Inkmaster Recap: Up in flames
By Derek Paradis
If you haven't watched episode number 6, then prepare to be “blown away” by this challenge. Katie did not participate in the flash challenge because she was still sick so only 8 artists participated. Working in teams of two, the artists used gunpowder on two 5x10 foot canvases to create a high contrast image. Team one w/ Anthony and DJ Tambe freehanded a skull and glowing candles to represent the contrast of life and death. Team number 2, Tony and Jason created a wizard with a spiral and they achieve contrast in the beard, folds of the wizardry clothing and galaxy spirals. Team number 3, Bob and Angel created a werewolf with a forest and moon and created a lot of contrast from the foreground and background; but once again, team number 4, Gian and Pon “blew” their competitors out of the water with a sacred heart with crisp and precise contrast and details and textures and they won. All in all, for gunpowder, amazing art was made on all sides.
It was Bob, Gian, Anthony Tony and DJ to the black-and-grey bug throat tattoo rescue. That’s right, the artists had to recreate bug tattoos in Ryan Ashley's specialty, black and gray To no surprise, Dave Navarro once again saying “but that’s not all”, told the artists that they must place these bugs on their canvas’ throats. The returning Ink Master winners have finally found their groove. Tony created a dragonfly tattoo and with his experience of doing a dragonfly on his mom, he showed a lot of smooth gradients, textures and details by making it very delicate and feminine. Anthony created a grasshopper and for a very weirdly shaped bug, he sure knew how to make it fit on the throat. DJ created a wolf spider and made it work with good details and fine lines. Bob created a butterfly with eyes within the wings when looking down, they’re looking all around but when up, they’re in their dream state. However, Gian went above and beyond with his technical application and won best tattoo of the day with a beetle with leaves and its wings open.
The following black-and-grey bug throat tattoos received mixed reviews. Angel was given a canvas who wanted a bee caught in a web and the judges thought that the bee was incredible, lots of great contrast, and shading especially in the translucency of the wings but the webbing was a little lackluster and off. I thought her tattoo looked killer and she did a great job. Jason got the hardest one of the bunch! His canvas only sat for 2.5 hours and wanted a scorpion and a sun on his throat. Jason actually freehanded it to make it look like it belonged there. I definitely commend him for going balls to the wall by making the tattoo look like it belongs on the throat. The judges thought that the placement was great but there was no gradient or transition from light to dark even though there were lights, mid-tones and darks. Ami said “You gave this guy a jawline”. What matters is that both artists will live to see another episode and continue their fight.
The bottom two in the black-and-gray bug throat challenge were Katie and Pon. They both had issues in their overall execution. Katie created a black widow spider with a heart imprinted on its belly, a heart lace web and flowers. The judges thought she had great contrast, but the composition was off and it looked like she did three separate tattoos and nothing really interacts, plus the placement was stiff. Pon chose to do a death moth and that backfired on him. As much as the judges loved the moon with negative space and how it accentuates the jawline, there was symmetry issues with the antenna, wings, and skull. There was too much black and it looked like a cover up. A close decision but Pon was the next artist eliminated. I was rooting for Pon and I thought the dice would roll in his favor this time but sometimes having a skull pick can be the kiss of death and it certainly “squashed” him. I think he put up an amazing fight and he made his family proud regardless of the outcome.