S10.E04: Step It Up

[2727]

The tattoos were lackluster again so I became fixated on the aggressive facial hair worn by every male there.

It was somewhat annoying to see Snidely get tossed before Lil' D, but that was one of the worst tattoos over 10 seasons. It was like he was only pretending to put ink in -- a faint, muddled, poorly drawn mess. But at least it can be fixed (not that the show cares or will pay for that. "Free" tattoo, eh canvases?"

I thought Anthony's team would get dinged for painting on the top of the stairs, but I was glad they won. DJ's continued belligerence makes me root against him.

Edited January 31, 2018 by 2727

[Charlesman]

Yeah, can't say they made the wrong choice this week. Only question was if Matt's demonstrated skills from other challenges and potential would push him past a lil' D that is clearly overmatched by the rest of the competition. 

Fine with the choice. No winner of this show could possibly have that on his resume. 

[cherbitrary]

I fell asleep after the Quickfire (yeah, wrong show, but I don't remember what this show calls it) and woke up during judging. Did I miss anything worth going back for?

Eliminated tattoo was bad. I like Steve and Anthony, but couldn't name any of the non-coaches. This season just hasn't grabbed me yet. 

I really miss the Tuesday marathons Paramount has seen fit to do away with. Like I can't see Friends just about anywhere. Thanks, Paramount.

Also, could somebody get Nunez a new stylist?

Edited January 31, 2018 by cherbitrary

[Inkmaster0345]

Call me crazy but I would still rather wear Matt's snake over Katie's weird skull design. The top half of that tattoo is jank (can't believe they didn't mention it on the episode) and the black filigree/streaks are weird and do nothing besides muddy up the design. Matt didn't know how to work with dark skin but at least the design looks pretty cool at first glance. 

Thought Daniel's Geometric/Turtle tattoo was stunning. He's proven he has bulletproof linework which goes a long way with these judges. Combined with Nunez's "sleeper" comment a few weeks ago I'd say he's poised for a deep run. 

Cool to see Frank win last week and Fame win this week. I'm willing to guarantee it's the first time African American competitors have won back to back elimination tattoos in the show's history (outside of Anthony potentially winning back to back at some point).

As much as it pained me to see cannon-fodder Katie stay and see Matt go home--I applaud the judges for sticking to the name of the game. I CAN'T STAND in elimination competitions when one of the "top dogs" stays despite a horrendous performance because the judges "know what they're capable of" or because of "resume so far". BS. If you cook the worst meal of the day, or do the worst makeup/costume of the day, or do the worst tattoo of the day, you should go home no matter who you are or what you've done to that point. Each elimination challenge should stand alone and be completely uninfluenced by previous performances. Do I think Matt's tattoo was worse than Katie's? No. But the judges did and I commend them for not flinching to send Matt home despite knowing that he had exponentially more potential than Katie to make a deep run.

 I still don't know anybody's name without looking it up outside of my favorite 3-4. Hoping to see some more mainstream tattoo styles in upcoming challenges so we can really start to see who's who in this season.    

[TVbitch]

One again I stand with Dave. I liked the goose on the stairs, and thought Lil' D should have gone. 

[Sugar]

Lil'D annoys me greatly. He seems like a nice guy, but he keeps coming up with excuses, when really, the real reason he's failing to perform is that he just isn't a talented artist. You can tattoo flash art all day and still not know how to draw - which is what I think the case is here. Clients go to him to get whatever is on the wall, or whatever he can easily reference from online and that's about it. I don't think he has the technical skill OR the artistic talent to even be here. I checked out his portfolio online, and his work looks like prison tattoos - or like they were done 40 years ago (and I'm talking about the application, not the style). It really drives me nuts that having a long career means that you should be respected in this business, when to me, it just shows that if after 20 years you still can't tattoo or draw, you chose the wrong job.

I don't fault Katie for being emotional. Some people just aren't cut out for the kind of bullshit that shows like Ink Master put the contestants through (no sleep, producer pressure to be nasty, staged fights, etc.) And I know that if I had someone like Josh in my face, in a stressful situation with a ton of pressure, I sure as shit would not be able to do Anthony's Zen Routine. Doesn't mean she's weak.

I really liked Matt's confidence ( I didn't find him cocky, he has the goods to back it up), and I love his art. I know he may lack some technical skills, but his tattoo was not worse than Lil' Ds. In my opinion, asking Chris, "which would you rather wear?" was perfectly valid, and Chris punked out because he's a wimp. Oliver and Dave always use that criteria when deciding between two problematic tattoos, and it totally makes sense. If both have technical flaws, it comes down to - which LOOKS better, which will wear better, and which can maybe be improved/fixed. I feel like that was Matt's on all points. 

Also, I really think it's unfair to give artists dark-skinned canvases when everyone else has pale skin to tattoo. It's not a level playing field, because darker skin DOES have its own challenges. If anything, they should really take that into consideration and maybe go easier on critiques relating to saturation, boldness, etc., or else make everyone tattoo dark-skinned canvases. I think if Matt had lighter skin to work with, he could have made that drawing significantly better by choosing brighter, bolder colours, doing varied lines, etc. 

Bah, I'm just annoyed with the judging. Dave is ALWAYS the voice of reason.

ALSO: Um, so I'm re-watching the earlier seasons, and wanted to see what a few of the old school artists were up to, and was shocked to learn that Clint from Season 2 had passed away! Unlike Scott Marshall's passing, I had never read anything about Clint - didn't see anything posted in the general chat thread either. Very very sad news. He was a bit abrasive, but still likeable and funny, and he really came into his skill on Tattoo Nightmares.

Edited February 1, 2018 by Sugar

[dstann]

7 hours ago, Sugar said:

Also, I really think it's unfair to give artists dark-skinned canvases when everyone else has pale skin to tattoo. It's not a level playing field, because darker skin DOES have its own challenges. If anything, they should really take that into consideration and maybe go easier on critiques relating to saturation, boldness, etc., or else make everyone tattoo dark-skinned canvases. I think if Matt had lighter skin to work with, he could have made that drawing significantly better by choosing brighter, bolder colours, doing varied lines, etc.

The tattoo's are never a level playing field because of different subject matter, how well the skin takes ink, how well the canvas sits etc etc.

You have to wonder how DJ is coaching his team.  You see Steve go around to his team and tell them what they need to do to make their tattoos better.  Why did DJ not tell Matt how to do the tattoo on such dark skin?  At the start of the challenge DJ should have gone up to Matt, asked if he had tattooed such dark skin before and then advised him how to design and execute the tattoo.

[Sile]

11 hours ago, Sugar said:

ALSO: Um, so I'm re-watching the earlier seasons, and wanted to see what a few of the old school artists were up to, and was shocked to learn that Clint from Season 2 had passed away! Unlike Scott Marshall's passing, I had never read anything about Clint - didn't see anything posted in the general chat thread either. Very very sad news. He was a bit abrasive, but still likeable and funny, and he really came into his skill on Tattoo Nightmares.

It was mentioned in the Angels episode when they were in his hometown and at his family's shop and that was the first I heard of it.   I think it was one of the southern cities, maybe Miami or Atlanta.  He had colon cancer, so I think that the Angel face off involved people who had survived or been affected by cancer.

Really sad that Matt went because I loved his art work and maybe just a little because he looked like a young Mandy Patinkin.  But I despised DJ and his janky looking snakes last year and he's pretty much only intensified that feeling already this season, so I would love to see his team get wiped out off the bat.  He reminds me of  someone who got sand kicked in his face as a kid and tried to become a bully himself but just ended up as a bitchy twerp.  If somebody refers to themselves as humble that's a pretty strong guarantee that they aren't.

[Kelda Feegle]

17 hours ago, dstann said:

The tattoo's are never a level playing field because of different subject matter, how well the skin takes ink, how well the canvas sits etc etc.

You have to wonder how DJ is coaching his team.  You see Steve go around to his team and tell them what they need to do to make their tattoos better.  Why did DJ not tell Matt how to do the tattoo on such dark skin?  At the start of the challenge DJ should have gone up to Matt, asked if he had tattooed such dark skin before and then advised him how to design and execute the tattoo.

I agree about there never being a level playing field - even if they were all working on one human canvas there would be variances due to skin texture, colour, pain threshold etc.

Was it just me or did the flash challenge in outdoor light really show that Steve is wearing a hairpiece of some kind? There seemed to be a very noticeable colour difference. I know either DJ the shit gibbon or Anthony tweaked Steve about hair a week or so ago also.

[sourpickles]

Well, it looks like I'm going to have about 15 comments because there is so much I have to quote.......let's start at the beginning I guess...

On ‎1‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 12:30 AM, 2727 said:

But at least it can be fixed (not that the show cares or will pay for that. "Free" tattoo, eh canvases?"

It'll just be fodder for the new IM Redemption.  Which grated on my nerves when it was all bar brawl, but some nice stuff came out of it.  Wondered when it would be back.

 

On ‎1‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 9:19 PM, Sugar said:

Clint from Season 2 had passed away! Unlike Scott Marshall's passing, I had never read anything about Clint - didn't see anything posted in the general chat thread

I had nothing either.  I am so sad!  I really did like him, he could be a bit much but so could everyone else when they were to "show".  Wow. 

On ‎1‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 8:33 AM, cherbitrary said:

I really miss the Tuesday marathons Paramount has seen fit to do away with. Like I can't see Friends just about anywhere. Thanks, Paramount.

Oh yes, and this.  Missing old IMs and also old Face Offs.  Yes, I'm old, grunchy, and bored.

 

On ‎1‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 7:38 PM, Inkmaster0345 said:

I applaud the judges for sticking to the name of the game

Yes.  I disagree with the judges a LOT, but I really hate when they go against their own principles and rules.  So I won't bitch (too much) about this week.