Ink Master is a bad show

6/10

Too much arrogant artists and too much competition

I will continue watching this show no matter what happens just because I love tattoo's and I just love watching creative people. About the show itself it could be much better if there was not that constant feel of everybody acting. You're not actors, you're tattoo artists. Every episode you see them speaking bad of and/or to each other and I can only conclude that they are acting. If anybody would talk to me like that, or being in my face all the time, I would just be in a fight every single episode. So to me it's all acting and I don't get why they chose that concept. The challenges are sometimes pretty stupid as well. I would rather watch them tattoo a lot more, with a lot lesser arguing. Some of the artists are also very arrogant and even if some are good I certainly never would go to any of those arrogant bastards. I have a lot of tattoo's and all of the artists I went to were friendly guys. Anyways, if you like tattoo's then the show is worth a watch. But don't watch it for the judges or the game itself because that's pretty boring. I don't even care who's winning, I just want to see nice tattoo's.

37 out of 40 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

4/10

Gone from about tattoos to about drama

The first season, I really liked this show. It was about a tattoo competition. Some of the ink was even good but even when it wasn't it was focused on the art.

Unfortunately, things began to go down hill in the second season. One of the judges, Chris Nunez, became snarkier and snarkier. He seemed to be trying to humiliate and put down the contestants who didn't measure up rather than pull them up to do even better.

Each season, there was a jerk added to the mix. They were someone who would try to "play the game strategically" to get ahead. It became very annoying to watch the petty politics and insults.

The show completely jumped the shark when they announced in the fourth season finale that everyone on the show would have a rival, someone brought in to fight with. Great, pre-made arguing. What a joke! That was the death moment of the show. As soon as they announced that contestants are going to be chosen not on the basis of their art work but on the quality of their enemies I knew the show was dead.

35 out of 41 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

4/10

If you like watching adults bitch at each other.

Warning: Spoilers

I've watched enough episodes over several seasons now to realise that the tattooing in Ink Master seems to play second fiddle to the bitching, backstabbing and outright bullying that constantly goes on within the show. This is a show about multiple tattoo artists from all over the U.S, competing for the grand prize of $100,000, a feature in Ink Magazine and "title" of Ink Master. We're reminded of this every single goddamn time the show airs, and the artists all have to react like they're hearing it for the first time. Also I'm not sure how official the title of "master" is, but it's a TV show so, reasons!

Basically artists compete in what they call a Flash Challenge, whereby they are given a set amount of time to show what they can do using their skills as an artist. This Challenge can be anything from painting a design on a helmet, carving, graffitiing a wall or specific use of black & grey and the winner of this challenge not only gets first pick at their human canvas, but also gets to allocate the other guinea pigs to the remaining tattoo artists, deliberately trying making it harder for some in the hope that they'll fail and be eliminated. With the elimination tattoo, artists are given anywhere from 6 hours to 12 hours with which they come up with the best design within the parameters of the set theme, which may be a horror theme, traditional, pin-up girls etc. There's usually a top 2 and a bottom 2, until they get all whittled down to bare-bones and there's only a handful left.

If this were the show in its entirety then I could really get into this and enjoy it, as I like tattoos and the work involved. Some artists fail due to the pressure or lack of experience while others thrive, however some artists may not have the skills in all areas to qualify as an "ink master". Apparently for that you need to be perfect at ALL types of tattoos and not just the ones you specialise in, even if you happen to run your own parlour.

The biggest draw-back for me is the constant bullying and bitching that goes on between the artists when they all return to their apartment. They sit around and usually gang up on someone that they feel either doesn't belong there, or can't draw, is a one trick pony, is a "jerk" or one that really blew me away, doesn't have any visible tattoos themselves!

I can't help but feel like I'm watching a bunch of schoolyard bullies all making fun of the fat kid, the skinny kid, the kid with glasses, the nerd or the redhead and this is because the others either feel threatened by a particular artist, or they disagree with the judges critique of their recent work as somehow being better or worse than the artist they don't like or don't respect. It's this bitching and conniving that detracts from just wanting to see some great work. If I wanted to see a group of idiots with their panties in a bunch over largely nothing or simply because they don't like someone, I'd watch The View instead. I remember one artist actually said that this is a competition so why would he not do anything he can to win? The others just sat around and insulted him. Others go so far sometimes to actually threaten with violence. How is that even legal? Plus I happen to agree that if it's a competition and you win something, why wouldn't you do what you can to make it easy for yourself to progress further? There are no trophies for martyrdom, I don't see any point in falling on your sword just so you can look like a nice guy, so other artists should really learn to just shut their mouths, grow up and get on with it.

It's an OK show and if you can ignore the childishness and some of the obvious staged dramatics, you'll enjoy it as some of the finished work is quite good.

6 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Interesting Art, Fake Competition

I have watched every season, and it is down to enjoying the tattoo art process, which is about one third of the show. After the first couple of seasons, it was pretty clear that winning artists are pre-chosen for the final round, and they are going to win no matter how awful their tattoo is on any specific week.

The final episode used to be two hours of these characters just trash talking, and it was impossible to watch. Even at one hour, the final episode every season is the worst one. The giant back tattoos are usually not that good. Whoever made the best full back tattoo never wins. It is by far a rigged competition.

Every season, there are at least two men who are real jerks, and one or two women who are very arrogant and snotty. The rest of the artists in the competition spend their spare time either hating each other, or arguing. The fighting every week makes up about one third of every episode.

The Flash Challenge is some random contest where the competing artists do some totally useless activity, like making houses out of popsicle sticks. This big waste of time takes up the first one third of every episode. Most of the time, if you start watching after 30 minutes, you have not missed much. The best way to watch this show is to view it one week after every episode, and then you can fast forward through all the garbage time, like the flash challenges.

The three judges have very little personality. Dave Navarro used to be a guitarist on Jane's Addiction. He often does not give his opinion at all. He is not a tattoo artist, so the only reason he is on this show is because he is the closest thing to a "celebrity" that they could get. The other two judges are tattoo artists nobody ever heard of, but they claim to be famous.

14 out of 20 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

3/10

Meh

If you intend to watch this show to see some amazing tattoos, don't waste your time: search for them on Google Images. Believe me, you will be saving a lot of time. "But what's so bad about it?", you might ask. Well, I can summarize it.

1. The time given to actually show the pieces is very short. F*ck, it is supposed to be a tattoo show! Show the goddamn tattoos!

2. The majority of the episodes focus on little stupid quarrels among the competitors. It's just like watching some grown-up people acting like children in the kindergarten. Sometimes it is very hard to avoid the thinking that it is planned. It is just annoying and embarrassing to watch.

3. The judging is ridiculous. Needless to say, it is unacceptable for a competition show. Here, it is clear that it is not only the tattoo that is being judged. There's usually a favorite of the judges, and this person will magically stay among the best of the day repeatedly. It does not matter if the tattoo doesn't meet the criteria of the challenge or if it plainly sucks.

I always had complaints about this show, but kept on watching it for the tattoos... But now I realize it is not worthy. Just go for it if you enjoy watching some bizarre human behavior and twist endings.

30 out of 38 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

3/10

Predictable and Irritating

Warning: Spoilers

This show definitely has the potential to be entertaining: a series of passionate tattoo artists competing in challenges that are relevant to their art form for a chance to win $10,000 and the title of Ink Master. However, instead of respecting their craft the producers(presumably) have chosen to go in a different direction. Create the same drama every episode over and over and over. It has become the most monotonous TV competition show. They not only show a lack of respect for the art form, they go a step further and display a lack of respect for the competition in general by deliberately breaking their own rules week to week. This is not done in a clever way to incite more tension in the competition. This is done in a way to incite more irritation from the viewers. The judges show extreme favoritism and go a step further to even sabotage other contestants. Bottom line: if you want to watch a show that's about great innovative tattoos this may not be the show for you. But, if you wanna watch a show where judges piggy back on a contestant and watch the others squirm than this is a show for you. I am not a tattoo artist, but I have too much respect for competition in general to be entertained by this garbage. I will not watch this show ever again.

18 out of 21 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

5/10

Ink Nastier

I love reality competition shows. I am also fascinated by the art tattooing, albeit thus far I am an abstainer. The first season was the best--huge egos but genuine talent. (My favorite did not win.) Since then the show has devolved to showcasing some of the nastiest, untalented people on TV. The number of bleeps per episode is irritating; the talent sub par. Is the industry so tapped out that this is the best it has to offer? I also wonder about the psychological stability of the human canvases, many of whom are left with truly ugly, permanent "artwork" on their bodies. In the latest episode, these canvases wanted a anatomically-correct human heart morphing into either a lion, clock or hand grenade. Really? Are they paid to do this or just guaranteed a cover-up on the series Tattoo Nightmares?

12 out of 14 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

7/10

Need Some Soap....

I love watching the challenges, the creativity and the critiques BUT all the drama, the cursing and immature behavior is way too much!!! I have never watched a show that uses so much foul language to express themselves. C'mon you're artists and can't handle criticism-seriously??? I enjoy any show that promotes creativity but feel this is definitely a show I can't watch with my grandchildren!!! Wash your mouths out with soap, take the criticism like a mature artistic adult and make the show enjoyable for everyone to watch. David Navarro is a top notch host.

7 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

2/10

So manipulated.

I find the basic concept of competitive tattooing appealing, but this show is so manipulated, both by nonsense editing for max drama and by "judges" who magically wind up with exactly the profiles and artists they want at the finale, making both the interim work and the manufactured Drama we're forced to sit through completely irrelevant. I basically let Hubs put this on and ignore it until I get to see the finished tats, at which point I make up my own mind and then go back to my world, sometimes before they've "decided" on a winner and loser. I'm also tired of judging that seems to consist of Oliver Peck needing everyone to draw three color cartoons with thick black lines. If they want to advance tattoo beyond seventh grade and prison art, then artistry, uniqueness and color subtlety need a place in the mix.

6 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

8/10

Just old

Don't get me wrong I really like the show, but come on all the negative stuff has to stop. The rude comments and just down right mean people. I understand that $100,000.00 is on the line, but in life people need to learn to work together.

7 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

2/10

Favoritism

Other than watching the tattoos being made, there is nothing more to this show. They should just have the judges pick their favorite artist on the first episode, and save us from a season of ridiculous judging. Unless they change the show to allow for blind judging, this show is completely pointless. In fact the three judges often admit that they are not basing their decisions on that week's tattoo, but a culmination of previous work. What is the point in competing?

...apparently my review won't post in IMDb unless I've written enough information, so let me just say, "Ink Master". I would say that of most reality shows, Ink Master is one of THE most biased shows.

16 out of 20 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

1/10

SERIOUSLY?????

What a joke!!!! I'm so sick and tired of the judges. They even say that a tattoo artist doesn't meet the challenge AT ALL and yet they STILL won't send them home, (I.E. Amanda). And it happens time after time after time. It's gotten COMPLETELY LUDICROUS!!!!!!

20 out of 23 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

7/10

This Could Be A Really Great Show

I watch this show to see tattoo artists performing their craft, and to hopefully see some great tattoos. However, each season it gets more embarrassing and painful to watch. I know it's a competition, but if the participants are truly as arrogant and obnoxious as they are portrayed, I can't believe they have legitimate businesses as artists. It's all about drama and fighting and bad-mouthing everyone instead of being about the skill and art. Are all of these people honestly ego-maniacs who have no respect for their peers? Granted, there are usually a few nice folks in the bunch but overall it's just embarrassing how juvenile these people are. Then there's the judging which never seems to be based on what they asked for and who actually complied with the rules. Instead it's about popularity, favoritism and keeping the most controversial people to make sure they have drama. Until they do blind judging, get rid of coaches and get rid of teams. this will never be a fair and real competition. I'm still watching for now to see the art, but it's getting increasingly difficult.

5 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

2/10

Ink disaster!

The concept of Ink Master is excellent if you like tattoos but there is nothing good about this show!

The judges are imbeciles, absolute imbeciles! Nunez is so biased it's beyond annoying especially when he himself is not a good tattooist! In one season it was obvious he "liked" a female contestant who should have gone home many times but because of Nunez thinking with his little head, she stayed in the competition! Navarro has a few tattoos which doesn't make anyone an expert on tattooing so his opinions are worthless!

Most viewers want to see tattoos but the majority of the show is based around drama and arguments which spoils the show! Every season there seems to be some really nasty women and rival male contestants which I don't find necessary! It's a tattoo competition, not a soap opera but the producers think we want to see drama, which spoils the show!

The challenges prior to the actual tattooing are ridiculous! I couldn't care less if someone can weld, spray paint or carve when selecting a good tattooist because there is NO correlation or indication whether a person can tattoo and these stupid challenges!

I really wish the producers would lift their game and get reliable talented judges, stop the stupid irrelevant challenges, concentrate on the actual tattoos and select people who have real talent instead of the hacks they have on the show now!

Again, it's a great concept but it fails miserably with its terrible content!

9 out of 17 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

1/10

Ink Master drama

The only reason I'm giving it a star is because of season 1, which was pretty decent. From then on the producers focused more on making a soap opera drama comparable to The Housewives of Miami than a tattoo competition. I can't stand the bit**ing and nasty contestants who came on this show to expose their awful characters rather than really tattoo. The worst season yet is the Fifth one. A bunch of mediocre 'tattoo artists' doing really poor tattoos and getting away with it. Perhaps better ones didn't want to participate in this weak show? I can see only a couple of OK artists: Erik and Josh, the rest is embarrassing themselves....And the judges...Where should I begin? First, they have little to say about the quality of tattoos and the critique panel in the end is a joke. I, as a laywoman, can say things like "This tattoo has some good tones", or "This one lacks depth"...The judges are boring and unfit for the job. Not to mention that Nuniez and Peckh are being accused of harassment by a female crew member. Nasty, nasty, nasty...yawn...There are better shows than this one. Master Ink can't even be compared to Epic Ink and Best Ink which truly are about ART and amazingly talented people. Master Ink is just a bad taste TV drama.

9 out of 15 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

6/10

hmm

I've seen every season so far (till s13), and its clear that not all seasons are equal. So a season like nr 7 hits it out of the park, and does bring the overall score of this show up. But overall this show does have it fair share of bad tropes. It still reality tv at its core, so a lot of staged drame, overedited and campy reactions. The show also has its fair share of controvery regarding how much the actual tattoos matter if you stay or get kicked off. But despite its flaws its certainly entertaining if you're into the niche of tatooing.

6/10: not that great, but it does have its nieche appeal.

2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

2/10

Rigged and scripted

I work for a well-known tattoo studio so I have some pretty solid insider information that this show is now rigged. The winner is already selected before the show starts filming. If you're an artist on this show, you have to have a gimmick. If you don't have one, they give you one. If you're a woman, you are going to be sexualized (Tatu Baby for example). They tell these people what to wear and who to start s*** with. If you don't like their games, they will let you know matter-of-factly, that you'll never get another chance to show 4 million people your tattoos...so suck it up. Self-respecting tattoo artist have caught on to this bull**** and are not doing the show. So you get bottom of the barrel type artist who are just trying to get their name out there. Ink Master is a disgrace to the tattoo industry. An already misunderstood industry. Every year all the artist in our shop get the 2-4 emails, asking if they would like to try out for the show. To that we say, kick rocks. I know people who have been on the show and people who have tried out for the show, if you're not loud, rude, cocky, or a woman, you won't make it. They don't give a **** that 90% of the "human canvas" participants are going home with crappy tattoos. They just want drama. Also, the fact that they have a spin-off show that allows previous contestants to fix their mistake should say something to you. Bring back Best Ink and take this garbage off the air.

23 out of 33 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

3/10

I like seeing the tatoos but.....

I don't have tatoos, yet I like body art. The toxicity of most of the "competitors" is unbelievable. I wouldn't want most of them to tattoo me- some of them that brag the most Have "blow outs'" bad ink lines, jacked drawings. also, you get what you pay for, because altho they are all supposed to be professionals. many of the finished tattoos are "jacked' from the drawing. In particular the pin up. always. as a contestant- you know you will be asked. why not prepare and do some anatomical studies, and some tattoos or at least drawings, before you get on the show. More importantly, they allow these "artists" to start with a bad drawing, and put it on a poor skin/canvas. Since someone will have it permanently on their body, do a guy a favor, and stop them. Pin Ups in particular- at least half of them have really bad drawings- twisted, feet, impossible torsos. arms coming out of the wrong place., even 2 left feet- Portraits are often bad. at least if a bird wing is twisted, and incorrect, it's not as horrible to live with if t they see someone overworking the skin, tearing it up, or going to dark- Protect the skin. this is really MEAN. . The "judges" can take this into account and take off points. and it's other's too- like bird wings that are just wrong, coming out of the wrong part of the bird, feathers in wrong direction. OR tattoo is in the wong direction or part of the picture is flipped. Please, please, stop them before they in. If I did get a tattoo, I would o=only want the best, no free lunch. Even among the last 5- or 6 2 or 3 are AD. One neck tattoo, the "eagle" was all wrong"- and that person not only didn't get eliminated, she went to the finale. Come on people get real. they spend too mch time on personal squabbles, while showing finsihed work for seconds. also. it's been stated, Dave N. isn't there, doesn't call time. and it seems no one observes the wor in progress. they do a 5 minute walk thru for the cameras. so the judges really aren't involved. Jsut take their pay check. Does this show real respect for the "art".

2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

7/10

I understand why people don't like this show but personally I like it

Warning: Spoilers

Yes there is drama in this show and there were a few moments that made me mad, for example two episodes with Julia Carlson where she tells her client to go f*** himself and Chris Blinston when he mocked a client with a panic attack. But other than that, I like this show mainly because i like seeing the tattoos and seeing what the judges think. However I will admit they are a bit biased sometimes because there were some times where I disagreed with them. Other than that I don't mind this show.

2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

10/10

2 season

Steve and tattoo baby shouldnve been the last two standing . It was bs call . Idk who decided that

1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

3/10

Cringeworthy

The manufactured reality show drama stuff is so overboard it's insane. It portrays the competitors in such a way that I'd never actually give any of them my business.

1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

3/10

Total mess

I used to love this show for the whole show. Now, I only occasionally watch it strictly to see the artwork. As others have said, it's all about the drama and that's about it. The competition is ridiculous and total bs. Each week they have different challenges, yet when you listen to the judging, the artists no longer properly get judged based on the challenge guidelines. This show is just pathetic now.

2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

6/10

If only this show could only be focused on its art...

I've actually never been a tattoo fan but a few months ago, as I was looking for something a little interesting to watch on TV, I came across Ink Master and I've been watching the show from then on.

What I like in this show: some of the tattoos (flowers, realistic photos mostly-- I hate skulls, black and white, pin ups, old and new school tattoos) and the artistic and technical explanations from the contestants. I ONLY watch it because of these two aspects.

What I don't like: the drama scenes, the insults, fights, strategies to win, and Mr Nunez's behavior. Whereas Oliver Peck and Dave Navarro are rather fair judges (although sometimes a little politeness would be most appreciated), Chris Nunez is obviously only here to humiliate the contestants instead of purely sticking to his role as a judge.

As a conclusion: this show could be a really great one if Chris Nunez wasn't there and if the contestants were chosen differently. Some of them don't care a d**n about their 'art', they're just here to fight and make a fuss.

5 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

5/10

SEASON 5 RUINED THIS SHOW!!!

Warning: Spoilers

I was really enjoying this show despite it being a garbage reality show, because of all the amazing art. Season 5 they changed things up and went waaay over the top with the aggression and drama. Emily literally raised my blood pressure with her fake queen b**** attitude and subpar tattoos. All the yelling, screaming and fake drama turned a great show about art into the real housewives of trash island. The straw that broke the reality show's back tho...Josh...love him or hate him they screwed him sooo bad. They kicked him off for smoking a joint???? He's not only an artist, but a tattoo artist! What tattoo artist doesn't smoke weed. Half the ppl on this show have meth mouth for Christ's sake. Leave it to Hollywood to screw up a great show as soon as they see a little success. What a disappointment

1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink