Monster Mash Ups - Ink Master Recap
We come into this episode with some news from the start! Holli unfortunately was eliminated and all four returning Ink Master winners have all chosen to come back for another win under their belt! For the flash challenge, artistry was put to the test and it was a season 10 deja vu. Working in teams, they had to take thousands of different sized cups, water, and food coloring to make an artistic design come to life where it would be viewed in a scissor lift above the ground. There was almost a scary moment where the judges could’ve fallen off and hurt themselves but thankfully that didn’t happen, phew. Because Angel Rose and Pon survived the face off, they chose their teams. Pon chose all four prior ink master winners and Angel chose Creepy Jason, Katie, Gian Karle, and Bob. Team Angel created a fun sombrero wearing cactus with a mustache holding maracas and it was definitely super cool. They made many textures, details, contrast, and it was very artistic; meanwhile, team Pon created a lady face where her eyes would be glowing and creating a light source with high contrast, and artistic gradients were also on point. I personally thought Team Angel should’ve won but the judges chose team Pon for the win.
If there was a postcard available to choose our next travel destination, we should be thanking team Angel, Katie, Creepy Jason, and DJ Tambe because they came to the black-and-grey realism and new school mash-up landmark tattoo rescue. In the elimination tattoo, the artists had to create a landmark tattoo and twist and warp proportions into a new school style but like Dave said, “That is not all”, they had to mash-up new school with black-and-grey realism which couldn’t be any more polar opposite. But the four of them created some artistic designs to make them look intentional. DJ created a Statue of Liberty, where he showed smooth gradients in the crown and face and the new school part is her holding the torch down and he took the “liberty” to make this piece awesome. Creepy Jason got the Golden Gate Bridge and the realistic black and grey part is on the left side and it slowly transitions to colour and created a new school side with the sun wearing glasses and surfboard in the water with nice gradients and solid colour saturation. Katie got the Forbidden City and she did this in a yin-yang style where the left side is new school and the right side is black and grey realism. Within the circles her styles switched and she showed some impressive artistry details. Even though she was not there during the critique because she felt ill, she deserved high praise. Angel went above and beyond with Manchu Picchu with the background as black-and-grey realism, and in the front and llama as new school and she won tattoo of the day. I was actually her stepping stone as to what mash-up tattoos are so technically, I prepare her in that category. Congrats girl on the win, you deserve it and glad to see you come back strong.
Here are the landmark mash-up tattoos that received mixed reviews.
Bob created the Neuschwanstein Castle (try saying that five times fast) in Germany. The judges loved the transition of the black-and-grey realism in the bottom of the castle to new school in the top but they thought that some more of the structure could’ve been more warped. They also said that a princess would probably fall out of the tower with how tippy it is. Pon chose the little White House landmark in Quebec (a little house that survived a flood or a landslide). His realism take and transition to new school where the roof is warped like a book page was cool, but some contrast was lacking with the walls and water being the same colour. Gian created the Sphinx and pyramid Giza where as technically applied as his tattooing is, the judges thought less line work would’ve brought out the realistic side and it has more of a neotraditional feel more than a black-and-grey realism and new school mash-up.
The three bottom tattoos, I probably wouldn’t want to visit on an excursion if these were on a traveling website or a pamphlet. Surprisingly, three previous Ink Master winners found themselves in the bottom when they had the power to choose their canvases and it ended up not just backfiring but just exploded in their faces. Anthony got Athens in Acropolis and in his defense, he had a difficult canvas who wanted it on the ribs and wouldn’t budge on moving the tattoo. Although he did blend the styles together, time got away from him and the clouds looked like a cover-up, and the pillars have more of a human bone structure. Tony out-thought himself and got in his head way too much with Chichen Itza (Mayan pyramids) and did a three-hour tattoo. Although his technical application, gradients and colour saturation were solid, it didn’t meet the challenge of black-and-grey realism and new school mashing but the judges commended him for not quitting. The next artist who was eliminated was Steven Tefft. He chose the De Gooyer windmill in the Netherlands and he tried to make every piece mash up in black-and-grey and new school (mill, rails, background) but nothing looked cohesive from top to bottom and it didn’t meet the challenge so unfortunately, he didn’t have what it took to win the second time. I definitely commend Steve for giving it a good fight and he wasn’t gonna give up and I applaud him for it, and he’ll always be a winner of his respected season, that will never change. Until next week, guys, be sure to send a postcard.