S07.E13: Revenge Live

[thewhiteowl]

Quote

The final three artists reveal two master canvases; eliminated artists return and confront each other for the first time since the competition; a winner is crowned.

[holly4755]

I am watching the finale, we are supposed to vote onthe tattoos, but they don't even have a large picture of themontheri web site, are there better pictures out there? 

[BalsoSnell]

Hey Cleen, the 80s called, they want their shiny shoulder-pads suit back!

[CoyoteBlue]

I'm glad Anthony won. 

As for next season, did the world not learn from the horror that was Under the Gunn?

[MuMuGuy]

It's good to know that the producers didn't learn from the controversy with last season's finale. Christian got hosed the same way Matt did last season since he was eliminated before his sleeve was judged. Aside from that, the finale was predictable. The judges were biased in favor of Cleen the whole season, so I knew that Christian was going to be eliminated at the chest tattoo, but Cleen wouldn't win on the sleeve since people were calling out producer bias.

Matti's tattoo was garbage, especially since the torch his fire eater had looked like a bent Q-Tip (that thing was really crooked). Cleen must've given Meaghan some good lovin' since she was hyping the hell out of his tattoo during the jury. The live jury feed was whack since they were just talking over each other.

 

5 minutes ago, CoyoteBlue said:

As for next season, did the world not learn from the horror that was Under the Gunn?

I'm glad I'm not the only one that made that connection. It's clear that Spike is running out of ideas for the show.

[azshadowwalker]

Anthony kicked ass.

Cleen can thank Megan Jean for getting to the end. Seriously, she bugged the shit out of me tonight. I am glad her not-really relationship with Cleen was more important than actually getting to the end, because I don't know if I could have dealt with her if she acted that way during the season. She's a fool.

I did like the actual chest piece Cleen did, but that bright pink nipple was awful. His sleeve didn't do much for me.

It should have been between Anthony and Christian, if they were just basing it on the final tattoos. Christian did a cool chest piece, and that sleeve was incredible. Admittedly, I am a huge ballet fan, so that played a part, but the interplay of color and black and grey was what really did it for me. If it had been the two newbies, I think Christian might have won. As much as Megan Jean whined, the jury decision was totally about game, not tattooing. 

Everyone did seem really happy for Anthony, though. The camaraderie there was cool.

Man, he walked out with $120,000 plus the kind of exposure that already has him booked for the next year. 

Kind of cool that all the finalists were from mid-sized Western cities. Two from Vegas, winner from Tucson.

Edited May 25, 2016 by azshadowwalker

[Charlesman]

Don't disagree with Anthony. 

At least Nunez's bias will be built in to next season. Oh, and lemme guess now: he only ends up with one woman on his team and she's first or second off. 

[Muffyn]

I very much preferred Christian's chest piece to Cleen's.  He fit the design to the person's body really well.  I felt like Cleen's tattoo actually accented the wrong parts of the man's body.  It did seem like he made it to the final two purely because of Meagan Jean's mouth.  She would not shut it.  Now I'm glad she was off the season when she was.  Hope we don't see her again.  From Cleen's face when Dave asked about their relationship, there's no there there.  I'm not so sure Cleen is a "cowboy" as much as he's just not that into her.

If the top two were Christian and Anthony it would have been a tough choice.  I am glad Anthony took it all.  He looked so nervous on stage.  He seemed to be doing breathing exercises to keep himself in check.  It was funny hearing Dave have to tell him he was supposed to talk.  I'm surprised he didn't answer that he was afraid to talk for fear he would vomit.

It's a shame Anthony didn't finish the dragon.  I sense he may end up finishing it.  After all, he's got $120K.  He can afford to do a little free work.   

[zxy556575]

I thought Christian deserved to go through to the final two but am so happy for Anthony!

Chest pieces -- I'm not a particular fan of American Traditional but loved Christian's art. I thought it had the most impact and fit the canvas' body better than the other two. Cleen's had some wonderful details but the image being a collage meant it wasn't as visually cohesive. Good for Anthony for turning out a fantastic piece in a style he wasn't that comfortable with, but there was too much red for me and I agreed with Peck about the head not being outlined enough, although I really liked the way the dragon's body and scales rippled with the canvas's movements.

Sleeves -- Anthony's sleeve may be one of my favorite tattoos I've seen on the show. Strong colors, clear message. I liked the imagery and muted shading on Christian's but would have placed him third since I thought Cleen's had more overall impact.

Sausage vs Matti -- I liked both of them for different reasons but would have grudgingly given the win to Sausage, the little weasel. The haphazard and indiscriminate audience voting was ridiculous. The show couldn't even spring for a rickety applause meter? Matti should have made Sausage put that tattoo on his ass.

I appreciated Dave sticking to the judging criteria and voting for Cleen because Anthony hadn't finished (even if it was rigged that way for maximum suspense). The contestants not being allowed to react until Dave declares who won, even though they can hear the judges' vote, continues to be silly.

After announcing the winner, Peck made an odd gesture with closed eyes and hands up to the sky, as if he was thanking God for ... something. That the season was over, maybe.

Edited May 25, 2016 by lordonia

[candall]

6 hours ago, BalsoSnell said:

Hey Cleen, the 80s called, they want their shiny shoulder-pads suit back!

He was Calvin Klein compared to Toothpeck.  That guy must have a closet full of pitted-out suit jackets.

Too bad for Christian and his excellent AT chest piece.  I don't begrudge Anthony the win, although honestly I couldn't read that dragon at any distance other than "filling 90% of my tv screen." 

 

If Team Peck vs.Team Nunez next season means they have to recruit some independent judges, I'm all for it.  I'm sick of those two.

[TattleTeeny]

Perhaps I felt biased but I swear I agree with Dave that Matti had more applause! That said, I was bored about five minutes in and also felt like I'd missed something along the line--I had no idea why Sausage and Matti were there (and I also wondered where the footage was of the finalists actually doing the tattoos). I felt like I had amnesia! Then I realized that, last week, I got tipsy and probably wandered onto my balcony to smoke without bothering to pause the DVR, haha!

[Rancide]

My favorite part of the finale was Nunez looking like a midget standing in the group of Cleen, Anthony, and Christian.  I'm okay with the win.  Anthony was my favorite throughout the season, but I thought Christian had the best work tonight and dislike how he got eliminated.  But at least it wasn't Cleen.  I like Cleen as a tattooer, but the judges' obvious favoritism got old weeks ago, and I really feared they were going to overlook his mistakes all the way through the title.  I'm glad they pulled it together at the last minute.

Least favorite part of the show was the repeated cutaways of the jury talking over each other.  This show casts people who can't manage to have civilized debates in groups as small as 2 or 3.  What made them think that 10+ of them were going to pull it off?  

[Eliza422]

I'm very happy Anthony won. However, think if it had been Christian in the final two I think he would have beat Anthony. I think both of Cleen's tats were third place.

It was nice that Peck said he would have put Christian in the final two. 

It cracked me up how the judges kept trying to suppress the audience.  Don't do a live finale if you want control over the room!!!

[Muffyn]

@Rancide Nunez did look tiny.  Then again, Cleen looked pretty damn short next to Anthony.  I didn't realize until last night how tall he is. 

@candall So much hate for Peck's suit jacket without a shirt look.  Yuck!   His jackets must all have nasty pit stains with the lining wearing away.  It really disgusts me.  Would a shirt be so difficult to manage?  Everyone else wore one, even the folks with fresh chest pieces. When Nunez in his big boy suit looks better than you it's time to step up your game. 

I weirdly liked Cleen's sharkskin suit. He may annoy me but he does stick to his style while still trying to look his version of sharp.  And, he was wearing a shirt, so points to him. 

They improved some of the sound issues from the prior year's finale.  At least the contestants could hear (usually) hear them.  The live crowd shushing was silly.  Also, it was obvious that a big part of this was personality contest/who do you like best.  The live audience was chanting different people's names before they even saw the tattoos.  Hence, Christian was third rather than in the top two.  The panel had more Cleen fans than Christian ones or people  that could just look at the tattoos.  They were supported by the crowd.  For the Matti versus Sausage competition, the crowd was chanting Sausage well before the tattoos were shown.  Frankly I hated Sausage's tattoo because it featured a "Native American" woman.  Don't make my people into a meme.  Natives still exist.     

[azshadowwalker]

I don't know if the audience was really into Cleen. He was the only one that got booed when he came out. But I knew the final two would be a popularity contest based on how they were chosen. Anthony had the public. Cleen had a vet- and MJ-heavy jury.

Anthony is a former basketball player. There's a summer league in Tucson that features a bunch of current and former UA basketball players, including some of the guys in the NBA. In addition to playing for the local JC and a smaller pro league in Mexico, Anthony took the dunk competition there. I didn't realize how tall he was, but I figured he had some height.

Edited May 25, 2016 by azshadowwalker

[phantom]

I am so grateful for the magic of DVRs and the fast-forward for Ink Master finales. There must be a ton of editing on the regular episodes because no one on this show is a natural in front of the camera. There was a point where Christian had been eliminated and had already sat down with the other ousted contestants, yet Dave still said "Christian, please go sit with the others." Teleprompter FTW.

The live tattooing is silly, and just like last year, the tattoo begun during the finale is barely underway by the end of the show so what's the point exactly?

I was happy to see Anthony win just because he seems to be a humble guy who wanted to put his head down and tune out the drama egos of other contestants. He was also willing to accept critique graciously and work harder to improve in the areas he was weakest. Nice guys do finish first occasionally. And I also thought it was HUGE that his two pieces that were admittedly not complete still beat out Cleen in the end. Dave's attempt to bring up the inconsistency in finale judging was noble but futile since Cleen's work was complete, but joyless. I hated Cleen's chest piece - so much empty space and the prominence of the nipples was really distracting.

[azshadowwalker]

If Dave was really that interested in consistency, he needs to tell us why Cleen wasn't eliminated weeks ago...like on his first day back. Consistency is important except when it isn't.

Edited May 25, 2016 by azshadowwalker

[psychoticstate]

3 hours ago, Rancide said:

My favorite part of the finale was Nunez looking like a midget standing in the group of Cleen, Anthony, and Christian.  I'm okay with the win.  Anthony was my favorite throughout the season, but I thought Christian had the best work tonight and dislike how he got eliminated.  But at least it wasn't Cleen.  I like Cleen as a tattooer, but the judges' obvious favoritism got old weeks ago, and I really feared they were going to overlook his mistakes all the way through the title.  I'm glad they pulled it together at the last minute.

Least favorite part of the show was the repeated cutaways of the jury talking over each other.  This show casts people who can't manage to have civilized debates in groups as small as 2 or 3.  What made them think that 10+ of them were going to pull it off?  

This is gold.  And so true.

I'm glad Anthony won.  He was my favorite.  His work was always solid and he wasn't a shit stirrer.  His strategy was also smart - - he knew he was going to be competing with Christian's excellent black and gray and Cleen's color and he kept that in mind with his sleeve.  I was worried that he would lose because he didn't finish his chest piece.  I think once it is done, it will be stunning (and I'm not a fan in general of the Japanese tattoos).

I thought both of Christian's tattoos were excellent, especially the sleeve.  That was beautiful and told an incredible story.  I hate that the same thing happened as did last year - - someone was eliminated before both pieces could be judged.

Can someone pay Oliver enough to buy a shirt?  I mean, really.  Cleen looked nice in his suit, as did Nunez.  Everyone else had shirts on.

Someone here suggested on another thread that the judges should not be made aware who tattooed what and that would be a more fair and accurate critique.  I agree.  The same with the eliminated inktestant jury (i.e., Megan Jean and everyone else.)  Cleen should definitely slip MJ a hundred or something for keeping him in the top two.  She was ridiculously over the top.  Say your piece and then let someone else speak.  Gah.

I wonder if Sausage cleared that ridiculous tattoo with Matti before he inked it.  If not, what a dick move.   And it was definitely a popularity contest.  Again, there would have been benefit to the audience not knowing who tattooed what.

With regard to next season - - if Oliver has a team (Peckers?) and Nunez has a team, who is going to judge?  Guest judges?  Or just Dave? (I love Dave)

Yay Anthony! 

[Jenkins]

I never thought I would be happy seeing Cleen win, but I was. Only because I KNEW he would lose to Anthony in the final two, whereas Christian....hmm, not so sure. It would have been MUCH closer.

Sorry, I hated Cleens chest tattoo. It reminded me of a prison tattoo to be honest. I get it, he is all about bright, vibrant colors, but this is Ink Master where you are supposed to be able to do ANY tattoo. I think Cleen has shown this season, he really CAN'T. He is good at what he does and average at everything else.

Having said that, Christian got ripped off. He SHOULD have been in the final two. But again, KIND of glad he wasn't since I wanted Anthony to win.

And ugh, Megan shouldn't even have been allowed to judge. Conflict of interest being in a "relationship" with a contestant. Given the makeup of the contestant jury, it was a foregone conclusion that Cleen was going through.

I liked Megan all the way until she was eliminated, but she annoyed the hell out of me last night.

Oh well, all's well that ends well...my favorite IM contestant of all time won, that is what matters. Seriously, GREAT tattoo artist AND a humble, nice guy? Show needs more people like him! HUGE future for this kid.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Jenkins

[azshadowwalker]

I keep thinking of Anthony as a kid, too, even though it turns out that he's 33. Even after I found that out, I kept referring to him as a kid. 

[zxy556575]

1 hour ago, Jenkins said:

Oh well, all's well that ends well...my favorite IM contestant of all time won, that is what matters. Seriously, GREAT tattoo artist AND a humble, nice guy? Show needs more people like him! HUGE future for this kid.

How old is he, anyway? Enough to have five kids, I guess.

(Not for nothing, but he's also one fine looking human.)

Edited May 25, 2016 by lordonia

[Apatee]

- Someone for the love of god buy Peck a undershirt.

- Chest tattoos: Christian's chest was the best overall. Great layout, design and application. Don't know why judges gave him traditional because of the cover-up challenge though. I thought he displayed on the show he's very good in the style. Anthony and Cleen's are about even for me. Anthony's was impressive, but unfinished. However, I didn't like Cleen's design at all. Even his application wasn't as solid as he usually is.

- Sleeve: Anthony had the best one by far. One of my favorite designs so far in Ink Master. Christian's was also pretty nice. Cleen's was a bit messy, but points for going big and doing a pretty good job.

- Cleen choked big time this year. He seemed to get worse as the competition went on. Great talent, but fell a bit short in the end. Anthony was my favorite artist this year and I'm very happy he won, but part of me is thinking Christian might've deserved it. Definitely earned 2nd place at least. Wouldn't be an Ink Master finale without someone getting unfairly screwed.

- If it means they're bringing in guest judges next year, I'm all for the change. If not, meh.

[azshadowwalker]

There's a post on his Facebook celebrating his 30th birthday. It's dated from early  2013, so he turned 33 a couple of months ago. 

Based on the live Q&A feed he did, I also think at least one of his kids is actually his wife's from a previous relationship. 

[Inkmaster0345]

Why why why why WHY must everyone always tattoo female figures. Nothing against it, but I'd certainly like to see something else just for the sake of variety. Cleen and Anthony faced off with female figures last week, and in the finale, 2 of the 3 chest tattoos featured females and all 3 sleeves did (Christian's a little more indirectly).

The format of the finale in terms of voting was totally whack. I wonder if Christian knew while watching the season air that he was going to be screwed when it came to America's vote. I'm not sure if it was a lot of editing or if he really is just that unlikable in real life. America's vote was a popularity contest that had nothing to do with the tattoos, and the Artist Jury had nothing to do with the tattoos either, it seemed like the veterans were making sure that Cleen got the nod no matter what. 

The reason that mad me so mad was that, as much as I dislike him, Christian easily deserved to be in the final 2 at least.

Looking at the chest pieces, I have absolutely no idea how anyone could argue that Christian didn't have the best tattoo. It was clean, had nice color, and it fit the canvas perfectly. My father (who HATES tattoos) was watching the final with me and even commented that he thought it looked slick and fit nice. Anthony's chest piece was a mess in my opinion. That dude's chest is just a big swirly dragon body with a head that doesn't stand out or look especially badass. And for God's sake the thing wasn't finished. I know most people on here are Anthony lovers (myself included), but his chest piece left a lot to be desired. Cleen's chest tattoo was also bizarre to me. I think a lot of that has to do with the style (thin line black and grey? that doesn't even sound like it will look good). The elements were all done well individually, but it wasn't super cohesive, wasn't very large, and didn't fit the body as well as Christian's. Christian was the obvious winner of that round. 

The sleeves were a little closer. Christian's sleeve was beautiful,told a story, and was truly unique. I've never seen anything like it in 7 seasons of Ink Master. The color wasn't as saturated as it should have been, but that's about the only knock. Anthony's sleeve was very cool. But I must say that he just kind of stacked the various elements on top of one another. And as Dave commented, it wasn't a full sleeve (the challenge specifically said sleeve, not "arm tattoo"). Cleen's sleeve was okay. The female gypsy face was jacked and I don't care for his personal "style". Also, did anybody notice that the design he did on the inside of her sleeve is almost identical to the colorful tentacle design cleen has on his shoulder areas? Basically did the same thing. 

All in all. I thought that in terms of tattoos it should have been 1) Christian 2) Anthony 3) Cleen. But because of the lame voting system, Anthony was basically handed the title the second Christian was eliminated. I truly believe Anthony would have lost that match up head to head (unfinished chest tat, non full sleeve).

[Madding crowd]

Anthony has been my favorite all along, but I think Christian had two beautiful tattoos and should have won. I really hate the idea that the finalist does all this work and then doesn't even have the final piece judged. I also have never seen a ballet inspired tattoo like the one Christian did-it was beautiful. It told a story, had original art work and interesting coloration. Anthony's sleeve was well done but not as artistic. I didn't like either of Kleen's pieces, his work is just not my style. These finales all seem poorly run, noisy and adding in the last minute challenge between Sausage and Matti was unnecessary. The only judge I like is Dave, the others have their own agendas and are never impartial. Speaking of which, having the former contestants back to judge was a stupid idea as well. Anthony is a deserving winner, but damn I want that ballet tattoo piece. 

[zxy556575]

My delight at having a nice person win -- particularly on a show where the contestants are urged to be belligerent, posturing assholes -- has waned somewhat with the realization that Christian was screwed. If the judges had been deciding and if the chest pieces had been up first, Anthony might have been SOL. I think the judges would have put him through if the sleeves had been judged first.

Not for nothing, but Anthony has a lot of women's faces in his photo gallery and seems to gravitate towards those. Overall, his portraits are excellent. I'm curious about how he ended up where he did, now that we know he had a hard time finding anyone to mentor him. The Facebook page for Metro Tattoo only had a handful of congratulatory comments for Anthony.

Can someone help me understand Christian's sleeve tattoo? The left hand on the main ballerina appears to be a demon claw. Is that supposed to be the arm of Pan (?) who's holding her? And btw, her right hand is small and poorly formed -- what is it with hands that apparently makes them so difficult? The artists can put minute details into the folds of clothing and faces and can tattoo elaborate and finely drawn mandelas or the like but fingers completely stump them?

Edited May 28, 2016 by lordonia

[MiseryIndex]

man to have them go through a whole season only to let non-judges decide who gets in the final 2 is kinda crap. especially since its going to be a popularity contest. even if anthony had the best quality of work, he had an unfinished chest piece & half a sleeve. its the same as if he just did the whole bicep but not the forearm. i agree his technique was great, but he had more time to put into that since he did half the work.

that being said, he was the least objectionable person they've had in a long time & i'm genuinely happy for him. i just don't know i agree with the result. i don't think they're ever that forgiving on unfinished tattoos or not completing the challenge. 

[hkit]

On 5/25/2016 at 6:18 AM, candall said:

He was Calvin Klein compared to Toothpeck.  That guy must have a closet full of pitted-out suit jackets.

Whenever I see Peck, I always wonder if he ever takes out the toothpick, like during sexy times. Then I have the image of him and Kat Von D doing it. Then I get eye cancer. And now I realize I probably just gave it all to you too. Sorry about that.

[azshadowwalker]

9 hours ago, lordonia said:

Not for nothing, but Anthony has a lot of women's faces in his photo gallery and seems to gravitate towards those. Overall, his portraits are excellent. I'm curious about how he ended up where he did, now that we now he had a hard time finding anyone to mentor him. The Facebook page for Metro Tattoo only had a handful of congratulatory comments for Anthony.

 

If you go to the media thread, I have a rundown of a Q&A Anthony did on Facebook. It explains how he got where he is. As for congratulations, those are mostly on his personal Facebook page. He has his own account, then he set up a public page a few days ago.

Of the two up there at the end, Anthony deserved the win. But Christian got screwed by not being final two with Anthony, and probably winning. He can thank the dumbassed jury for that, though, especially Megan Jean.

If Anthony hadn't admitted that the dragon was unfinished, I wouldn't have known the difference, to be honest. I doubt most viewers would have. It was lacking in background, but the dragon itself looked like a dragon. I am not a huge fan of Japanese dragons or fu dogs, because they are too busy, but I recognized it for what it was.

Edited May 26, 2016 by azshadowwalker

[Inkmaster0345]

1 hour ago, hkit said:

Whenever I see Peck, I always wonder if he ever takes out the toothpick, like during sexy times. Then I have the image of him and Kat Von D doing it. Then I get eye cancer. And now I realize I probably just gave it all to you too. Sorry about that.

I saw in an interview on youtube (just type in Oliver Peck interview on youtube, it's like 45 minutes long) in which he says that he developed the habit as a kid because of a speech impediment. If he had a toothpick in, people thought that he was talking funny due to the toothpick, and it masked the fact that he actually had an impediment. I guess the habit just stayed with him 

[candall]

8 hours ago, lordonia said:

The artists can put minute details into the folds of clothing and faces and can tattoo elaborate and finely drawn mandelas or the like but fingers completely stump them?

<g>  Hands are notoriously difficult--all those little bones and joints that allow for this but not for that.  But, yeah, if you're making a living from art that can't be corrected, maybe invest some time figuring it out.  How many tattoos have we seen with bad hands? 

[psychoticstate]

I went to Spike's Ink Master page and looked at the pics of the finale tattoos - - I always find it hard to really see the tattoos because they focus on them for all of two seconds and sometimes the camera is too far away to really notice details.

That said, I like Anthony's chest piece more after looking at the pic.  Yes, it's unfinished (although I didn't realize that during the show until it was mentioned) but the detail is really well done and I think it fits his client's body well.  You also can't see the man's nipples at all, which can't be said with the other two.

I still like Christian's and think it's a solid piece of work but I feel as though I like it a little less after studying the picture.

Cleen got screwed in a way on this, being given black and grey and fine line.  Each individual piece is quite good but it's hard to make them flow together.

As far as the sleeves go, I find Christian's and Anthony's equally phenomenal.  Both tell a story.  Anthony's color is just stunning.  Christian's maybe could have used a little more saturation but the ballerina aspect, the shadows he put on it and the story is just gorgeous.  It's a freaking sin that he was not judged on that stunning tattoo.  Cleen's was good but nowhere close to the other two. 

I'm still absolutely thrilled for Anthony, who was a deserving winner.

[azshadowwalker]

He's doing another live thing on his public Facebook page right now. I guess his wife does YouTube videos (make-up application stuff), so they do a lot of streaming. Some of it is just talking, but he has some of him tattooing, as well.

[thecucumber]

On 25/05/2016 at 10:42 AM, lordonia said:

Matti should have made Sausage put that tattoo on his ass.

I made an account just to respond to this because it had me laughing so hard! I'm not sure who's the bigger loser in that situation - Sausage having to be at Matti's ass for a whIle,  or Matti who would have #Team Sausage on his ASS.  Let that sink in... probably not his best course of action. hahaha I'm dying.