Best Ink Recap: Tattoo Virgins

Why is her face so…frozeny?

Last week the artists were challenged to create emotional pieces using flowers which threw Roman for a loop as he is not an emotional guy. Kyle ends up winning the flash challenge by creating a piece dedicated to his guilt of being away from his child and girlfriend. Jessica ends up crying when some of the others question her artistic skills. The Ink Challenge is dedicated to creating a piece to honor something dear to the skins. Roman has a tough time and ends up pushing his client into his vision and then leaves out the most important piece that she had asked for. In the end, Charlie wins and Roman is sent home after asking to leave because he does whatever he wants and couldn’t handle the competition.

 
Sabina’s systems do not compute who he is.

The artists meet Sabina the sex robot and Kim at the Underwood Family Farms where they are then introduced to guest judge Dean McDermott…and they have no clue who he is. I kind of don’t even know what he does except give sperm to Tori Spelling every few years for a new baby. Anyway, the Flash Challenge is to create a band for Dean that conveys his love for his family. The artists have one hour to complete the challenge on paper and the image must connect to form a full band. The stakes are high because the winner will receive an extra hour to tattoo which excites everyone but Nicky who always finishes early anyway. The artists get to work and Jessica starts working on a tribal piece with color since Dean has only black and grey tattoos. Hey Jessica did you ever think that maybe he doesn’t like color tattoos and that’s why he has black and grey ones? Jessica believes that by winning this challenge she can show the others what a true artist she really is. Jon remarks that tribal is so 1990s and doesn’t understand why Jessica would want to do it.

Flash Challenge
Create a wedding band for Dean McDermott

Nicky

London

Kyle

Jon

Jessica

Charlie

Alexis

Time is called and Dean enjoys most of the pieces but the part that I need to point out is when he calls Jessica’s piece Evil Knievel-ish because of the flames and tribal design. Jessica doesn’t take that very well and goes on the defensive. Alexis and London are called out as the top two of the group. Alexis’ piece is liked because it incorporated everything that Dean wanted while London’s piece showcases masculinity and that Dean is the protector of the family similar to the tiger he has tattooed on his arm. Alexis takes the win and her Susan Lucci streak ends!

Suck it! Duece no more!

Jessica is mad and she doesn’t feel that the other artists put in as much effort as she did into her flash challenge. Alexis is nervous in front of the judges because she is never confident while Jessica says she doesn’t want to talk which is kind of a relief to the others. She then explains that she has been out of luck with her tattoos. Alexis interviews that back home people like Jessica are called one-uppers because they always have to make it about them no matter what. Over in these parts we call them narcissistic bitches but hey whatever works in your region works for me! Jessica further explains that she does work that her clients love and yet she is always getting cut down by the judges. London tells her that it doesn’t matter about making the client happy but she also needs to work on doing technically good pieces. She tells them she feels drained artistically by the competition while London interviews that she is the weakest of the group and needs to go home. I feel like most of their work sucks but that’s just me.

Don’t worry Kyle, we are all throwing her a ”Bitch, please” look with you.

Kim and Joe waddle in to announce the Ink Challenge which is to create a tattoo that celebrates the skin’s best friend. Oh…and all of the skins are tattoo virgins! Charlie shouts out that there will be some cherry popping in the building and I get a little creeped out by her. Joe explains that first timers can be difficult while Kyle interviews that they tend to pass out or puke from nervousness. Wait what? Almost everyone I know who has tattoos didn’t puke or pass out from them so who is Kyle tattooing? The piece the artists create needs to connect the person to their bff and honor their special relationships.

 
Raise your hand if you’re only here for a free tattoo!

Since the stories are personal we get to know a bit more about the skin’s decision to get this tattoo and who it is for:

Elena (Jessica) – Her best friend Jackie is entering the world of Roller Derby as Elena is retiring after 5 years. It’s sort of like passing the torch on to her best friend. Jessica selects Elena because she is a fan of roller derby.

Ally (Nicky) – Ally was involved in a bad accident that left her relying on her best friend, Sierra, to take care of her by making meals and even bathing her. Nicky selects her because he went through the same thing when he had his accident.

Jen (London) – 8 years ago Jen and her best friend Tiffany were stuck camping in a tent together for 5 days and that is when their friendship started. London used to camp as a kid so that is why he selects her.

Lizzie (Jon) – Lizzie and her father, Michael, spent some time in Mexico which is where their bond really strengthened as Lizzie was the only one who could speak Spanish. Since Jon also speaks Spanish, he selects Lizzie.

Nola (Charlie) – Nola was in a deep depression for a long time but it was her friend Danielle that helped her though it. Charlie loved that her friend was there for her and that is why she picked her.

Dekasia (Kyle) – Dekasia and Delicia’s mother passed away a few days after their birthday from a heart attack. Kyle selected her because he can relate to their story of love for their mom.

Joe (Alexis) – Joe and his cousin PJ are best friends and even enlisted together in the military. Alexis’ family comes from a military background and that is why she selects him.

Jessica always has her multiple uses face on.

The artists are given two hours to complete the challenge but guess what…TWISTY TIME! The artists will also be tattooing the best friend which throws everyone for a loop. They all think they have to tattoo two people in 2 hours and start freaking out. Kim explains that that wouldn’t be fair so they have 4 hours while Alexis gets 5 hours due to winning the flash challenge. Joe also points out that the tattoos do not have to be identical but they need to be similar and representative of the bond the two have.

so…what if they don’t like her style?

The artists start consultations with Nola, Charlie’s client, explaining that she wants to represent who she was and who she is now with a feather with birds flying from it. Her friend settles for some flowers in the same wispy feel as the feather. Dekasia and Delicia, Kyle’s clients, decide that as twins they want the same tattoo to represent their mother which will be a dove and some script. Alexis’ clients Joe and PJ want to represent their military background so they decide on doing a skull representing their ranks of paratrooper and scout. Tiffany and Jen are working with London and decide they want plain dark henna type pieces but to add a little color to Tiffany’s tattoo. Jessica has already got an idea in mind for her derby girls, Elena and Jaci. She wants to do a brand new skate representing the newness for Jaci and an older, tattered skate for Elena representing her years as a derby girl coming to an end. Micheal and Lizzie want sacred heart images from Jon even though they are not religious. Ally and Sierra want swallows from Nicky to represent always coming back to each other no matter where they are just like swallows.

wobble wobble

Joe comes around to inspect and notes that Alexis’ design of a skull with wings represents a well-known biker gang so she decides to change her piece. She will include the parachute instead to still represent PJ’s paratrooper background. Joe is not too impressed with Jessica’s sketch and tries to tell her that it might be too much with the allotted time. He also lets Charlie know that over time the little birds flying from the feather may end up looking bad later in life so she should be careful as to how she places them. Nicky’s client is having a hard time sitting still and he explains that it is like the whole earth is moving around him…I laughed you guys. I know that is mean but she’s a big girl and he said the earth was moving. Joe notices the movement and mentions to her that the piece will not look good if she continues to squirm because Nicky won’t be able to get in good lines. As the artists wind down to complete their pieces, Jessica has to draw the attention on to herself by loudly yelling. The others all wish she would go home as if that wasn’t evident by continuously voting her to the bottom every week.

Ink Challenge
Tattooing Besties

Nicky

London

Kyle

Jon

Jessica

Charlie

Alexis

The guest judge this week is Taryn Manning, Boomkat you guys!! I know no one will get the image reference below but whatevs. Taryn has tattoos that represent her best friend and even has her best friend’s name tattooed on her wrist. I’m not going to complain that Taryn really isn’t a good judge for this competition because I love her but feel free to snark in the comments, I won’t hold it against you too much.

Time for the wreckoning

Joe says Charlie’s piece is too delicate and that you can’t make the birds up close while London’s piece seems incomplete. Jon’s work is liked because of the texture lines but Kyles piece falls short because of a lack of shading that would have made the piece pop more. Alexis’ work is called clean with impeccable lines and Nicky’s is called incomplete. He tries to explain that his client moved around too much but I don’t think the judges cared so much. Jessica’s work was a good concept but Joe said her first mistake was the drawing she did for the sketch. In other words her artistic skills sucked.

Cry me a freakin’ river bitch

During deliberations, Jessica cries because she had to do two separate drawings and her criticism was unfair. Charlie speaks up and says you had two skates but I had two completely different drawings so how fair is that? Jessica doesn’t listen to reason and makes it all about herself and how she is upset. Kyle pipes in that they all had the same issue with doing two pieces and Jessica tries to save herself by saying she is only human and has emotions (a little too much that could be curbed if you would just take your meds). Nicky makes it clear in his interview that he doesn’t want to go home before Jessica and Charlie says in her interview that she would have strapped Nicky’s client down to keep her still. Kyle is voting Jessica out because he thinks she is annoying and a weak artist while Jessica believes Nicky is the weak link.

Top Two (Duece lol)

Alexis and Jon receive the top two spots. Alexis’ work had stunning line work and color saturation and truth be told it was my favorite thus far of the show. She really captured what they were looking for and did a great job. Jon’s tattoos were also good and they included everything that the clients wanted. The pieces looked like they would jump off the skin and beat according to Sabina but she’s a robot and doesn’t know what a real beating heart looks like. Alexis is the winner!

Jessica, watch out for that bus!

Here’s where it gets good and I want to highlight that because we have yet to have these kinds of moments on this show. There was a tie during eliminations so instead of 3 there are 4 people on the bottom. They are Jon, Kyle, London and Jessica. Joe asks why they are there and Kyle starts the tirade saying they are losing their minds while Jon backs him up and says that Jessica is disruptive. Jessica is pretty taken back and doesn’t understand how she is disruptive or that anyone had a problem with her. Kyle says that she is being disruptive right now and that it is a mental drain being around her. She says she didn’t know she drove everyone crazy and starts glancing over at the artists hoping someone would back her. Jessica also says it should be about the work and London finally bounces in saying that it is definitely about the work implying that she is a weak tattooer. Joe stops the bus from backing over Jessica and says that the eliminations are based on being challenged and who succeeds with their work. London and Jon are both safe so that leaves Kyle and Jessica. Jessica’s drawings have been her weak point from the beginning and she bit off more than she could chew. Kyle’s piece lacked depth but he shows skills that are off the charts. Finally, Jessica is out!

Please refill your prescriptions and get well.

Before she leaves she tells the judges thank you and that she learned a lot and especially about other people. Alexis meanwhile is smiling ear to ear as Jessica leaves the stage. Jessica says that her journey started out positive but she was subjected to so much negativity that it was hard to carry on. She doesn’t believe she deserved the treatment she received but that it will only push her farther in her career. I hope she starts taking her meds and comes back to reality because chick was off her rocker the entire time. I’m thinking menopause because she would flip from happy to sad to crying to angry within minutes.

Guys I am curious, would we have like this show more if we had seen it before Ink Master? I have been thinking about that a lot and I don’t think we would have liked it any better because it’s really just a drag. I honestly don’t like any of the artist’s work on or off the show and their personalities are kind of shitty and drab at the same time. Anyway, I did like this episode because my besties have matching tattoos…actually they share like 3 or 4 of the same ones but I think it’s kind of awesome to get tattooed with your friends. Do you guys have any matchies with your besties? Are we even rooting for anyone to win at this point or are we still undecided? Check out last week’s recap if you missed it here!

Best Ink Tumblr…sort of

Courtesy of Jessica’s facebook

So I know I usually pick one from the tumblr but I couldn’t find one I liked and no one is really uploading to the tumblr, go figure. SO what I did do was track down pieces that Jessica has done and picked the one I thought was the best. There wasn’t many to choose from unfortunately because her style just isn’t one that I fancy. Anyway if I can’t find something on the tumblr I will go and track down something from the eliminated artist. Sound fair?