S10.E15: Final Exam

[thewhiteowl]

The artists push to their limits in a grueling challenge.

[Kelda Feegle]

So angry I can't even ...

[Charlesman]

Rigged.

 

If that's your pinup, you don't belong in the final. Period. The thigh. The arm, the shoulder. The head, the face. 

All of it was puke. 

 

Fuck this

[dstann]

Well it has been a bit of a theme this season that if there is skin trauma then you are in trouble, and that koi dragon was pretty terrible too. 

 

I think Juan should have gotten through first based on the 12 hour tattoo, while Josh's was tattooed very well I thought given the size of the tattoo on the lady's arm, it made it very hard to read.

 

Can we all thank DJ for making the finale tattoo nice and boring, picking a snake as the subject just is not exciting.

[joobie]

2 hours ago, dstann said:

Well it has been a bit of a theme this season that if there is skin trauma then you are in trouble, and that koi dragon was pretty terrible too. 

 

I think Juan should have gotten through first based on the 12 hour tattoo, while Josh's was tattooed very well I thought given the size of the tattoo on the lady's arm, it made it very hard to read.

 

Can we all thank DJ for making the finale tattoo nice and boring, picking a snake as the subject just is not exciting.

Except if you are Josh. He had skin trauma the week Lil D went home and he wasn't sent packing. Heck he wasn't even in the bottom 3.

[qtpye]

BULLSHIT!!!!

My eight-year-old daughter could draw a better pin-up then that. That design should never have been cleared to put on someone's body and I actually like Roly. If they were just going to give all the masters one contestant then why even have Roly compete in the first place? Actually, Josh could also sit out since he is the only one left on team DJ.  They should have just had Anthony's remaining two battle it out for the final spot...at least that would be more honest.

[phantom]

Ugh, ugh, ugh. This was such a letdown - why not just have the two on the same team go head to head if they insist on one student per master getting to the finale? At least be somewhat transparent about what's going on rather than making us accept that jacked-up pinup as finale-worthy versus some skin trauma that I assume will heal (I know nothing about getting tattoos so correct me if this isn't right?). Yikes. I like Roly but that was a terrible tattoo.

[ruffy666]

The fix is in!!!  I mean, we probably all knew that already anyway but never before has it been so blatant that they "needed" one contestant in the finale from each team.  I would honestly be pretty embarrassed to wear either of Roly's tattoos.  He is probably the nicest / most gracious artist left but let's hope for the sake of his finale canvases that he works better outside of the constraints of the competition.  At a minimum I'm sure he'll benefit from not having Steve hooting his non-advice for the duration...

[TVbitch]

Another fucking bullshit elimination. We knew it would happen, but the worst part is, based on his 12-hour, I would have actually liked to see Jason's master canvas. I hope they get enough backlash so as to never do this team shit again. You could tell by the look of shame on Roly's face that he knew he was being dragged to the finale.  

[SillyOldClothCat]

Oh, that was tragic - Jason was robbed of his place in the finale.

You've all said it, but i wanted to add my voice to the choir.

[Inkmaster0345]

Rigged elimination.

Don't care for the battle royale idea. I assume they were going for something that would provide a more apples to apples comparison instead of doing master canvases again. Meh. Less variety for the audience is always a loss imo. 

Speaking of variety, shoutout to DJ for making this finale a snakapalooza. 3 battle royales + 3 master tattoos for a total of 6 snakes...no thanks

Roly can't win this (not that he should be there anyways)--I don't see him being able to come up with a dynamic and creative enough design to compete with Juan and Josh, no matter how well he applies it. 

Juan and Josh are pretty close but as mentioned this episode I find Josh to be a more creative artist which I believe lends itself well to a chaotic battle type tattoo. 

[staphdude]

The real trauma to the skin was the burden of having to carry that horrendous pinup for the rest of your life. Jason was clearly headed and shoulders above Rolly but balance had to be maintained.

It really shouldn’t  be that difficult to have seen the potential problems with the structure of the contest. Don’t try and make changes for the sake of change only to treat the audience like idiots.

[Sile]

That pinup would have sent somebody home Week One.  Yeah, Jason's dragon was kind of a mess, but there should be some sort of a degree of difficulty involved here.  The most boring, sparse pinup ever (he couldn't even manage to draw a bowtie correctly) vs. a koi dragon in black and gray?  Come on!  I knew what was going down as soon as they went to Dave for the second vote instead of him being a tie breaker.   At least he has integrity (I'm assuming) to refuse to vote for pure shit just for evensies.

I thought Jason or Juan should have won for the 12 hour tattoo, but I guess it wouldn't have made a difference as far as Josh goes because his clipper ship was pretty damned good.

Why is DJ so hung up on freaking snakes?  He seems to think he's the world's master snake tattooer and every single one of his that I've seen on both of the last two seasons has been janky as hell.   He and Bubba should have been sent home for that horrific snake and dagger nonsense they put out, and that has nothing to do with the fact that my sweet boyfriend Tommy was unjustly eliminated instead.

Edited April 19, 2018 by Sile

[Galloway Cave]

11 minutes ago, staphdude said:

The real trauma to the skin was the burden of having to carry that horrendous pinup for the rest of your life.

I'd being getting that thing covered up pronto. In fact, if I saw the stencil, I would walk out. That was seriously jacked up.

I hope Juan wins. I am so sick of Josh's assholery and shit-eating grin. 

Can we please go back to a regular season with regular tattoo types each episode? Japanese day, pin-up day, etc. Find new twists within that format. I just want to see good tattoos and justified eliminations. 

[NEOhio]

That pinup was messed up. I like Roly, he seems like a nice guy. But he can't draw and artistically he was no where close to Jason.  Yes there was some skin trauma, it should heal. That pinup won't.  The show looked pretty rigged when Deanna left, this seemed blatant.  I agree with Galloway Cave, go back to regular seasons.  

[Galloway Cave]

Jason's 12 hour tattoo was selected Ink of the Day by tattoodotcom today. Guess they weren't too bothered by the skin trauma.

Edited April 19, 2018 by Galloway Cave

[dstann]

It is a shame that the controversy over the Roly/Jason judging overshadowed the best bit of the episode....when Juan schooled DJ.  Saying how DJ talks so much yet has not won a tattoo challenge against the masters and how DJ focused so much on Josh that he let the rest of his team be eliminated.  And all DJ could reply with was challenging Juan to a tattoo and seeing who turns up!

[Iguana]

That. Was. Bullshit. 

Roly has done some good tats but no one should be getting into the finals with that terrible pinup. Automatic disqualification, no appeal. I’d gladly trade some skin trauma ( which will heal) for Jason’s gorgeous tattoo rather than having to live with Roly’s kindergarten drawing. I’ve seen better artwork on the family fridge door. 

[Sile]

15 hours ago, Sile said:

 

 

Edited April 19, 2018 by Sile
Duplicate 10 hours later

[Inkmaster0345]

As a secondary thought: the competition set itself up for this from the very beginning. Letting the artists "choose" which team they wanted to be on inherently caused a serious misbalance in the distribution of talent this season. It was pretty clear about halfway through the competition that Team Steve didn't have anyone capable of winning--and likely didn't have anybody good enough to reach the finale in a legitimate way. Thus, the only way for each coach to get a competitor in the finale was to look the other way and send Deanna and Jason packing despite the fact that Roly's tattoos were just as bad (if not worse) each time. 

In hindsight, the coaches should have done a coaches' challenge and then conducted a full schoolyard pick for the teams based on the outcome. Sure the teams would still be a little unbalanced, but at least each coach would be guaranteed one of the top 3 initial artists. Team Steve was doomed from the beginning when the top artists all flocked to Anthony and DJ. 

Lastly, I see absolutely nothing wrong with Steve not having an artist in the finale. So what, all of Steve's artists were eliminated and therefore Steve doesn't get to call a shot for the finale. He still gets to compete and has a shot at winning regardless. He knew the rules when he signed up. To send an undeserving artist to the finale because you somehow believe that each coach needs a finalist is absurd. If you're going to be afraid of your own rules, then don't make them in the first place. 

[2727]

11 hours ago, Galloway Cave said:

Jason's 12 hour tattoo was selected Ink of the Day by tattoodotcom today. Guess they weren't too bothered by the skin trauma.

 

Thanks for posting. I got lost in #inkoftheday for a while -- blown away by some of those tattoos!

Edited April 19, 2018 by 2727

[Galloway Cave]

3 hours ago, 2727 said:

Thanks for posting. I got lost in #inkoftheday for a while -- blown away by some of those tattoos!

I follow tattoodotcom on Facebook and Twitter. It is surprising how many Ink Master contestants show up as Ink of the Day, and I'm not talking about the winners (except Ashley Ryan, she occasionally shows up). I'll recognize a name and think, wow they got eliminated early for some stupid reason yet this is an amazing tat. I really do think the fix is in from the beginning of each show the the judges will do ANYTHING to keep a certain 2-3 contestants in for the finale.

[Jal]

On 4/18/2018 at 10:41 PM, Galloway Cave said:

Jason's 12 hour tattoo was selected Ink of the Day by tattoodotcom today. Guess they weren't too bothered by the skin trauma

Skin trauma is pretty serious regardless. It's just that you can't see it much in this image or any of the images that were presented unless you look closer, just like most skin trauma. And the image itself is beautiful. So I have no problems with this in that Instagram account. It's just weird that some people are downplaying skin trauma.

[Etta Place]

I can understand that an Ink Master shouldn't be causing trauma to the skin (and yes, duly noted that Josh has done it in the past too) ... BUT

you can't have an Ink Master WHO CAN'T DRAW!!!

The shark last week, and then the pinup this week. Roly fundamentally cannot draw. That pinup showed it's not just shark anatomy he doesn't understand. He didn't get the most basic aspects of figure drawing right - he didn't understand how foreshortening of the face works (putting the lips in a full view on a 3/4 view face for example), and he also doesn't understand the way a spine works (the neck was all kinds of wrong), and he doesn't understand how a spine works. He needs some figure drawing classes. Or any kind of drawing classes. 

[Galloway Cave]

58 minutes ago, Etta Place said:

I can understand that an Ink Master shouldn't be causing trauma to the skin (and yes, duly noted that Josh has done it in the past too) ... BUT

you can't have an Ink Master WHO CAN'T DRAW!!!

 

7 hours ago, Jal said:

Skin trauma is pretty serious regardless.

I have had skin trauma on several tattoos of mine. One artist was just a grinder and there was no reason for it. But my current artist, who has done six of my tats, has been in the business for 30+ years and has been voted Best in my city several times over the years. She is good and pays attention to what she is doing on me. Yet I blow-out and have areas that bleed if you just look at the skin. I'm old and I have a lot of sun damage. When I'm not tan, I'm lily-white. So I am on the fence about the no-trauma rule. If it looks like an artist was grinding or overworking the area, then they should be eliminated. But Jason's tat didn't look that way. The inside of the bicep is thin; I blew out AND bled there with a very light touch of tatting.

I totally agree that a poorly drawn tattoo (especially that pin-up) should be eliminated over minor trauma. That pin-up will require a cover-up; minor trauma will heal just fine. 

[aussieinsydney]

Roly??? Fucking Roly??? Oh fuck this show. I'm done.

[belligerent]

"An inkmaster should be able to draw!"

So why is Roly still there? He's probably a competent tattooer. He can probably put ink in skin, and given enough time to do a decent design and the ability to trace stuff he can't draw, he could probably do an okay pinup even if it's not his thing. But what the fuck, that's one of the worst pinups this show has seen.

The thing I hate about this season is that more than other seasons, this has really highlighted how much contestants are being set up to fail, which results in people getting really BAD tattoos, and you would think that someone like DJ or Anthony, who both claim to be about art and integrity, would not intentionally make it so that somebody gets a terrible tattoo mistake. I hope that person gets a free coverup.

And then you would think the judges would, idk, let the worst tattoo of the day actually go home. I don't want to bag on Roly because the show being bullshit isn't his fault, but holy fuck.

[Galloway Cave]

I always go back to comparing this show with Best Ink. The artists weren't total jackasses to each other, very little time was spent on artist draaama, critiques were real and honest, and the right artist went home. And there were some kick-ass tattoos in the process.

[cpcathy]

The face tattoo was STUNNING. I'll be another one to call bullshit on this episode. I really enjoy the pinup tattoos, but that one was awful.

Shenanigans all around.