This week on Ink Master was positively, the most clear
definition of cluster fuck I have yet to see form this show. I am going to take a moment to explain really
quickly, I will not be discussing the fight that happened between Chris and
Kyle in this post. I do plan to post
about it and you can check that out when I get to it. So, after Kyle’s ejection from the game the
remaining 7 artists set up for the flash challenge by pairing up, leaving
sausage all by himself. This week we
celebrate the fundamental of negative space, and they decide to show this in
more of a “bang” than a flash as the artists must use gun powder to create an
image. How these morons kept from
blowing each other up? I’ll never know…
Still there doesn’t seem to be any end to the roll of Halo and Scott’s
dominance in the flash challenges, as their pyramid design seems to dial in
with the judges, much to the dismay of Sausage and Matti.
As I said this week was all about negative space, but what
is negative space? Negative space is the
element of unmarked or uncolored space that accent’s your piece. Using open space, you create a light and dark
dynamic that can elevate a tattoo from ordinary to extraordinary. There is no better medium for this than my
favorite, black and grey tattooing.
Black and grey tattooing requires using shading and natural skin to
almost carve out your piece and is, to me the essence of a true Ink Master…
but, as I said I have a very strong bias.
Now that we have a type of tattoo process the contestants must use, it
becomes time to introduce the guest judge Rob Zombie who is looking for demonic
tattoos this week. As Halo and Scott
distribute skulls it’s clear that they are gunning for Sausage and aren’t going
to stop until he is scraping the bottom of the barrel.
The big problem with trying to screw someone like sausage
over is this; he has awesome client relation skills and a calm demeanor. True, he can be a little whinny with the
other contestants, but with his clients, he is a master negotiator. If it’s a bad design, he is there to convince
you that while your idea was amazing here is one that will help accent your
true intentions. If it’s a horrible
placement, he’s your friend trying to help you celebrate your body. It’s creepy how he just seems to have that
bed side manor to propel him forward, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s incredibly
talented. This challenge is no exception
as he takes a horrible canvas and turns out a glorious gargoyle. No really, for what he had to work with, he
gave this punk kid an awesome chest piece.
What’s really interesting to me is that while Matti, Halo
and Scott are focused on trying to knock out Sausage, it’s only bolstering the
confidence of the tiny fish in this competition. Jay, Lydia and Melissa seem to be just
swimming along with the current not realizing that for the most part they are
drowning. It’s like watching a hot chick
at a par walk around with toilet paper on her heel. She thinks she is queen bee, but in all actuality
she’s just walking around in shit. Jay
and Lydia, steam rolling through the over confidence crap! These two truly believe they have found their
wheel house and the only thing you want to scream is go home!
As far as the tattoos that are put forward for judging, I
have to say that this week I was left completely underwhelmed. It’s so sad when you know that an artist just
isn’t bringing it to the table. Nothing
could be closer to the truth in this round of seven boring and generic demons. Starting with the top of the pack, Sausage’s
gargoyle was by was the best tattoo of the day.
In a negative space challenge his piece used the skin in a way that popped
the image well and with clean black lines he was able to get that eye catching
contrast. However, at the end of the
day, like all the designs, it felt stale.
Halo’s succubus was just bad this week. The problem is that unlike his other pieces
he lacked major focus. Halo needs to
dial back into the clean and clear designs that he was pulling out with the
successful sea turtle. Between her
crooked horns and claw bra I just didn’t see the cohesion that I like in his
work. Sadly, this is not the time for
those mistakes and it did send him to the bottom three this week.
Scott, however in my opinion was far less successful as he
didn’t even really do a demon per say.
What Scott did was a very detailed scary face. I didn’t see anything that really made it a
demon. Was it a sound design? Yes, but
was it what the challenge was looking for? No!
Lydia, who claimed that this was her bread and butter,
really missed the mark. Her devil dog
seemed to be lost in the hair and the “negative space” seemed nonexistent. The biggest flaw by far was the drool that
seemed to mix in with the hair leaving the translation of the piece muddled. It’s that lack of clarity that sent her to
the bottom three this week.
Melissa’s attempt at a skin rip, although not that
effective, in my opinion was not as bad as other artists in the pack. Sadly, I don’t see Melissa as a master but
there are some really nice elements in this tattoo that I think were over
looked. I did love the skin and teeth of
her demon and there was a total fierceness that Lydia’s was lacking.
Matti’s demoness was so flawed that it can only be described
as a “ugly” Disney princess. The fingers
were broken, the eyes were flat, it just doesn’t have the teeth to
compete. In my opinion this was the
weaker female demon of the week and makes me question halo’s demotion to the
bottom three.
Finally there was Gentle Jay’s attempt at the prince of
darkness. He was asked to tattoo Satan
himself, in front of Rob Zombie. I think
that qualifies as stressful. Still with
those pressures where he lacked pressure was in his application. His image needed black; it thirsted and
screamed for black. Rob said it best “It
looks like Satan dropped a flashlight.”
In the end Sausage took a well-deserved win home tying with
Scott for the season and Lydia was let go leaving us with only Melissa to
represent the fairer sex in this completion.
We wish her extreme luck, but sadly this looks like it’s a man’s world.
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