S09.E11: Grim Inker

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

With no flash challenge, the artists think they've got it all figured out until a massive twist sends them reeling; Four Horsemen tattoos bring on the end of days for one pair of artists.

[azshadowwalker]

Well, that elimination was an anti-climax. Once it was three vets versus one new team, it was a fairly foregone conclusion. Once the two worst tattoos came down to the newbies vs any team with Cleen on it, Artistic should have just waved goodbye. It was so over. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Artistic (and the rest of that alliance) have been circling the drain and now that the extreme dead weight is gone, I'm not at all surprised that they were finally sent home. They deserved it though because that wolf face was terrible. Heh, loved that one of the other teams totally knew that this would end with a head to head challenge of the people who didn't tattoo in the first challenge. He has obviously watched this show before, which is how he knew what to expect (unlike the newbies who were like, "What?!!").

I know that this show is about being a well rounded artist, not just doing what's in your area of expertise, but the second part of the challenge showed just how woefully inferior most of the new teams are. They were allowed to tattoo ANYTHING and the results were two people produced very clean attractive tattoos. One was mostly good. And then there was Artistic's tattoo which reminded me of that old Sesame Street song (one of these things is not like the others). If that's the best you can do when you are given carte blanche to tattoo anything, then you deserve to be eliminated.

Edited August 23, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Kelda Feegle]

I could not get past those awful teeth - I would have sent them home on that - maybe the wolf was wacky but when you go wacky the rules do not apply so much, when you go traditional like a skull you should be able to nail it.

[Charlesman]

9 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

 Heh, loved that one of the other teams totally knew that this would end with a head to head challenge of the people who didn't tattoo in the first challenge. He has obviously watched this show before, which is how he knew what to expect (unlike the newbies who were like, "What?!!").

 

I know, right?! How could they not see that coming? Did they really think all 4 losing teams would be sent home? Of course not. Of course there would be a second challenge to determine who leaves. My god, people!

And that wolf. Ye gods. It was... ugh. It was both "puffy" and "folded" at the same time. All of it, wrong. I just don't know. I don't know why he tried it, I don't know why anyone didn't stop him, and I don't know why he even thought that it would be enough quality to get through to the next round. Kid obviously didn't have it and it was time to go home.

[Evagirl]

12 hours ago, azshadowwalker said:

any team with Cleen on it

My thoughts exactly.  They're setting him up to win.  Just give him the stuff already and save us the heartburn of all the fake critiques please!

[Galloway Cave]

1 hour ago, Evagirl said:

Just give him the stuff already and save us the heartburn of all the fake critiques please!

Why even ask Nunez who he is voting for the win. Just assume he is voting for Cleen, even if he just scratches out a black line and calls it done. He knows it too, with the way he was repeatedly arguing about the rules of the challenge.

#TeamTommy, although it is obvious he does much better when he has twelve hours to do a tat (Tattoo Nightmares) instead of six hours.

[CheezyXpressed]

I guess Artistic Skin Design had it coming, but at the same time I'm annoyed that they're gone but Allegory Arts is still there. Artistic was actually a solid contender, with more hits than misses. Allegory are over staying their welcome. They really did luck out with their team. In the final challenge, the skull wasn't all that great too and I kind of wish they spent more time blasting it, instead of saying nothing.  It was only their second day and judging from the twitter comments Cleen is a fan favourite, so they were safe.

I do like how awesome Erin has been. When she gives interviews it always seems like she's losing her confidence, but she's great.

[Inkmaster0345]

Really liked this episode. I wish there were more head to heads and intense challenges throughout the show. I was super stoked to see that Bubba absolutely murdered that flower. The outline looked solid and the way the pink went from soft to solid was perfect. I was nervous at first because they didn't show his tattoo at all mid progess. When he and DJ checked it out in the mirror I felt so happy for him. No matter what the field I will never get tired of watching someone prove others wrong. Everyone has been writing Bubba off the whole competition but he nailed it. 

 

I agree that it's a little annoying to have Allegory around beyond Artistic, but on the bright side I find it impossible to believe that Allegory will be around much longer regardless. 

 

Very cool to see Erin getting so much hype. I've been high on her the whole season and wish there were more individual challenges just so I could see her show off. She was on a team with Tommy and Matt and undeniably showed up both. That's impressive no matter how you spin it. 

 

I still have serious doubts about a lot of the partners on these teams. I don't think Tommy's partner has even said a word, Doom Kitten is completely in over his head, Aaron is shakey at best, and Christian's partner hasn't exactly been blowing everyone away. No idea how this season is going to shake out but it seems to me like Black Cobra and Old Town should be some of the betting favorites. Both teams are well rounded and a serious threat to win any flash or elimination challenge. 

 

Did Katie, Doom, Eva, and Marvin even show up for this week of filming? Lol. An entire episode with maybe a combined 10 seconds of dialogue total between all 4. 

[psychoticstate]

I think this was the first time this season that I had no idea which way the judges would go, at least in relation to the elimination challenge.  I think I've said this every season I have watched but what's the point of having a challenge if you can do what you want and still get props?  While I think that Cleen's team did good art, they did not follow the challenge guidelines. I was absolutely Team Oliver with that and I figured Dave would agree, since he's often the only one who reminds the judges about the challenge guidelines. 

I too am happy that Bubba nailed his ink.  I think he's improved a great deal since his season and he seems to be on the quieter side and so he gets overlooked by the other inktestants. It certainly doesn't help that DJ is mouthy.  I think Old Town would be the dark horse in this competition. 

Christian's elimination tattoo was really good, even with the slightly off eye - -especially given this was free hand.  I think Dane (??) went with the wolf to try and impress, which seems to be a newbie mistake.  Do what you know you can knock out of the park for a good, solid tattoo - - like Bubba did. 

Cleen has been in this competition enough; he should have figured out on his own (or listened to Christian) that the non-tattooing artist would have to compete before it was over with.  He should have let Aaron do the Four Horsemen; if they had still lost, he could have done the freehand, which is his specialty.

I expect that Allegory will go next and then Erin and Doom Kitten (WTF?) unless something really bizarre happens.  Then anything goes.

I think Tommy is a great artist but in this setting, his work is not as excellent as it could be.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Cleen and Christian battling it out at the end.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

3 hours ago, CheezyXpressed said:

I guess Artistic Skin Design had it coming, but at the same time I'm annoyed that they're gone but Allegory Arts is still there. Artistic was actually a solid contender, with more hits than misses. Allegory are over staying their welcome. They really did luck out with their team.

I do like how awesome Erin has been. When she gives interviews it always seems like she's losing her confidence, but she's great.

ITA that Allegory has more than overstayed their welcome. Given a choice between Allegory and Artistic, I would have preferred to be rid of Allegory first because they are a weaker team. But Artistic's wolf was clearly the loser of that group of four so buh bye.

Being in pairs has definitely affected some of the stronger artists. Erin has skills but her partner suuuuucks and I think she's been carrying him far more than DJ has been carrying Bubba (and it's getting annoying to hear the other artists say that about Bubba almost every week).

[azshadowwalker]

I was really impressed that Bubba goes back and studies every night. It must be difficult in this environment, but he is working his butt off. Good for him. 

[2727]

Re Cleen's preordained win, Peck told another contestant that his horse's foot looked broken, but these knobbly things went by without remark.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

15 minutes ago, azshadowwalker said:

I was really impressed that Bubba goes back and studies every night. It must be difficult in this environment, but he is working his butt off. Good for him. 

I agree. It must be difficult to study when you're on ANY kind of competitive reality show with such long days of filming, so it's nice to know that he is really making an effort to learn more (as opposed to some of the contestants who just say, "Well I've never done a ________ tattoo before," as a defense of their shitty tattoos).

[qtpye]

When Cleen claimed that red headed lady was little and cute and therefore her tattoos were little and cute...I half expected her horseman to be riding a My Little Pony character.  In other news...shut up Cleen.

[belligerent]

it drives me a little insane that neither of the "death" horses were white. also Cleen's horse has some majorly jacked up anatomy everywhere. It might be colorful but that's not something I would want on me.

i would rather have Dane yelling at the camera about how dumb the flash challenges are than cleen yelling dumb crap at the camera about whatever he's yelling about. "I'm a man! I got some powertools! Someone shot us in the foot! i'm a man so i tattoo like a man!!!"

put on a shirt or something and calm down.

it also somewhat annoyed me that they gave them a challenge to do anything they wanted and we got a:

jacked up skull with some triangles

jacked up woman's face

a clipart of a flower

a weird wolf head that was weird but probably not the worst thing there

Do none of these people draw? I don't get it. Why do you decide to be a tattoo artist if you don't, idk, know how to draw?

[toodywoody]

A skull with triangles. I swear. At least the other dude tried. And Kleen, his nipples and his Ken doll hair can stfu.  I can't stand him more than St. Asshole. 

[dstann]

8 hours ago, psychoticstate said:

I think this was the first time this season that I had no idea which way the judges would go, at least in relation to the elimination challenge.  I think I've said this every season I have watched but what's the point of having a challenge if you can do what you want and still get props?  While I think that Cleen's team did good art, they did not follow the challenge guidelines. I was absolutely Team Oliver with that and I figured Dave would agree, since he's often the only one who reminds the judges about the challenge guidelines. 

I too am happy that Bubba nailed his ink.  I think he's improved a great deal since his season and he seems to be on the quieter side and so he gets overlooked by the other inktestants. It certainly doesn't help that DJ is mouthy.  I think Old Town would be the dark horse in this competition. 

 

I was team Oliver as well, I wasn't sure if Nunez was arguing the other way to make good tv or if he actually believed what he said.

 

While Bubba did a solid tattoo I was really surprised he was the first one declared safe.  It was so simple that I thought he may have been bottom 2.

12 hours ago, Charlesman said:

And that wolf. Ye gods. It was... ugh. It was both "puffy" and "folded" at the same time. All of it, wrong. I just don't know. I don't know why he tried it, I don't know why anyone didn't stop him, and I don't know why he even thought that it would be enough quality to get through to the next round. Kid obviously didn't have it and it was time to go home.

I think Artist failed before they even started.  They got into elimination because they failed to plan, as a group, for their tattoos to match.  Then in elimination they failed by tattooing the wrong thing.  If you are going to freehand a wacky animal head it is going to more than likely have anatomy issues that would send you home.

[candall]

14 hours ago, 2727 said:

Re Cleen's preordained win, Peck told another contestant that his horse's foot looked broken, but these knobbly things went by without remark.

Exactly!  I'm putting the show on pause at the end of the Four Horsemen portion to say exactly the same thing. 

I cringe when horses are in the challenge because someone will always produce a misshapen goat, but this time the horses were all pretty great--except for Cleen's.  If that poor horse ever had to stand on all fours, he'd look deformed, and then tip over right onto his nose.

The judges' comments were so stupid.  For example, I thought April's horse head morphing smoothly from bone to rotten flesh was excellent.  An apocalyptic horse can't have both?

Team Two insisting "Well, we didn't want them to match or anything."  How are they allowed to get away with that?

And how funny was it that one Horseman was shooting his arrow at another Horseman?

Pffft.  Guess I'll calm down and watch the rest.

[candall]

On ‎8‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 3:32 PM, Inkmaster0345 said:

I was super stoked to see that Bubba absolutely murdered that flower. The outline looked solid and the way the pink went from soft to solid was perfect.

Agree.   I did a double-take when Peck (I think) called it "a simple little flower," but admired it anyway.  The work usually has to be really, really good to make a viewer's first impression be:  "How simple and uncomplicated; it's beautiful."  Bubba didn't get the recognition he deserved there.

 

21 hours ago, psychoticstate said:

I wouldn't be surprised to see Cleen and Christian battling it out at the end.

I think the only surprise we have in store is whether Cleen will be battling and then winning against Christian or Tommy at the end.  At least, I assume that was the discussion around the table when they were casting the show.  Maybe there will be a ringer for Cleen to beat, though.

[TVbitch]

Confession: I have only 1 tattoo ... ...and I had it removed! 

But even I think the judging is blantantly ridiculous at this point. One week Dave is "immovable" based on principle, the next week he's "just a canvass" basing his pick on what he would want on his body. One week he's all about "meeting the challenge," but this week, "I'm just going on contrast" or whatever the fuck he said to keep Cleen safe.

And that skull with the triangles. Ummm ...WTF?!    

[belligerent]

Thinking about this some more, Christian shouldn't have been allowed to tattoo what he did when the challenge parameter was "no reference." How many human women were walking around the shop that he could have quickly glanced at? His canvas was also a woman. He had several live references and the face he did was still jacked up. If Dane had an entire pack of wolves roaming around the shop to look at, maybe his tattoo would have turned out better.

Edited August 25, 2017 by belligerent

[azshadowwalker]

Human figures are in most tattoos. Should skulls not be tattooed, because you have people with skulls walking around? Should they have checked everyone's t-shirts and tattoos to make sure they had no images that might have been used in one of the tattoos? Make sure there are no flowers or images of flowers, or flowers are out? I can assure you that there were images of flowers, dragons, skulls, vehicles, and just about everything else you could possibly tattoo on the people in that room. No reference means that they can't go to the Internet and get images to trace from. It doesn't mean that they can't lay eyes on any similar object at all, or these no reference challenges (which they have had before) wouldn't work. 

[MuMuGuy]

It's embarrassing that after so many seasons, that the producers still don't know what the word "adaptability" means. This was more of a cohesion challenge than anything else. I'm glad that the Rick Moranis look-alike is gone. I got so tired of hearing him whining at the camera 80 times every episode.

[MaKaM]

I am surprised Tommy agreed to be on this show since it is not highlighting him in a way that a guy who has (had?) his own show would want. Getting him to play patsy to a Cleen fix must have cost Spike a LOT of money. I haven't decided if I am TeamTommy or TeamMattandKatie. I know dick-swinging is par for the course on this show, but I prefer the artists who don't engage in it full throttle.

[toodywoody]

Im Team Tommy and Team Katie and Matt

[azshadowwalker]

I am pretty much fine with a win for Tommy and partner, Matt and Katie, DJ and Bubba, or Christian and friend. I am starting to wonder if they aren't setting the stage for a dark horse run to the end by DJ and Bubba, especially after talking about Bubba's nightly study sessions. They do not know the winners yet, because of the way the final is done, but they know the finalists. 

[Barlowe]

On 2017-08-26 at 0:46 PM, MaKaM said:

I am surprised Tommy agreed to be on this show since it is not highlighting him in a way that a guy who has (had?) his own show would want. Getting him to play patsy to a Cleen fix must have cost Spike a LOT of money. I haven't decided if I am TeamTommy or TeamMattandKatie. I know dick-swinging is par for the course on this show, but I prefer the artists who don't engage in it full throttle.

He'll always be runner up and Tattoo Nightmares is canceled. I'd imagine they pitched it to him as a second shot at a win with minimal competition.

[halkatla]

Noooo I´m bummed. I loved Artistic skin design, they are so cute and nice. But I guess in a way it was kind of fair, even though the skull was obviously not as good, they need Cleen in the competition to put pressure on the other returnees. I just wish it had been Allegory instead.

[hkit]

16 hours ago, halkatla said:

Noooo I´m bummed. I loved Artistic skin design, they are so cute and nice.

nevermind....  nothing to see here. I was confusing my shops :(

Edited September 2, 2017 by hkit