Ink Master

Ink Master^[1] is an American reality competition on Spike in which tattoo artists compete in challenges assessing their tattoo and related artistic skills. They are judged by noted tattoo artists and tattoo enthusiasts, with one or more contestants eliminated each episode. The show is produced by Original Media which also produced judge Chris Núñez's show Miami Ink.

Ink Master has completed seasons one, two, and three. Announcements were made on the Ink Master website that season four is open to casting for artist and human canvases.

Show format

Basic format

All episodes aside from the finales have the following format:

First, there is a Flash Challenge that will be evaluated based on how well an artist met the skill of the week. Some Flash Challenges involve tattooing, but typically, flash challenges do not incorporate the act of tattooing; but, instead, will require a related skill (i.e. painting, hair cutting, etching, burning, etc.). The winner of the flash challenge wins the right to select their own human canvas in the elimination challenge, and, as of season two, pair up the other contestants with their human canvases.

After the Flash Challenge comes the Elimination Challenge, a further test of the skill of the week on a human canvas, typically incorporating a prominent style of tattooing. Once the contestants are paired up with their canvases, they are given the day to consult with their assignment. The next day, each contestant is given four to six hours to complete their design. Once completed, the contestants meet as a group with the judges and are critiqued one by one. The contestants then are dismissed, with four later being called back. The four typically represent a top two and bottom two for the week, though this breakdown can change. At the end of each episode, a winner is typically declared and one contestant is eliminated.

Special format

For the finale of season one, the final challenge was a marathon tattooing of up to 18 hours.

The season two finale did not share this format, and consisted of each of the three finalists meeting with his or her respective canvas for four six hour sessions to create a final piece. This final piece did not require a specific tattoo genre or location for the artist to tattoo. Instead, the artists were able to choose those aspects for themselves, and the only restriction they faced was a time limit.

The season three finale followed a similar format to the season two finale, but the artists were allowed five seven hour sessions for a cumulative 35 hour master canvas tattoo.

Judges

Dave Navarro, Chris Núñez, and Oliver Peck are the show's primary judges and have appeared in all episodes to date. Some episodes incorporate a 4th guest judge, usually a well-known tattoo artist that has knowledge or presence in the genre of tattoo chosen as the week's elimination challenge (genre here referring to a style of tattooing such as New School, Traditional, Japanese, Portrait, Black and Gray, etc).

Season Two judging was taken to a new level with audience voting participation through the Ink Master website, and also via Facebook voting. The audience vote affected the final ruling by the judges. Sebastian Murphy was eliminated from consideration by the judges in the Season Two finale because he was the contestant whose work in the elimination challenges received the fewest votes by the audience.

Seasons

References

• Spike TV's Ink Master returns for season 3 on July 16 - includes ratings
• Application to be on the show.
• Application page indicating season 4 upcoming.
• TV.com boasts Ink Master.
• Ink Master on Facebook

• Season 2 Winner is!
• A blog commentary on the show
• Tatu Baby returns for season 3.