Let's Talk About INK Master... 

I knew it was fake when the judges criticized Jamie Davies for not having tattoos instead of his art. I’m not a tattoo artist but his work was amazing. When He got disqualified/booted I knew it was scripted and the judges (except for Dave) truly disliked him. Everyone coming along to help him draw fake tattoos on him was a nice jester on his send off.

I like it, I just treat it more like pro wrestling now tho 😂

I always thought it was crazy that someone would allow a tattoo that they had zero approval power over.

I think it’s called Ink Master and not Ink MasterS. The show is sometimes problematic, a little entertaining at best.

I applied for Ink Masters to be a canvas, and glad I wasn’t picked. I’m sorry I don’t want my artist rushing to get a piece done all because of a competition. My tattoo decisions are not a competition to fuck up in 4 hours for a full back piece. No. I want the time it takes. Ten minutes. Or ten hours. This process. Takes. Time. Nuff said. Let’s get inky ✍️ 🤌🏼

I’ve always been a fan of the show. It’s reality TV, I know it’s fake with a splash of wack. But I think the show does a good job educating on pain levels; puts your expectations in line but also shows canvases who experience both extreme pain and seemingly high pain tolerance which allows some nuance. Teaches a lot of different styles which gives you more to work with. It also platforms people who get tattoos, sometimes they have cancer survivors, trauma/abuse survivors which fights the negative stigma of tattoos. This allows people to feel justified in their interest of tattoos; that it’s not taboo and it’s okay for any reason (unless it’s offensive). It’s a show that focuses on visual arts, which is nice in comparison to all the music focus shows lol. It shows tattoos that have gone wrong, that turn out badly, which shows the consequences you can experience. It also shows difficult canvases who won’t work with their artists; which isn’t good (especially on a show with a time crunch). I know the show has it’s problems but it introduced me to tattoos when I had a lot of questions and now I’m apart of a really cool community of people who can make fun of all those people on the show 😂

Oliver Peck was married to Kat Von D at the height of her popularity on Miami ink. I think she was part of the reason he became what he became on tv.

I wouldn't say it was canceled because of oliver Peck doing black face. It was postponed due to the pandy. An internet keyboard warriors decided to dig up old photos of Peck doing black face was from many years prior to 2020. So at that time they were not recent. It still doesn't give him the right to ever do that. And the fact that you think it was canceled because of that is bonkers. It was never canceled in the first place. It was airing on Spike. Spike changed the name to paramount the show continued through the name change. And then Viacom moved to it to paramount +. It was all under the same umbrella of the company. Do better research. I didn't even have to look any of this up. How do you not know who Chris Nuñez or Dave Navarro are? If you are in to tattoos as much as you are you would at least know who Nuñez is. He was on Miami Ink. Navarro was in two legendary bands red hot chili peppers, and jane's addiction.

It was entertaining before I knew anything about tattoos. The more I learned, the less I liked it. So it got me into tattoos... and I'll always give it credit for that.

You have to keep in mind is that just because a tattoo artist may have sub-par looking tattoos on their own bodies doesn't mean they can't produce way better tattoos than the ones who they got their ink from. Chris Nunez is a talented artist who specializes in Japanese work and the tattoos he does are pretty top notch if you watched him when he was on the Miami Ink TV series. There are a lot of artists who's skill usually surpasses their mentors. By the way....the main host's name is Dave N-A-V-A-R-R-O. If you don't know who he is, he is the guitar player for Jane's Addiction and one time for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

I have been watching the show ink Master for around seven or eight years now and to be real I don’t really care if it’s fake or not. I find the show really entertaining to watch.

I personally know a tattooist that was on the show, and she isn’t trash. She also hated the experience and doesn’t even display that she was on the show in her shop or at conventions. She stated that at least when the show started, that the prize money isn’t real either. They told them that the publicity will give them more than enough free exposure, to make money. They also push who they want to advance, that have the personality to make good drama tv in their eyes.

I used to watch it on cable ten years ago and I would get so mad at the judging 😂😂😂

I don't think "Fake" is the word, it's more like "Scripted". I have a half sleeve done by Juan Salgado, contestant on Season 10. If anyone saw the Final, it was Juan Salgado vs Josh Payne and, not because my work is done by him, but Salgado's final piece was superior in many ways to Josh Payne's. Why do I believe Payne "won"? Because throughout the whole season, yes, he tattoed nice pieces, but he was always made to be the "bad guy". Juan Salgado already had a huge following and fame in the industry BEFORE the Ink Masters show and waiting list for him was 2 years minimum. Salgado doesn't even have any promo concerning Ink Master in his shop or website and the show, to this day, has not influenced his popularity in any way.

I really love Ink Master for what it is, entertainment. What I like most is how it showcases different genres/styles of tattoos. I would have never learned about bio-mech or trash-polka just from the limited amount of shops in my region. Like most(all) reality shows, it’s mostly fluff, but sometimes you just crave empty calories.

Tyler Nolan was a contestant on that show. I love his work and his reptile collection.

Speaking as an older mid-income housewife type I am not what you would call a "bad ass" but I really enjoyed Ink Masters. Of course, we all know that it has it's staged or fake moments, but I found it interesting to see all the different styles of tattoos there are. Still you have to give it props for bringing tattoos more into the main stream. The first tattoo show I watched was Miami Ink. It later branched off with with LA Ink with Kat VonD. The problem I found with those shows is that they started doing more of the personal lives of.... vs tattoos. Then you get those horrible tattoo shows like Just Tattoo of Us where friends and family decide on each others tattoo and the recipients are blind folded, with 99% just horrible! I am not sure if there will be an Ink Master Season 16, but if there is I will be watching. P.S. I have 2 small simple memorial tattoos (size of a silver dollar) on each wrist, and likely wouldn't have if I hadn't been watching Tattoo shows. Now I watch a number of RU-vid/TikTok content.

I watch and enjoy it. I even have a tattoo from Jime litwalk. I can take or leave the whole reality part but I love seeing the art and the different styles. I like the artists.

My artist who’s been on the show a few times is Matt O’Baugh. He is a genuine guy who does quality work. He doesn’t push his time on the show as part of his marketing today and I’ve always appreciated that about him. I’m sure a lot of the artist do use is like you said. I’ve spent many hours in his chair and talked to him a bit about the show. There is definitely a high level of editing to make it more nail biting and suspenseful. You can’t edit big personalities though so there really are just some straight asshole artist on there. I’ve never been a fan of the judging either because tattoos are just so subjective. I loved the composition and color scheme of some of the pieces they tore apart. I will say though that I don’t have to be a good artist myself to be able to critique a tattoo. Just because I may not be as good of an artist as another that doesn’t mean I can’t give a fair judgement on it. BUT I won’t present my opinion on it as an actual fact like they do.

I have a full sleeve and a few other tattoos done by Halo on season 4. He’s one of the kindest, loveliest people you could meet and an incredible artist. I haven’t seen the new seasons with the new judges, as I don’t have Paramount, but from what I hear, it’s a lot better than the earlier seasons.

As you mentioned all reality shows are fake, this one is so exception. Although most of the show is BS, the tattoos are still real, which is why I still keep watching and have seen every season. The show definitely fueled my desire to get tattoos, even when I was interested in them but didn't have the money to do so. By the time I was in the spot to afford quality work I had alrady been thinking about what I would get for years thanks to this show, now I'm covered in tattoos. This show was the most popular of all the tattoo shows and helped put the industry more into the mainstream, and I will always be thankful for that.

As do all reality shows, its all fake. They just dramatise certain things

Ink Master lead me to getting my first tattoo and I watched it for a few seasons (two seasons pre-covid, and two seasons after covid) I found myself getting bored of the format because it feels the same as so many reality tv shows, another reason why I stopped watch Hell's Kitchen.

Ink Master. There’s no s on the end.

My honest opinion is Ink Master is a disgusting concept. They are under stress and are given limited time to put permanent work on someone's body. I've seen bits and pieces and some of the shit that went on was ridiculous. I can understand needing to make a show full of drama so people want to watch, but not when it involves real people getting real tattoos.

I liked the first season the live x factor part though wasn't for me. The didn't let those artists show off their true talent which was kind of dumb. I just got my first tattoo lately and the practices were completely different

I’ve always been entertained by Ink Master, though tbh I miss the old crew..prob just the nostalgia from when I used to watch it. The only thing that used to irk me was all the fighting between the artists bc it was so obviously staged and over the top. 😂 But I loved it even if it wasn’t so ‘reality’ based

Ever since I saw all the videos of artist admitting it’s not like how it looks I lost all interest. They said, they got more than the time as said on tv, and when they always do the count down from 5… that’s fake. It’s just dumb and goofy

Honestly who doesn't have at least a love hate (mostly hate lolo) relationship with Ink Masters? XD I personally only like watching bits and pieces of it. I like seeing the tattoos and the art challenges. I get bored/annoyed with all the drama, especially involving Cleen and Christian. Also the sound effects are the worst. #1 by far worst thing though about the show is the racism and sexism. No idea what the newest seasons are like though. I hope they made some serious improvements.

Don’t you just love shows where the judges are less talented than the contestants?😂😂😂

Binge watching s5 now. lol. Like a lot of people said, I watch for the art and to see what the styles are. I could do without the screaming drama. Then you have the people who come in with set characters that just annoy right out of the gate (St. Marq, Emily Elegado, Josh Hibbard, etc.) and make it hard to enjoy the show without it being on mute most of the time. I feel bad for anyone who gets to be a canvas on that show and always wonder who ends up fixing bad tattoos if anyone. And let's talk about the canvas juries. Who coached them? That room gets ugly, too. As far as artists, I love love love Kelly Doty's stuff. Ryan Ashley also impressed me. Haven't seen any of the new eps or spin off shows yet. But watching the early shows has prompted me to book an appointment with a new artist next week. 😁

I made an appointment with a 5th rank ink master contestant next week :0

Kyle Dunbar has a podcast. It hasn’t updated in a while but it does interviews with past artists and they go behind scenes.

My favorite thing about ink Masters is DJ amazing artist

Season 7 was the last good season imo. Then season 8 happened... It's been on a downward spiral ever since, but I really enjoyed seasons 1-7 especially 4 that was BY FAR the best season imo.

hi! new to your channel, i see alot of tattoo content, but im curious, do you tattoo? do you have or like traditional tattoos? seems unesassery to be so harsh on oliver pecks work (only person i know who is on ink master) if thats not your cup of tea that fine tho, but it does not suck, it looks how traditional is suppossed to look. say what you want about him, but the work is fine.

the wolverine tattoo that lacks one finger, I cannot get over with it why it won

As entertainment, the show is great. Does it select a real ink master, I think not. My suggestion for judging would be a cumulative scoring system. Eliminations would only occur every 3 or 4 episodes. Points would be assigned based on meeting tattoo criteria, color, line work, and artistry, and we would be able to see each tattoo score breakdown. Any other judging ideas out there?

Oliver is one of the modern day innovators of traditional and has developed his own style of it and done very well for himself. A lot of what ppl consider to be “good traditional” these days is not even truly traditional if you look back at some of the OG artists and the way it used to look. As the art has evolved so have the artists. I think today it’s more about the art and less about the tattooing, just my opinion, but you can look at a lot of the younger ppl in the biz now and see what I mean. I think trying to compare somebody old school like Oliver to modern artists is like comparing a baseball player from the 70s to the super freaks playing the game now. Not only has the game changed, the players are just at a different level. It doesn’t discount the past but it has just elevated. I like your channel and have gone from no ink to 5 larger tattoos and planning my 6th en route to my right arm being fully sleeved. I was a little disappointed to hear you shit on some established names in the biz just due to roles they played on a show you disliked. What do I know though, you’re the RU-vidr and I’m just a watcher 🤷🏻‍♂️

It's more about the drama than the actual tattoos

There is one tattoo show that I really like but got cancelled after one season, it was called tattoo wars, I really liked how they got very amazing , really well respected tattooers to compete in that show.

Maybe I'm naive, but why can't the show just be contest driven, focusing on the various artist's skills and style? You don't need immature childish adult drama to get good ratings.

Honestly I think there needs to be tattoo schools, or tattooing being apart of art classes in high schools and colleges, basically just treat tattooing like a real art form instead of a reality TV show.

When i started watching it, i was in schock how bad some of the tattos are, it was unimaginable that these are the best artists in the states, simply can't be true....*there is a few really good ones, but majority is mediocre....glad there is someone who made realistic video about this show

I watched it. It was good if you want to look at tattoos. My tattoo artist hates it

Hey Mike,I really didn't believe that Ink Masters was a legit tv show. One of my favorites was Tattoo Nightmare & Inked which started in 2005 & ran until 2006. Ink Master's started in 2011. And the one thing that I didn't get was what do the ppl do if their tattoos came out crappy? Like who fixes that? Do they get compensated for their time? And if their tattoo looks awful does a master end up fixing it for them? Or are they recommend to someone else who is actually a real tattoo artist to fix it?? And they never addressed these things so I never really thought it was a real show! I like your content dude. Thanks for doing this video & I appreciate your channel. Have a Blessed & Beautiful night in Jesus name I pray, Amen!

The judges aren’t really judging they’re told exactly what to say. Everything on that show is fake. The only thing I liked about it is seeing some of the sick tattoos.

I have watched every episode (as the seasons and episodes came out, even) mostly because I like to watch tattoo content . The first episode came out in 2012 I think, and back then RU-vid wasn't what it is now. Nowadays, I lean into RU-vid to find tattoo content with the knowledge that Ink Master is entertainment with writers and directors and costume/wardrobe. I hope there will eventually be a genuine legitimate tattoo related TV program where peoplecan be themselves and dress as they normally would,, but I don't see it happening because they need ratings to make $ and sadly drama = ratings.

Bro can’t even pronounce the names of artists who have been in the industry as long as he’s been alive 😂

It’s reality TV so I’m not surprised that it’s fake as hell. My main tattoo artist used to work for a shop owned by a former Ink Master artist. The ink master guy is a sweetheart, but I think my main artist’s tattoos are so much better than the Ink Master guy’s. Ink Master is just a weird show. I’ve seen some spectacular tattoos get shit on so hard by the judges. I feel like if I ever got judged by them they’d hate all my tattoos. 😅

I used to really like it but when it became a popularity contest and not about the best artist, think Ryan Ashley, Jason clay Dunn, and so on. Very rarely does the best tattoo artist win.

Ink Masters? It’s Ink Master dude. If you can’t say the name right I’m going to assume you don’t know anything about the show..

I think you should be abit more grateful for ink masters, reason being it brings new people into tattooing, which in turn will bring people to your channel, don’t get me wrong the show is entertainment and I think it is better than any other tattoo reality show…. Looking back now I personally wouldn’t of found your channel at all if it wasn’t for these stupid reality tattoo shows

the one judge seems to have a grudge against the female artists.

If I don’t like a show I don’t watch it simple as that

Ink Master is to set up artists for failure and unhappy clients. When the artists get invited back for redemption, it’s a typical appt then. No crazy time rush, no forced body parts or styles, etc. I would NEVER be a human canvas for a show like that knowing the tattoo will likely be bad. I’d rather pay for a quality tattoo.

I used to love it, but I stopped watching after the episode when they eliminated an artist simply because he didn’t have any tattoos of his own

Oliver got famous because he was married to Kat Von D. I don't get his work either.

I do like the non elimination challenges. But after that I just don’t like how the show doesn’t incorporate newer styles of tattoo designs. It’s all the same old stuff every season.

I thought there were a few good artists throughout the original run. I learned a lot about the process. You can’t and SHOULD NOT rush a good tattoo. The judges were okay, but somewhat hypocritical.

Myke Chambers is my personal favorite AT artist but there really are some great unknowns out there that blow Oliver out of the water

I thought it was obvious to everyone that the bickering, the little cutscenes of the artists talking to the cameras, and even the countdowns were scripted/fake. I guess not. like the artists talking to the camera especially is pretty corny like they don’t talk like that. The critiques seem pretty genuine though at least from the judges who actually tattoo, but I have seen them say things like “clean outline” but on the close-up they look pretty rough in some areas. And another one I saw had really terrible looking clouds as a background but they didn’t chew him up on at all, i wouldn’t have been able to guess they were supposed to be clouds.

I do find it entertaining, but the artists' reactions to the challenges really get me. An "old school style" artist will act soooo surprised and annoyed when they are given a black and gray neotraditional style challenge. They knew damned well when they signed up for the competition that they were going to be tasked with things they've never done before - and the whole premise of the show, in my opinion, is to show the growth and versatility of an artist. The reactions are just over the top - so that's where I feel they are prompted to be "extra". Just my two cents LOL!!

I rate some of the artist its set up fake like all TV shows but the talents ain't fake

Nobody should EVER get pissed off about a joke!! Sensitive people are the sick ones. Get over it.

It was a great show with the original judges. Dave and Chris were funny and Oliver even had his moments. I don’t like the new judges besides DJ. Nonetheless, I hope they are renewed for Season 16 💪🏽💪🏽

New game. Everytime he says the word “tattoo” you take a shot of wiskey. Good luck!

The first judges were FAR better at judging. At least they have been tattooing long enough to know what works and what does not. Most people think the show is just an art contest. There is way more to tattoos than just the immediate result ( mainly how it ages ) And like it or not, traditionally, traditional tattooers were not great artist. If it were just the art they were judging ( which is mostly what the current judges do ) then I would agree. But, traditional tattoos are a bit like outsider art. The wonkiness is somewhat endearing. So, I do think Oliver and Nunez were much more qualified to be judging. However, in the current state of tattooing, which is mostly focused on how it looks when you walk out the door ( or how it looks on your gram ), the new judges are more appropriate. Personally I think it is not a good thing. But, that is how it is currently!

The culture of celebrity in the tattoo industry (as is the case in many industries) does numb people to reality. There are very few 'celebrity tattoo artists' that I would travel to get work done from. The artist I go to is easily as good as the folks I see on Instagram and I have a great rapport with. He's not a 'celebrity' but he's awesome and good to me. There are a few I would travel for, like Nikko Hurtado or Myke Chambers. But, the list is short for me. Being on Ink Masters does nothing for me.

Believe little of what you hear and only half of what you see.

Man can think about the show whatsoever, but to make a video about it and don't know it's correct name is pathetic. Say it with me INK MASTER.

I actually found my tattoo artist on ink master Christian Buckingham for his black and grey realism but yes the old host tattoos were trash

I’m confused, didn’t Jimmy Kimmel do blackface? Why didn’t he get cancelled? Oh because he’s a liberal that’s why

INK master is no more a show about tattooing than The Bachelor is about love or Hells Kitchen about food. It’s all the same formula . Tattoos are just a backdrop for a trending scripted TV show ABOUT a competition. Replace tattoos with cupcakes , cookies, whittling etc… it’s the same thing . The fake drama is eye-rolling!. That being said , as someone who doesn’t know anything about tattoos, i have enjoyed it for what it is and have seen beautiful work, and have gained a great deal of respect for the art form. All the judges are annoying -- especially Nunez !

I watched it just for entertainment. I liked watching artists deal with bad clients.

I like the tattoos on the show. I like to see what they come up with. I find the drama to be fake. Kind of like the producers push the "drama" to try and make it more interesting. I can do without the Jersey Shore style drama. It's annoying. I just want to see tattoos.

Hi Mike. So I have watched it on RU-vid..I think some of it is interesting, I mainly watch it cos some of the tattoo art is beautiful. But also I think..some of it is just a bit dramatic..

Dang you butchered half of the judges names 😂

when I watch Ink Masters, I just skip through everything and watch the tattoo viewing/judging part. everything else like the drama and reaction shots are fake af

I’ve seen every season I liked the show but there are DEFINITELY times when you can tell how fake it is

If they shouldn’t judge why should you ?

You should check out tattoo fixers a uk show about covering up tats. Smallest tattoo and they would do a massive tattoo to cover it up. So over kill 😂

I watched all of them for some reason. Freddie was the best and most artistic of anyone ever on that show. DJ is good but man, talk about favortism.

I think the artist's are also disrespectful because I don't like when they call them canvas

It's as "real" as any other reality show, but at least there is some artistic talent involved.

Love your channel, but it's INK MASTER, not masters. Hearing you mispronounce it over and over is irritating.

Love it. I think it's a great show you are right about the judges some of the tattoos they said were great were definitely garbage in a lot of the episodes but still love the show

I know a lot of shit is bogus, but I just watch to see the actual tattoo. The tattoo's you showed with the judges where you say the judges liked them were actually destroyed by them and the 1 you showed where the judges disliked was actually applauded by the new judges and was done by the winner of season 15

You’re too young to know…Oliver and Chris are both amazing! Go back watch original Miami ink episodes.

When i used to watche TV I watched Ink Masters. I thought the contestants had skill.

I only really watch it to see the tattoos. I don't root for anyone to win or anything. Some of them are sweet but there's still alot that turn out like shit for being a supposedly awesome artists. Way I see it is most people that actually are good tattoo artists are probably already booked solid and couldn't care less about being a "ink master".

i hated the suspence and the cringe and the fake fights and toxic gudges and hate they created was shittttt

bro is critiquing the show but hasn’t even watched the show lmao

As a show it is awesome, I think it is so entertaining. I would totally go on it as a human canvas if given the opportunity. Do I think it is totally credible? Nah.

My first tattoo was done by someone from ink master

I watched for cringe value 😂 the only one I ever thought was good is that new judge Ryan she’s 👌

'Ink Masters' 😂 it's 'Ink Master' at least get the name correct before slating it. Just saying not hating as I dig your content

I think it's definitely the best tattoo show ever made. Definitely a lot better than every other one I've ever seen. I think it shows a lot of the best and worst aspects of being a part of the tattoo industry especially the big personalities that have emerged from being a tattoo artist. The absolute assholes you meet as a tattoo and a canvas. And I find it to be funny to listen to tattoos complain. It's always so much fun. But they do hype it up for the camera I've watched a lot of the canvases and they say it's basically just like an average tattoo but they edited it to look different on the show so yeah I thought the show stopped because one of the judges was racist. I'm surprises still going

I'm from Ireland..I don't mean to sound stupid..who's black face and what was the offence?

Looks like the Walmart of tattoos