hate, hate, HATE when they sob story and whine about not having anything and this is their ONLY CHANCE to make a life for their kids, blah, blah, blah...

 

That was such a great part of the show where she was giving her sob story to Don and he kept saying, "Me too!" "Me too!" "Me too!" And the only way she could reply was, "You're not being human right now!" And I loved how even Josh--JOSH of all people--couldn't even watch that argument.

 

Biomechanical was such a vague term for someone not an expert in tattoos like me. What Julia's human canvas was asking for (a circuit panel in his forearm) sounded biomechanical to me. Isn't it just making a human look like a cyborg? I don't understand how that is less "biomechanical" than weird sharp swirly shapes. And judging for "detail" was such an afterthought.

[phoenix780]

Biomechanical was such a vague term for someone not an expert in tattoos like me. What Julia's human canvas was asking for (a circuit panel in his forearm) sounded biomechanical to me. Isn't it just making a human look like a cyborg? I don't understand how that is less "biomechanical" than weird sharp swirly shapes. And judging for "detail" was such an afterthought.

 

I think this sums up the problem between Julia and her canvas right there.  I'd bet she doesn't even fully understand the concept- not that I blame her, 'cause I don't either- so she fought to stick to whatever came up in a Google image search.  

 

I thought the judges amped up their outrage to create drama, probably because Emily created a drama-vacuum by dialing it down a notch.  My memory could be faulty, but I remember them telling someone (at least once) not to just do what the canvas wanted because the canvas has no stake in the outcome, and the contestant stands to lose a lot of money.  So it was hard for me to buy into their outrage as legitimate- I don't think it jives with what they usually say, as a couple others noted upthread. 

 

Also, besides the swearing I'm not sure I think there's much difference between what Julia attempted and what Josh does, except he's successful.  He sat down and told his canvas the tattoo couldn't be put on her ribs, and there didn't seem to be much compromise on his part.  His canvas backed down, Julia's wouldn't (for as many times as he said the word compromise I saw nothing indicating he actually was compromising with her).  I can't shake the thought in the back of my head that if she were one of the top guys they'd have applauded her tenacity instead of blasting her for not making a non-paying customer happy.  I also can't shake the thought that if she were one of the top guys her canvas would have backed down and there'd have been no argument in the first place.  

 

Bottom line- I thought that was a really obnoxious episode.  And I hope Cleen has to follow through on what he claimed when it comes to just giving someone what they want.  That's too good a setup for production not to pick it up later.

[Hana Chan]

The way Julia handled her client was all wrong, but it's frustrating when you get a canvas that doesn't really want the theme of the week. She doesn't have Josh's skill in getting clients to come around and it really hurt her this time. For how she handled this, I have no argument with her being on the chopping block, but the tattoo she did on her leg was great so she got saved by other artists just failing to meet the challenge themselves.

 

Most of the tattoos this week, with some notable exceptions, were pretty good. I rather liked Cleen's, but I didn't think it was the best of the week, and while Erik's was technically strong, I didn't particularly like the composition. I liked Josh's, and some color (and another hour of work) would have tied the whole thing together better. Jason's was pretty and pretty solid technically. Emily's was pretty, but pretty underwhelming compare to the top group - it just wasn't enough. I really didn't like Don's. The concept was good but the execution was poor in both design and application. As for Angel... I thought that his concept was vastly superior to Don's, but the application was deeply flawed. I really liked him personally and I was sorry to see him go, but I can't argue with the judges there. It could have been either him or Don last night.

 

The top group really hasn't changed. If I had to pick a top five (the real contenders), the only ones that I can list with confidence at this point are Josh, Jason and Cleen. Erik would probably also make the group. The last spot would be harder to fill. The rest of the group is so inconsistent that I think whoever makes it to that last spot will just end up being the one who sucked the least that given week.

 

And wasn't a fan of the flash challenge. Scrimshaw is not an easy skill to get right and I would rather see challenges that actual take advantage of the skills that a tattoo artist should have. Not trying to translate the theme to a completely different medium that they may or may not be able to master in a short amount of time.

[PepperMonkey]

We all know they just did that flash challenge so they could say walrus penis over and over, right?

[MuMuGuy]

As much as I liked Angel, I do think the judges made the correct decision from a technical standpoint, but they should've done a double elimination and given Julia the royal boot. Even though her tattoo was decent, she basically copped out by tattooing herself since she dodged the canvas jury. Julia disrespected her client after he tried to talk to her in a completely non-confrontational tone. An "Ink Master" would have to be professional and being that disrespectful to a client that was trying to start over and play ball is both unprofessional and childish. That was probably the most unprofessional display I've ever seen from a contestant on this show, and I watched every season of Ink Master in their entirety.

 

 

Don earned massive kudos from me for crashing her little pity party by telling her he has the same concerns with raising children and that he even has more children than she does. Note that she told him he wasn't being human and was just being a dick when she realized they were both in the same boat and that she just acted childish and unprofessional. The only thing that would've made that conversation better would've been if Don or Josh told her that she was full of crap when she was talking about a lapse in judgment, because she wasn't as remorseful as she tried to claim in the lounge when she tried to lie to the judges and throw her canvas under the bus. Julia was only sorry that she got caught.

[sofaslug]

We all know they just did that flash challenge so they could say walrus penis over and over, right?

Yeah, I thought their inner 10 year old was at play there. :-)

[leighdear]

Obviously Julia was terrified, since she admitted she knew next to nothing about Bio-mech.  But instead of working WITH her client, she locked into using a Google image on her own thigh as the only way to save herself.  I will give the girl props for doing her own ink though.  Panic must be a good anesthetic.  

 

She could exact copy a stock image, but there was no way she could combine one with  the other things her client wanted.  That would require knowledge of the style and the ability to create a hybrid design.  She was stuck, and she knew she couldn't do it.  So she freaked out. Then she lashed out.  Then she lucked out. 

Edited October 22, 2014 by leighdear

[Charlesman]

I actually didn't have a problem with Julia's attitude toward the canvas. If they're going to manufacture this game structure, then let her deal with them in whatever way she wants. Sure, you don't talk like that to a client in a shop. But if a client in a shop wants something, you give it to them. It's not like a shop would be "biomechanical only, no exceptions!"  In the fake structure of a TV game show, if she didn't want to work with the guy then fine. 

 

Her "F off" only came after she dismissed the guy and he kept bugging her.

 

And it's BS they called him back and they never call back any other canvas to talk about the artist.

 

 

 

In other areas, the editing really started to bug me with all the "nodding shots" whenever Dave has to lay out the same spiel every time about "the spread in Inked magazine and the title of Ink Master."  Just a ton of shots of heads nodding over and over. Then a shot of the judge giving the devil horns or nodding when he's introduced. It's episode 8 of season 5. Don't need to intro the judges by name every episode. Sometimes twice. That's what on-screen graphics are for. Disembodied nodding takes up like 4 minutes of every episode.

[ShadowSixx]

I also hate the judging because everytime someone gets a good critique they show an inktestant shaking his/her head, rolling their heads, etc. I really don't know why they show that and can't let the contestants be supporting and be impressed with some tattoos that are shown. Sometimes I think it's just the editing and producers telling them to do it.

[leighdear]

For this show in particular, amongst the contestants, there is little complimenting, support, collaboration or unity.  There is aggression, dissent, disregard and ridicule.  And that's exactly how the producers want it.    

[Dirtybubble]

Obviously Julia was terrified, since she admitted she knew next to nothing about Bio-mech. But instead of working WITH her client, she locked into using a Google image on her own thigh as the only way to save herself. I will give the girl props for doing her own ink though. Panic must be a good anesthetic.

ITA!  I never had a problem with Julia before this (even though her voice is kinda annoying) but her attitude towards the customer was wrong.  I can understand the artist and client disagreeing on a design but to me she seemed totally dismissive of his ideas and unwilling to compromise.  What kinda bugs me is her delusion that she can win this competition.  At best, BEST, she does mediocre tattoos.  She is no where the talent of some of the other artists.

 

On a side note:  I don't think Eric deserved to be called to the bottom.  I understand why but what the F where the clients thinking that his tattoo was the worst?!  I thought his was one of the best--I loved how he incorporated the green color in the tat to give it some contrast.  Most of those tats looked to jumbled and just a grey/black of a mess.

[DollEyes]

 Angel wasn't my favorite artist, that tat sucked and he should've been eliminated, but he shouldn't have been the only one. Julia should've been cut for her bad tattoo-on herself- and her worse attitude. This wasn't like the James Danger situation with Natalie from two seasons ago and King Rook vs. his client from last season. Disagreeing with a client is one thing; telling them to "go fuck [themselves]" is another. When someone's shittier than Josh and Emily combined in one episode, they've gotta go, sob story or not. Contrary to Julia's opinion, she's not the only one who's made sacrifices to be there. Everyone else has left their jobs, their clients and even their loved ones behind, just like she has, as Don told Julia, but she was too busy wallowing in self-pity to listen to anyone else.

 

  Julia may have had a so-called "bad moment," but given what's at stake, she can't afford those, especially at a client's expense. Julia's still around for the same reason that Emily and Josh are: drama. Josh may be a great tattooer, but he's also a bit of a drama queen and Emily's tattoos suck. The client may have been stubborn at first, but at least he was willing to compromise. After Julia showed her ass this week, she should have packed her machines.

[Quality]

Even if the guy's tattoo idea was entirely mechanical and not "biomechanical", she still should have done it. The discrepancy would have been the producers' fault, not hers.

[candall]

Well, let's just have the judges sidle up and talk to some of the other contestants about Julia's interaction with her canvas because THAT'S an impartial system for assessing the situation.  Too bad they don't have any cameras around there to record stuff.   Oh, right, they do--so they were able to use "we watched the footage" to totally back the canvas, when his and Julia's versions were spun about 49/51%, based on what was broadcast.

 

Julia telling the canvas to fuck off is indefensible, but Oliver Peck telling Julia "Stop shaking your fucking head" was worse, because of the power differential in judge and contestant.  Whatever else she did in the episode, she earned big points for simply responding:  "Don't talk to me that way." 

 

I'm not a dedicated Julia fan, but that was a rough day--lots of piling on from all sides.  I think some of the men would have been punching at walls and you know Emily would have just had a screaming-meemy shitfit breakdown.

 

 

 

  

[WickedTuna]

We all know they just did that flash challenge so they could say walrus penis over and over, right?

I know my inner 12 year old giggled a couple of times. BTW, I'm guessing you're a Top Chef fan? I thought Angel' s penis looked the best. And he did best at the challenge too. Ha ha...I couldn't resist.

What else made me laugh was Navvaro' s hat. It looked like he fell off the pier and they'd just pulled him out of the water.

I thought Julia really was OTT but I don't know that she should have gone home for it. The artists do need to work with the canvas but it isn't the normal environment as someone upthread pointed out. I did enjoy when she told Peck not to talk to her that way.

I always seem to be opposite of the judges. I liked Don' s and Angel' s but didn't like Cleen's.

[TattleTeeny]

Why did it keep cutting to the bow-tie guy sitting on a stool during the judging? It was weird.

[MuMuGuy]

Julia did get some karma when Oliver told her to stop shaking her head because of how she talked to her canvas.

 

Julia telling the canvas to fuck off is indefensible, but Oliver Peck telling Julia "Stop shaking your fucking head" was worse, because of the power differential in judge and contestant.  Whatever else she did in the episode, she earned big points for simply responding:  "Don't talk to me that way.

 

I'll give Julia credit where it's due for standing up to Oliver. Oliver and Chris both think they can talk to the contestants in any manner they want due to their status as judges. I'm just glad that Julia didn't fly off the handle like Kyle did last season after Jay told Kyle that Chris was talking trash about him and called him out during the elimination the episode beore Kyle was disqualified.

[Dirtybubble]

Why did it keep cutting to the bow-tie guy sitting on a stool during the judging? It was weird.

He is the rival of Angel but WTH they keep trotting these rivals down with the artists up for elimination is just beyond me.  There is no point in it.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

The client may have been stubborn at first, but at least he was willing to compromise.

He was only willing to compromise once he saw his chance at a free tattoo disappear, but at that point Julia was totally fed up and had consciously decided that she was through with the guy and nothing was going to change her mind. It must suck for the producers when their shenanigans don't produce the footage they wanted. Julia was very businesslike and used the correct dose of profanity to emphasize that the guy should get lost. The judges had to act completely out of character to create the kind of "drama" the show wants.

[leighdear]

What better way to inspire the incredibly incredible ink we've been seeing than by allowing the safe artists to watch their rival/enemy/nemesis raked over the coals by the judges? 

 

That's just good fun!  

[phoenix780]

Am I the only one who can't remember who the rivals are?  They all talk so much shit and I fast-forward the credits, so I have no clue until they pull one down to sit and watch judging.

[Muffyn]

In other areas, the editing really started to bug me with all the "nodding shots" whenever Dave has to lay out the same spiel every time about "the spread in Inked magazine and the title of Ink Master."  Just a ton of shots of heads nodding over and over. Then a shot of the judge giving the devil horns or nodding when he's introduced. It's episode 8 of season 5. Don't need to intro the judges by name every episode. Sometimes twice. That's what on-screen graphics are for. Disembodied nodding takes up like 4 minutes of every episode.

I'm pretty sure they are reusing head nods, shakes, smirks, etc.  It is just time wasting BS.  All reality shows have an issue of splicing in scenes out of order or disassociated reaction shots, but this show takes it to the limit.  Key poses and reactions:  arms crossed, head nod, head shake, sneer (the Emily special), smirk, pretend chuckle, arms at side with hands in fists.  It's like a weird group form of Tourette's Syndrome.  They just can't control themselves.  

Edited October 22, 2014 by Muffyn

[Charlesman]

Am I the only one who can't remember who the rivals are?  They all talk so much shit and I fast-forward the credits, so I have no clue until they pull one down to sit and watch judging.

 

 

Same here. I barely remember any rival pairs. Who's left with one, who doesn't have one anymore, which pairs have had both eliminated, etc.... beyond me.

[Hana Chan]

Julia handled the situation badly, but she is not totally to blame for how things went down. This is not the first time that a human canvas wanted a design that would not satisfy the challenge requirements. Biomechanical is a very specific genre of tattooing, and it would be as if someone wanted a New School tattoo on the day that they were going to be judged for a photo realistic design. Obviously in a regular shop setting, Julia could satisfy the demand without blinking because it wouldn't matter. But when she had to fulfill a challenge requirement and what the canvas was demanding (and not showing any real flexibility until Julia had already dismissed him), she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either do what the lummox wanted and risk being sent home because it didn't meat the challenge requirements, or take a chance and do the design on herself (as the judges had previously advised an artist who's canvas walked out). She did the later, did a good tattoo and survived to see another day.

 

I'd considered signing up to be a canvas and read over the application pretty carefully. They do ask your preferences (theme, placement, color vs black & white, etc.) and I get that they will try to match the canvases with the challenge as best they can, but you go in accepting that the tattoo you get isn't totally in your control. Under ideal circumstances, you'll get an ideal match where what you want fits with the challenge perfectly. Otherwise you'd better be flexible. My preference would have been for a Japanese design and if I got selected for this season, that would have meant getting a geisha (even if I'd wanted a different design).

 

So both Julia and the canvas were wrong, IMO. Unfortunately Julia was the one with what to lose (besides a free tattoo). Julia doesn't have Josh's gift of being able to get the canvas to go along with his ideas (few do) and it really hurt her.

[aussieinsydney]

Oh god, it gives me the shits when they say they can't go home with nothing. Well guess what kiddies, only one of you is gonna score, so the odds aren't in your favour. Also, seeing as a tattoo, or I should say, a tattoo that's of decent quality, should set you back a few hundred dollars plus, I don't understand why these guys are prtraying themselves as starving artists. I mean, really?

 

 

Not to sound like a broken record, but JOSH FTW.

 

Indeed!

I thought the judges amped up their outrage to create drama, probably because Emily created a drama-vacuum by dialing it down a notch.  My memory could be faulty, but I remember them telling someone (at least once) not to just do what the canvas wanted because the canvas has no stake in the outcome, and the contestant stands to lose a lot of money.  So it was hard for me to buy into their outrage as legitimate- I don't think it jives with what they usually say, as a couple others noted upthread. 

 

 I can't shake the thought in the back of my head that if she were one of the top guys they'd have applauded her tenacity instead of blasting her for not making a non-paying customer happy.  I also can't shake the thought that if she were one of the top guys her canvas would have backed down and there'd have been no argument in the first place.  

 

 

Couldn't agree more with those comments.

 

 Erik's was technically strong, I didn't particularly like the composition.

 

 

 

 

Actually I thought the jury was correct in calling out Erik's gears. They were wonky and very flat and looked like shit imo.

 

But if a client in a shop wants something, you give it to them. It's not like a shop would be "biomechanical only, no exceptions!"  In the fake structure of a TV game show, if she didn't want to work with the guy then fine. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, that's the point. Someone walks into your shop and wants you to tattoo a monkey riding a unicorn while wearing a superman cape and eating an ice cream, then you tattoo that. I t may make no sense to you, but that's what they want.

In an Ink Master competition, you have to tattoo to the challenge. Not doing so will almost guarantee you sent home, so I can understand why the contestants get frustrated and short with the canvasses.

Julia telling the canvas to fuck off is indefensible, but Oliver Peck telling Julia "Stop shaking your fucking head" was worse, because of the power differential in judge and contestant.  Whatever else she did in the episode, she earned big points for simply responding:  "Don't talk to me that way." 

 

 

Oliver Peck is a gigantic, mysoginistic dick and I'm glad Julia stood up to him. Actually so is Nunez. At least Dave Navarro doesn't seem to come across that way.

[psychoticstate]

I personally think it's some straight up bullshit that Julia wasn't sent home.  Telling your canvas to fuck off should eliminate the artist immediately.  I didn't see Julia's canvas being any more difficult than some others we have seen in the past. 

 

I thought for sure she was toast when she was told by the judges they had watched every minute of her interaction with her canvas and what he said jived but what she said was purely revisionist crap.

 

Major props to Don for telling Julia she's not the only one in the competition under stress and pressure.  That's not being a dick, Julia, that's showing that you aren't the only one with issues. 

 

Must every artist at some point say "The other artists don't know what I can do!"  Gee, I don't know . . . why don't you show everyone what you can do?

[Kromm]

Aside from how she told him to go fornicate, I thought Julia actually got a relatively favorable edit if the judges were accurately summarizing their viewing of the raw footage. It sure seemed like jacked up canvas guy absolutely refused to let her tattoo anything that took his idea from "mechanical" to "biomechanical."

I don't think it was favorable at all.  You could see the bits where he SEEMED reasonable and she seemed off the chain, but I really got the sense that around that, he was probably a total inflexible dick and they just showed the later bits after she was already exasperated, and left some earlier parts of the argument on the cutting room floor.

 

This show and the people who make it hate women, female artists in particular.  They cast shit ones (either talentless like.. most of them... or aggressive, like Emily), and they'll take any opportunity to make the female contestants look weak.

I mean think about it.  We've had innumerable cases of skins not getting tattooed on the show before.  How many times has the show dragged them back in to further humiliate the artist?  Yeah. the time that its a female contestant.

[Kromm]

And it's BS they called him back and they never call back any other canvas to talk about the artist.

Bingo.  They sandbagged her. And we KNOW if she's done what they say and given into the guy she would have been equally criticized (if not even more) for that. We know it.  They know it. Everybody knows it.

[Richness]

First of all, Pecker can STFU. Then he can go fuck himself. His comment about giving the canvas what they want goes directly against the numerous times they've told the artists to strong-arm their canvases into doing what the artists want, multiple times even.

 

The judges misogyny was on full display in this episode (though that ire is aimed mostly at Chris and Ollliver, since Dave seems quite chill most of the time). I can't stand Julia due to her mousy voice, but there's no way the judges would dare talk to a male artist like that. Julia handled that judges confrontation a lot better and more classy than I would have. If she had done the mechanical tattoo the canvas wanted, they would have sent her packing regardless of how detailed and good it was.

 

Of course, I place most of the blame for that nonsense on the producers than the judges themselves, especially by bringing the canvas back in during judging. There was no reason for that than to cause drama. As far as the argument itself goes, I think I'm siding more with Julia, though I wouldn't want to deal with either of them. But we'll never know since we'll never see the entire recording ourselves, not that I want to.

 

As far as the other tattoos go, I had to laugh when the canvas jury picked the guest judge's favorite as the worst tattoo. While the foreground was excellent, the background did look rather basic and lacking in detail, especially when you compared the two.

 

While I'm fine with the judge's choice for who went home, I think it had more to do with overall performance than just the current tattoo. I almost think Don's tattoo was worse, cause it looked mainly biological with no mechanical to it at all.

 

But on the other hand, Don seemed to bring the smoulder to his look in this episode. I never noticed just how sexy he looked prior to this episode. It might be because I was drooling over the rest of the hunky beefcake in the canvases this episode. Not only did the difficult canvas have a nice bodybuilder's musculature, but there was another one or two with nicely beefy builds of their own. Plus, there was that one shot of Angel (or maybe Don) cleaning his scrimshaw bone that looked exactly like he was masturbating. Sorry. I'll go take cold shower now.

[Diane Mars]

In my opinion, if Julia had admitted she lost her nerves in front of the judges instead of trying to blame it on the canvas, it would have been really different.

[ShadowSixx]

I think Julia would have been chewed out regardless of what she chose to do. If she tattooed what the canvas want Nunez and Peck would be all over her saying that she didn't force the canvas to stay in the parameters of the challenge, but it's what he wanted and as a tattoo artist that's what you're suppose to do, give the canvas what they want. IDK if he was a plant or not because he knew it was biomechanical but was asking for something like a robot or something. I don't think Julia could ask if they have a replacement canvas because the one she had didn't really want a biomechanical tattoo. What happens if a canvas doesn't want to stay in the parameters of the challenge?

 

Julia could have dismissed him a lot better than what she did. I'm pretty sure once Julia enters the room again the inktestants are gonna harp on her some more like they always do. IDK if they're trying to get in her head or try and get her out. 

[thewhiteowl]

I don't doubt the rampant misogyny but I don't think I've ever seen a male inktestant tell a canvas to fuck off. So as wrong as everyone else was, Julia was wrong as well. I think she was intimidated by having to do Biomech but she was handed the perfect out. I think if she had done a good, well detailed Robotmech she would have been safe but perhaps she could not do that either. Emily's was surprisingly nice, feminine and pleasing to the eye but looked unfinished compared to most of the rest. I liked Cleen's but Biomech isn't really to my taste so I thought most of them were pretty bad.

[psychoticstate]

I don't think they dragged the canvas back in because the inktestant was female.  I think they did it to amp up the drama and because the inktestant told the canvas to fuck off. 

 

Was it necessary to bring him back?  No, not really since the judges had already watched film of the interaction. 

 

I do think that if the canvases sign up for a free tattoo during biomech (or whatever) week, they should be told that is the exact type of tattoo they are getting.  Period.  If the judges aren't going to use how the inktestants handle their clients as part of the criteria for being Ink Master, then there is no point in production sending in difficult people to attempt to rile up the inktestants. 

 

Personally I couldn't care less about the drama.  I just want to see the tattoos and I wish everyone would be judged on that and they would do away with the rival nonsense, the canvases that quit in a huff, etc. 

[TattleTeeny]

He is the rival of Angel but WTH they keep trotting these rivals down with the artists up for elimination is just beyond me.  There is no point in it.

Oh, OK--DUH TO ME; I kind of forgot all about the rival nonsense. But this just looked like an accident--sort of like when that morning show abruptly cut to a cat eating spaghetti for no reason.

 

Personally I couldn't care less about the drama.  I just want to see the tattoos and I wish everyone would be judged on that and they would do away with the rival nonsense, the canvases that quit in a huff, etc.

 

Same. I watch other types of reality for drama. I like this and Project Runway to be about the work.

Edited October 23, 2014 by TattleTeeny

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Someone walks into your shop and wants you to tattoo a monkey riding a unicorn while wearing a superman cape and eating an ice cream, then you tattoo that.

Not necessarily. The non-competition tattoo shows have had people coming in saying that nobody else would touch the job, and as often as not you can see it's probably true (rather than just puffing up the show and its artists). One recent episode showed the artists kicking somebody out (albeit without profanity because the guy was only mildly reluctant to go). There was nothing wrong with Julia telling the guy to take a hike, and if the judges don't like it, they need to revamp the canvas rules to match what they're asking of the contestants. Earlier this season they made a big deal about the canvases agreeing to take whatever the artists gave them for a challenge; every canvas should come in with that understanding every week. If the producers can't match them to what they really want, take it or leave it.

[LoLo]

Julia is a brat, period. I cannot stand how she goes in & out of that fake baby voice. I would call her on it every time she did it. It's super annoying & done for sympathy like "look at me I'm so fragile & innocent". Drives me nuts! Then when her argument was she needed to be there because she has kids. I thought so what. This isn't about your family, your finances etc it's about who is the best tattoo artist out of the bunch. When she kept saying "your not being human". I wanted to smack her. I am a a mom, I have 3 kids & I would NEVER use that as an excuse for anything. She was making it like she more of a parent then him because he's a mom. It was hard to watch & even Josh had to turn his head.  The way she treated her canvas was unacceptable. He may have been difficult, rude & obnoxious but in life, customers can be that way. She had no right to tell him to F off, call him stupid or make fun of his voice. Super unprofessional. The worst tat should have been sent home & her right behind it for treating a canvas that way & then lying about how she treated him. Emily may be a super bitch but she's a bitch among the cast, not towards the canvases or judges. 

I think this sums up the problem between Julia and her canvas right there.  I'd bet she doesn't even fully understand the concept- not that I blame her, 'cause I don't either- so she fought to stick to whatever came up in a Google image search.  

 

I thought the judges amped up their outrage to create drama, probably because Emily created a drama-vacuum by dialing it down a notch.  My memory could be faulty, but I remember them telling someone (at least once) not to just do what the canvas wanted because the canvas has no stake in the outcome, and the contestant stands to lose a lot of money.  So it was hard for me to buy into their outrage as legitimate- I don't think it jives with what they usually say, as a couple others noted upthread. 

 

Also, besides the swearing I'm not sure I think there's much difference between what Julia attempted and what Josh does, except he's successful.  He sat down and told his canvas the tattoo couldn't be put on her ribs, and there didn't seem to be much compromise on his part.  His canvas backed down, Julia's wouldn't (for as many times as he said the word compromise I saw nothing indicating he actually was compromising with her).  I can't shake the thought in the back of my head that if she were one of the top guys they'd have applauded her tenacity instead of blasting her for not making a non-paying customer happy.  I also can't shake the thought that if she were one of the top guys her canvas would have backed down and there'd have been no argument in the first place.  

 

Bottom line- I thought that was a really obnoxious episode.  And I hope Cleen has to follow through on what he claimed when it comes to just giving someone what they want.  That's too good a setup for production not to pick it up later.

Josh talked his canvas out of it with a reasonable reason. Julia basically told her canvas he was stupid. Big difference.

As much as I liked Angel, I do think the judges made the correct decision from a technical standpoint, but they should've done a double elimination and given Julia the royal boot. Even though her tattoo was decent, she basically copped out by tattooing herself since she dodged the canvas jury. Julia disrespected her client after he tried to talk to her in a completely non-confrontational tone. An "Ink Master" would have to be professional and being that disrespectful to a client that was trying to start over and play ball is both unprofessional and childish. That was probably the most unprofessional display I've ever seen from a contestant on this show, and I watched every season of Ink Master in their entirety.

 

 

Don earned massive kudos from me for crashing her little pity party by telling her he has the same concerns with raising children and that he even has more children than she does. Note that she told him he wasn't being human and was just being a dick when she realized they were both in the same boat and that she just acted childish and unprofessional. The only thing that would've made that conversation better would've been if Don or Josh told her that she was full of crap when she was talking about a lapse in judgment, because she wasn't as remorseful as she tried to claim in the lounge when she tried to lie to the judges and throw her canvas under the bus. Julia was only sorry that she got caught.

Thank you, it was bad enough that she treated a canvas that way but then she lied about it like she wasn't on camera. Own it. People make mistakes, I would have respected her if she would have admitted what she did & moved on. Then her conversation with Don was hard to watch. She expects sympathy because she's a mom. 

[Kromm]

For me the problem is that we're taking the show's word on a ton of things.  How Julia acted is way out of line given what we saw, but we know we didn't see everything. We joined their argument well in progress--you can tell that from the footage.  We basically saw a small piece in the middle and then a medium size piece at the very end.  The judges saying they "saw all the footage" doesn't mean we have.  Only that they're saying THEY did, and we apparently have to take their word for what was in that.

 

I don't think this is just broad conspiracy theorizing either.  This show has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt over the years that there's little they won't stoop to in terms of enhancing drama.  It's clear Julia lost her temper.  It's clear she uses that dumb baby voice to try and get her way.  That said, she doesn't seem outright stupid.  There's more to the conversation with the musclehead steroid case who was her client than we saw.  If it redeems her, I don't have a clue, but given how obvious it is that there IS more, I don't think it's out of line to suggest it's possible.

[bird]

Here is my take:

 

1. Julia was in the right to not tattoo the canvas. He signed the dotted line to get a free tattoo. He is NOT a client. He is NOT a customer. It is wrong to call him as such because he is not paying a dime for that tattoo. He is a simply a CANVAS for the show. This show has been around for a few years. Those who watched the show know that there will be limitations to what you can get tattooed on your body. The biggest limitations are time constraints,  subject matter, and the abilities of the artist. These are considerations Julia's CANVAS should have thought about before signing up for a FREE tattoo, a tattoo that you would normally pay $600+ for. If Julia's CANVAS wanted full control over his tattoo, he should have saved up hundreds of dollars and paid for it himself. But because he wanted to be a cheapskate, and then bully an artist into tattooing an idea that would put her livelihood in the competition at risk, he is A SELFISH, ENTITLED PRICK. 

 

2. Julia was in the WRONG for telling him to fuck off. Yes, the canvas was being overbearing and rude and micromanaging. However, his poor attitude did not warrant a "fuck off". She's clearly immature and has growing up to do with how she emotionally handles her stress and frustrations. I will not take sides on whether she lied to judges or not because I have not seen all the footage. As for her throwing a pity party: common self-defense mechanism for someone who needs some growing up. 

 

Overall: Julia emotionally did not handle the situation well, but she was in the right to tell him to leave. I still think she is a much better artist than the other contestants give her credit for.

 

Unrelated: Emily needs to go back to whichever layer of hell she came from. Cleen Rock One needs to shut the fuck up. He is only at the top because the most of the other artists plain suck. If he was in the 2nd or 3rd season, he absolutely would not stack up as well against the contestants that season. I also hate his fucking teeth. Eric needs to stop being smug. He won 1 fucking flash challenge. That's it. He couldn't even win the ellimination round he handed out skulls fpr even though it was his speciality (Japanese).

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Julia was in the WRONG for telling him to fuck off. Yes, the canvas was being overbearing and rude and micromanaging. However, his poor attitude did not warrant a "fuck off".

That very much depends on regional standards, and she's from a part of the country where it certainly may. If this were a normal reality show, contestants would want to moderate such behavior, but the IM producers are looking for rude and aggressive. If anything juicier had gone down this week, nobody would have cared.

[azshadowwalker]

Why are they always asking Julia to prove herself or does she have what it takes to beat out the other artists? She's still in isn't she, she's far better than Booberella, Mark, and Don. She might not be better than the rest, but she's competent enough.

 

She's a woman, and there always needs to be something to bash a woman about on this show. Consider the demo of the channel this is on...

[Kromm]

That very much depends on regional standards, and she's from a part of the country where it certainly may. If this were a normal reality show, contestants would want to moderate such behavior, but the IM producers are looking for rude and aggressive. If anything juicier had gone down this week, nobody would have cared.

Also, I don't believe anything, not a single thing, this show tells me.  We saw the musclehead seemingly being polite, but we also clearly saw there was a lot of missing footage from their argument. Dare I suggest this was all a setup? Again, we only have the word of slimy toads that "all of the footage" indicted Julia.  WE didn't see it all. We saw an edited subset.

 

Not that she wasn't rude and inappropriate in what we saw. It would be silly to deny that. But it came off like she had totally no provocation, and that's what I'm skeptical of. Because this show has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt in the past how shabby they'll treat anyone going on the show, but women even moreso.

[Muffyn]

For all the talk of the great argument between Julia and her canvas, I cannot remember what he actually asked her for.  What did he want in his tattoo?   

[Richness]

For all the talk of the great argument between Julia and her canvas, I cannot remember what he actually asked her for.  What did he want in his tattoo? 

The one thing I recall him asking for was basically a metal broiler plate with rivets. Basically, a robot/cyborg effect that covers mechanical, but not really biomechanical.

[DollEyes]

 

Julia was very businesslike and used the correct dose of profanity to emphasize that the guy should get lost. 

 

 I totally disagree.  IMO, a pro would have just told the guy to get lost without cussing him out to do it. He may have been getting a free tattoo, but that didn't give Julia the right to throw that much shade at him for not liking her design and her lying about it only made things worse. Oliver shouldn't have been rude to Julia, but Julia shouldn't have been rude to the human canvas. 

Edited October 25, 2014 by DollEyes

[GreatKazu]

Julia's version of the events - according to the judges - didn't mirror what they saw. It also didn't mirror what little I saw. I only watched an edited version while the judges get the full version. Still, her version did not match what I saw.  I think she was as annoying as fuck and she was completely in the wrong to handle the canvas the way she did. Yes, he is getting a free tattoo, but without these people offering up their skin to be inked for free, Julia and the rest of the cast would not have an opportunity to showcase their work.  If she felt she could do better on her own skin, more power to her. If that is what it takes for her to prove herself, by all means go for it. 

 

I hate when people throw in the whole "I have a family to support" as if that puts them on a higher level than anyone else there. If your family means that much to you, you work hard at your trade and produce the best product that you would supposedly be doing out in the real world. Whether someone is a mom or dad, whether someone is single or married, it does not make a fucking difference. If you have a product and you are the best at it, show it. If kids are relying on a parent to win a contest to bring back home some money, I think the parent's priorities are screwed up. Still, I think it was her way to garner sympathy and that shit is just as fucking annoying as a parent thinking their way out of the mess they are in back home, is to win a contest.

 

If this show is about the best tattoo artist out of the bunch, I would assume that means they are capable of doing all kinds of tattooing styles, not just the ones they are good at. That is my interpretation of Ink Master. Julia not having a clue as to what biomechanical tattooing is about left me scratching my head. However, her work was great!

[AlliePK]

Julia could have easily turned what he wanted into something biomechanical.  She picked a design off the internet and that was what she was going to do regardless of what the canvas wanted. You just flay a little skin back, insert the circuit board, and have nerve bundles coming off the back of the board.  Bam.  He gets his circuit board, she gets her biomech.  It's called compromise.  And instead of constantly reminding the canvas of the money she could lose, she should have played up how good the piece would look and that with just a few changes, it would fit the parameters.  She is technically sound, she lacks imagination.  I hate doing biomech tattoos, but I know what one is and how to do one.  As for her interaction with Oliver:  SHE can talk to the canvas however she wants, but heaven forbid anyone talks to her in a way that's not supportive and gentle.  The world of tattooing isn't a Montessori school.

Edited October 25, 2014 by AllieP