S09.E10: Drill, Baby, Drill

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The final veteran shop returns to fight for the first ever title of master shop. Skull picks are key to the precision strike leveled at the opposing alliance as the battle for 200K continues.

[toodywoody]

There is no way, Kleen Rock's partner's did not look good and her face was crooked.  OMG there is no way theirs were better than Tommy's and his partner. 

Edited August 16, 2017 by toodywoody

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I always LOVE portrait week because to me, a portrait is one of them most difficult things to draw/tattoo. Love that the twist this time was that each person in the team had to do the same portrait. Talk about precision! Sadly, most teams failed at matching each other's tattoos, let alone making the tattoos look like the original photos.

Cleen's definitely had some flaws. The nose on his little cheerleader was distorted and there was hair on the right side of her head that had come loose from her ponytail but he interpreted them as short layers which looked really weird. Aaron somehow distorted both her nose and her eyes (which were totally crooked - her right eye was noticeably higher than her left eye) and the shadows on her face looked like splotches instead of shading. He also made her left ear look like she had cauliflower ear from boxing.

Allegory fucked up that little girl's portrait so badly. Neither of their tattoos look like her. Both of their tattoos made this poor little girl look like she was a monster (think Sloth in Goonies) because they distorted the proportions of her face so much. Both of them totally fucked up her eyes. Ulyss gave them a totally different shape while Eva made them totally crooked. Her right eye was rounder and higher. The eyebrows on both portraits looked terrible, as did the nose. Ulyss put way too much shading on her chin. And as for the two paying attention and matching each other, Ulyss did the collar of her shirt totally differently and he only shaded the left shoulder of her shirt darkly. The right shoulder has a shadow on top and then it's white. Eva's weak defense of "I don't think it looked THAT bad" just made me shake my head. Do you not have eyes in your head? You made that kid look like a misshapen monster. I'm also tired of Ulyss and his stank attitude with Eva. During the flash challenge, we saw the same thing he does so often - he told her she was doing something wrong. She said she didn't know what to do. Instead of offering a concrete suggestion, his response was to passive aggressively say, "Well do whatever you want and we'll just take the hit."

I didn't like either of Basilica's portraits. Christian's made her almost look like she was growling and Noelin's looked like she was snarling. Christian's shading on the face was smoother while Noelin's was darker and patchier. As for matching each other, they did the details in the collar differently.

I didn't like Empire's portraits either. Why did they both add all of those wrinkles to the guy's forehead? Tommy's shading on the face was smoother while Marvin's was a little darker. The hair wasn't the same, the wrinkles on the face were similar but not the same, the ears weren't the same, etc.

Unkindness Art's two portraits were clearly not the same. Doom's was terrible. Erin's was slightly better but mostly because her partner set the bar so low. Hers still looked stiff and like a shittier version of the photo. The client's face looks pretty symmetric in the photo but both of them had problems with the proportions of the face. I could not handle his stupidity during the jury of peers. Who cares if you tried really hard? That's your excuse for putting a shitty tattoo on someone? And obviously he didn't try hard enough to bother practicing portraits before coming on the show.

Classic Trilogy's tattoos did not look like the original photo and they also didn't look like each other's tattoos. When they put the two tattoos and the photo on the screen, it was three different things. I am so sick of Thom so I have been waiting for them to go home for what feels like months.

Old Town managed to make their tattoos look like the original photo but DJ's was much better. The shading on the face was smoother and looked much more similar to the original. Bubba's shading was patchy/scratchy and one eye was a little off.

Artistic Skin Design did a terrible job. Neither tattoo looked like the kid in the photo. April's was just straight up bad. The eyes, the nose, and the mouth all looked different from the original and had terrible proportions. Dane's was definitely better but it still didn't look enough like the kid. The shading on the face was too dark.

Black Cobra had the best photo to work with so they should have kicked ass but I agree with the judges that there were minor differences between the photo and their tattoos (as well as between the two tattoos). But hey, their portraits didn't look like someone got hit with a stick so compared to almost everyone else, they did pretty well.

I had to laugh at Thom saying that when it's your fourth time in the bottom, you're out in reference to another team and then this ended up being Classic Trilogy's fourth time in the bottom. I am so glad we are finally rid of his stank attitude. The way he kept referring to the alliance as the cool kids drove me crazy all season. I don't think the teams in the alliance considered themselves the cool kids. I think they just decided to form an alliance to protect themselves/try to eliminate other teams first. When Thom said that the cool kids pick on the nerds, I was like for fuck's sake, stop with the persecution complex. You were in an alliance with other teams so were you picking on the people in the alliance because you thought you were cool and they were the nerds? No, you were just trying to get anyone to be on your side. Yes, the skull picks play a role in the game but if you're as good as you say you are, then just do good tattoos and the judges will have no reason to eliminate you. But then again, Thom is the one who said he was fine coasting in the middle until the finale (glad someone pointed out to him that he wasn't actually coasting in the middle because he'd already been in the bottom three times).

[Kelda Feegle]

Once again this challenge reminds me to never ever get a portrait tattoo done.

[hkit]

Just sitting over here with my tinfoil hat on. If anyone still doesn't agree with me that this whole season was just a ruse to crown Cleen, I point to his winning TOTD as exhibit A.  Let's just get it over with so we can get him off our screen. I didn't mind Cleen at first, but come on, show. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Leave him in the stables for a bit instead of trotting him out for the judges to ignore his flaws.

Other thoughts - so glad that Classic Trilogy is gone, even though I think Allegory should have gone. More inconsistency from the judges. Unkindness art doesn't go to the bottom because Erin's was at least decent. During judging, they said that the other guy from Classic (not Thom, forgot his name) had a decent tattoo they'd rather wear over anything from Allegory. So, to review. One shit tattoo and one passable tattoo = saved from elimination. 5 minutes later, one shit tattoo and one passable tattoo = close shop. And finally, I really don't like DJ from Old Town. Their tattoos were great today, and DJ has been pretty solid all season. But there's something about him that rubs me the wrong way. Thom did an AMA on Reddit a couple of weeks ago, and mentioned that DJ was very arrogant in the house, so maybe that's what I don't care for.

[2727]

9 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Sadly, most teams failed at matching each other's tattoos, let alone making the tattoos look like the original photos.

With both artists working off the same template, it's interesting how much variation there was in the finished product. Even a few of the proportions were off, so it wasn't just shading application or scratchy lines. Same outcome when the show has done this in the past with designs other than portraits.

How could Empire not have won? As one of the judges said, it was hard at first glance to even tell them apart. (And that's my perfectly unbiased opinion. Call me, Tommy!)

Edited August 16, 2017 by 2727

[candall]

I'm just watching now, so I haven't read the comments, but Nunez just said that if the "snowflake" drill piece was the least bit off, it would really stick out.  Well, it is, and it does.  Is he blind?  (And St. Cleen's "balls to the wall" piece was a MESS.)  Oh look, Black Cobra won, for being smart enough to fashion a compass during the precision challenge.

[Galloway Cave]

Geez, Oliver, "Hey, I had a heart attack and had some stints put in but all is good now. Feeling great! Now lemme tell ya how your tat sucks....."

I hate Cleen with the fire of a thousand nuns and love Tommy (and his work) dearly. Nunez is determined to give Cleen his win, no matter what. I might as well stop watching now.

I have several ornamental tats. How about an ornamental day, boys? All those lines, dots, filigree and subtle shading- or is that too girly for this show?

[candall]

I didn't know toddlers were supposed to be so difficult.  Their features have a different proportion, but I don't see anyone falling back on measuring the standard ratios, so . . ? Seems like it might be the washed out, over-exposed nature of the studio photos contributing to the problem.

 

The little girl was the worst, IMO, but even with that one, I felt some relief that none of the canvases have to live with a true monster mash version of a loved one.  I've seen some people go out of there wearing some horror show portraits.  Eek.

[AZChristian]

52 minutes ago, Galloway Cave said:

Geez, Oliver, "Hey, I had a heart attack and had some stints put in but all is good now. Feeling great! Now lemme tell ya how your tat sucks....."

Caught my attention when Oliver said that . . . Mr. AZC did the same thing two years ago.  The one thing that I noticed is how much healthier Oliver looks, even shortly after the heart attack.  Same thing happened with my hubby.  Amazing what getting full blood supply back to one's body can do for one's color.  Mr. AZC was back to work in 10 days (desk job).  It's amazing what medical science can do.

I'm just wondering if they made Oliver take out his toothpick when they were doing the stents.  LOL.

[azshadowwalker]

Ugh. Those three aligned couples talking about how they're going to take out the "mediocre" artists, then saying first target is Christian. Seriously? That's both dishonest and cowardly. They won't admit that they are going after threats. That's why you go after Christian. Fine to go after him, but don't be such a hypocritical liar. If they really were going after mediocrity, it's the three (six) of them and Classic Trilogy. That's why I can't stand that group. 

Liked Empire the best, but this show with it's hard-on for Cleen. Of course that's how they went. 

[sourpickles]

Best compass I remember seeing on this show was Sausage's (I think) and that was a cover up.  God, portraits.  Every time I think I've seen the worst challenges to come along (ala new school, pin ups, etc.) here come the portraits.  Sorry, the right people did not go home.  That little girl was jacked UP.  I hope to hell it can be fixed, tailor made for Redemption.  I didn't really agree with a lot of the judging, I'm wondering how much politics/show play is at work here.  I'll second the tinfoil hat but I'm still one who has hope that all this shit can be worked out as we go.  I do truly enjoy some of these artists, though it's like they did Yahtzee for partners.  Overall though, this week was awful.  So MANY bad portraits.  How can you NOT know what you are signing up for, and really, some of those pics could have been better. 

[CheezyXpressed]

I remember seeing Cleen before, but at the same time I don't. I don't really like how loud he is though. Hopefully he tones that down.

I need to go to the website and check out the tattoos. I remember Oliver talking about his heart attack and then I passed out (it's been a long day). When I woke up Classic Trilogy left.

[sourpickles]

4 minutes ago, CheezyXpressed said:

I remember seeing Cleen before, but at the same time I don't. I don't really like how loud he is though. Hopefully he tones that down.

He's always been quasi aggressive.  Sometimes I mind it, sometimes not.  Same with Christian.  On the one hand, I don't mind that they don't put up with stuff.  On the other, the attitude can come off as overly defensive.  I believe it was brought up last week how ppl. can be interpreted and if it is all editing, etc. 

[CheezyXpressed]

5 minutes ago, sourpickles said:

He's always been quasi aggressive.  Sometimes I mind it, sometimes not.  Same with Christian.  On the one hand, I don't mind that they don't put up with stuff.  On the other, the attitude can come off as overly defensive.  I believe it was brought up last week how ppl. can be interpreted and if it is all editing, etc. 

It's all editing. I agree. It's just that when you're half asleep already hearing Cleen and Dane shouting during their talking heads isn't really appealing. (It does help keep me awake though :p)

[sourpickles]

48 minutes ago, CheezyXpressed said:

It's all editing. I agree. It's just that when you're half asleep already hearing Cleen and Dane shouting during their talking heads isn't really appealing. (It does help keep me awake though :p)

I'm stunned you can wake up with all the similar bitching.  That's what I'm getting/been tired of.  I get it's for the show, but dang, I just don't care.  I'll unsnooze when you give me a reason.

[Inkmaster0345]

Allegory definitely had the worst tattoos. Sending the cartoon bros home doesn't bother as they weren't much better and they've certainly had a rough track record to this point. 

Speaking of rough track records, in 9 elimination challenges Allegory has 0 wins and 4 bottoms. Safe to say you shouldn't be placing any bets on them to win the competition. 

Black Cobra continues to impress. They've won 2/3 flash challenges and come close to winning 2/3 elimination challenges. Always did think that Matt was one of the more underated competitors in the show's history. If my memory serves, he was pseudo screwed in the finale by one of those silly fan votes. Katie was strong in that season as well. I wouldn't expect them to slip up anytime soon. 

Unkindness won't win. Doom is just totally outclassed by Erin as a tattoo artist. Shame really, as I think that Erin would be an absolute force on her own. Regardless of how far they go, I'd be beyond shocked if the judges let Doom win Ink Master knowing he's 1/2 as talented as his partner. 

Judges definitely seem to still love Cleen a whole lot. Aaron worries me a little as a partner but with Cleen's judging armor anything is possible. 

Glad to see Peck is back. Had no idea he experienced any serious health issues during filming. 

[azshadowwalker]

1 hour ago, Inkmaster0345 said:

Always did think that Matt was one of the more underated competitors in the show's history. If my memory serves, he was pseudo screwed in the finale by one of those silly fan votes. 

Can't remember how all that went down, but Matt (preferably) or Chris definitely should have won over Kruseman. I actually liked Kruseman as a person. I just thought the other two were stronger. My preference for winners are Empire, Black Cobra and Basilica. Black Cobra is the strongest team. Empire has the best overall artist. Basilica also has a fairly strong #1 with a decent #2. 

Edited August 17, 2017 by azshadowwalker

[dstann]

5 hours ago, Inkmaster0345 said:

Allegory definitely had the worst tattoos. Sending the cartoon bros home doesn't bother as they weren't much better and they've certainly had a rough track record to this point. 

Unkindness won't win. Doom is just totally outclassed by Erin as a tattoo artist. Shame really, as I think that Erin would be an absolute force on her own. Regardless of how far they go, I'd be beyond shocked if the judges let Doom win Ink Master knowing he's 1/2 as talented as his partner. 

 

I think the last 2 weeks have shown they are trimming off the weak team, not necessarily the worst tattoo of the day.   Pins and Needlez and Trilogy are not at the same caliber as the the remaining teams.

While Erin is a very good tattoo artist, the stress is really getting to her and without Doom to manage her stress I think she would been eliminated already.

[hkit]

11 hours ago, CheezyXpressed said:

I remember seeing Cleen before, but at the same time I don't. I don't really like how loud he is though. Hopefully he tones that down.

I've got some bad news for you.....

[cpcathy]

18 hours ago, Galloway Cave said:

Geez, Oliver, "Hey, I had a heart attack and had some stints put in but all is good now. Feeling great! Now lemme tell ya how your tat sucks....."

I hate Cleen with the fire of a thousand nuns and love Tommy (and his work) dearly. Nunez is determined to give Cleen his win, no matter what. I might as well stop watching now.

I have several ornamental tats. How about an ornamental day, boys? All those lines, dots, filigree and subtle shading- or is that too girly for this show?

 

Heh, I thought Peck swallowed his tooth pick!

[Inkmaster0345]

22 hours ago, azshadowwalker said:

Can't remember how all that went down, but Matt (preferably) or Chris definitely should have won over Kruseman. I actually liked Kruseman as a person. I just thought the other two were stronger. My preference for winners are Empire, Black Cobra and Basilica. Black Cobra is the strongest team. Empire has the best overall artist. Basilica also has a fairly strong #1 with a decent #2. 

Kruseman was pretty sick on his good days. But on his bad days he was very mediocre and there were a couple challenges his season when he blatently chose not to do the assigned style and should have been cut imo. I liked all 3 finale tattoos that season.

For some reason I just find myself liking Black Cobra more and more. Matt is incredibly talented and also just so steady and even tempered. Katie is strong as well. Most importantly they've worked together for years and seem to have perfect teamwork and communication. That's where my money would go. I have no faith whatsoever that Aaron will pull his weight for Golden Skull. Basilica and Empire are strong but I wish I could see more of the partners before making a prediction. 

18 hours ago, dstann said:

I think the last 2 weeks have shown they are trimming off the weak team, not necessarily the worst tattoo of the day.   Pins and Needlez and Trilogy are not at the same caliber as the the remaining teams.

While Erin is a very good tattoo artist, the stress is really getting to her and without Doom to manage her stress I think she would been eliminated already.

Oh absolutely. The judges 100% have a pecking order of sorts established a few weeks into every season. I'd say there's a deviation of +/-2 weeks that you could comfortably predict when most teams will be eliminated. Based on the temperature of the room, it was definitely time for Trilogy and P&N to go about when they did. 

It's sort of odd to me that they keep playing bites of Erin talking about her slipping confidence and being worn down by the competition. Are they being set up because they're going to drop the ball and be eliminated soon? Or are they just not that interesting and that's the only relevant soundbite the producers got from them? So far her remarks haven't seemed to affect her performance. I thought her portrait was stunning. 

Edited August 18, 2017 by Inkmaster0345

[tessat]

Haven't read the responses yet - but how biased is this show? They are doing critiques of the portraits  - Clean Rock is up - those portraits are bad - the faces are narrower than the pic - the partner's eyes are jacked and the judges are telling them how well they did. I can see it's crap and I know nothing about tattoos but this does not look  like the picture.

[PepperMonkey]

I'm sorry but I think Allegory is past due for a leaving.

They're also singularly unpleasant to watch. Their interactions with each other are no longer passive-aggressive; they're just plain aggressive-aggressive.

I also thought Ulyss' panic attack of a few weeks ago came at a really convenient time.

I'm ready for them to go. I don't know why they think they are so strong.

[phantom]

Portrait day is always a shitshow. Not practicing them before going on Ink Master is as dumb as not practicing how to start a fire without a lighter before going on Survivor.

I wish the flash challenges would get back to being more about quick design artistry rather than mastery of random home improvement tools and complex art techniques.

[sourpickles]

5 hours ago, phantom said:

Portrait day is always a shitshow. Not practicing them before going on Ink Master is as dumb as not practicing how to start a fire without a lighter before going on Survivor.

Yes, but the faces when this is "sprung" on them is priceless.  Kinda like new school and traditional.  I'm always shocked that some of these people don't have a clue.  You don't have to be an ace at it, but you should know WHAT IT MEANS AND ENTAILS.  Jeez.  Asking too much is it, to study your profession?  Some of these portraits though.....man, I hope Nightmares comes back, because that's a season right there.  Or Redemption I guess, though that means many pissed off canvases..............

Edited August 23, 2017 by sourpickles
And again, to vs too vs two. Too much.

[halkatla]

This was rough. I was kind of horrified by the little girl´s face, that nose was definitely not a human nose.

I´m really enjoying this season, compared to the last 4-5 something just seems way different, more mellow perhaps. There are a lot of talented teams, that helps. I really love the male+female shops but this week I felt they kind of got by unfairly. The team that was sent home was much better than the other bottom teams. But overall they hadn´t been doing that well.

There are so many contestants that I love. Obviously I adore Tommy. Then there is Matt, I think he and Katie are both awesome. My newest fave is Bubba, he and his partner are both very talented and they seem like nice guys. I´d be happy if Bubba, Matt and Tommy could all win.

Cleen is incredibly good at tattooing so he will give them a fight.

[AndrewSBB]

On 8/16/2017 at 9:46 PM, Galloway Cave said:

Geez, Oliver, "Hey, I had a heart attack and had some stints put in but all is good now. Feeling great! Now lemme tell ya how your tat sucks....."

I hate Cleen with the fire of a thousand nuns and love Tommy (and his work) dearly. Nunez is determined to give Cleen his win, no matter what. I might as well stop watching now.

I have several ornamental tats. How about an ornamental day, boys? All those lines, dots, filigree and subtle shading- or is that too girly for this show?

I'm convinced Nunez is in love with Cleen