- I would like to get a color portrait of my daughter on my shoulder blade. - Oh, portraits of little
kids! That is really hard. Their features are so soft. Definitely the hardest one up there. Oh, I just got nauseous! (intense music) - For the next elimination tattoo, you'll be creating a portrait
on your human canvas. (rock music) - (beep), man. I can't
believe we're doing portraits. I did not see portrait coming. - This is Salvador and
he would like a tattoo of his mother on his right rib cage. (intense music) - Ribs are so hard to tattoo. It's just a pad area to
try to get a portrait. If I get him, I'm going
to be super bummed. - And finally we have Johanna
who would like a portrait of her mother on the back. (funky music) - Worried about putting it on anywhere on the stomach and the ribs. That means a huge, huge,
huge battle for me. I (beep) knew it. I knew I
was going to get the ribs. Ribs are so hard to tattoo. And when every little
movement you make changes the facial features of a portrait, it's just a bad area to
try to get a portrait. I have to convince my client to pick a different location, man. This is my last chance. It's
a hundred grand on the line. I'm not letting my client
ruin those chances for me. What other spots are you
willing to get tattooed? - I have nothing but these areas, so. - So, you're legs are all filled up? - No, not my legs, but they're so huge and I'm not putting anything on my legs. (dramatic music) - Anywhere where there's a flat surface that I can really work with? The outside calf would be
perfect just 'cause it's so flat. - I mean, if it's really
an issue, we can do it. We can do it on the leg. - That'd be (beep) awesome! We're gonna move the tattoo to his leg. This is make it or break it. I'm either going to pull it off or pack my stuff and go home. Well, good. I appreciate it, man. - About what era was this taken? - 60s, 70s.
- Yeah. Johanna wants a portrait of
her mother and it's so small. I mean the actual photograph of the face of her mother,
you can't see anything. It's kind of fuzzy. So I want to.
- Yeah. - I want to keep it about this size. I'm very, very scared about this one because I could go home
over having a busted grill when I couldn't even
figure out what it's doing. Wow! You can't see the
hair, can't see the fuzz. I can't see. I can't see
nothing in this picture. (beep), (beep).
(dramatic music) - James Vaughan. (dramatic music) How are you feeling about this piece? - It was a tough one. - The original picture is
actually like this big. The portrait is not all that
accurate to the photograph. Part of doing a portrait is being able to see accurately what's in the photo and translate that into the tattoo. - I don't consider
myself a portrait artist. I just did my best. - Where I think you kind of lost it is you actually put some shading in her nose. Where, in the photo, there wasn't. It was more of a highlight
in the tip of her nose and you kind of shaded it out, which effectively changes
the shape of her nose. The eyes look like they might be just a slight different shape than they are in the photo.
- Well, they're kinda in the picture, a little. - The lettering that you did, too. There's so much going on around it, all those flowers and flourishing, and it makes it very difficult to read, even if you can read Spanish. I've learned the hard way over the years that sometimes less is more. - Your line works is shaky in this tattoo because you're in a shaky spot. The placement of this thing
beat the hell out of you and I feel like that's a
little bit of self-inflicted because you allowed that
to happen to yourself. The fact of the matter
is where her face is, where it lands in that
tattoo, is where her body, that's very voluptuous,
comes together and meets. So, her face is almost on an
indent of this girl's body. The bottom line is I'm
not easing up on anybody. For the stakes being this high, you put yourself in a really tough spot to excel in this tattoo today. - Wowzers.
(dramatic music) - Josh.
(dramatic music) - You had a difficult
photo to work from, man, so you definitely had a handicap on this. - Yeah, man, it was just
a whited-out picture. - With the whites of the eyes, what you've done is you've
done what's in the picture. What I would have liked to have seen is maybe make the eyes look
round and in the head because they are so blown out in the photo that to fill it in with white like that really flattened out her expression. - Unless there's an
actual highlight there, I would never put white
in the eyeball like that because it does tend to flatten it out and then plus it turns yellow with age. The lettering I liked. It was more minimal where
less is more sometimes. - I would have loved to
seen some hair detail. You have the shape and the construction of the hair there with the shading but you didn't really detail
it out with any hairlines. Just a few touches here and there from thin lines kind of
make it look like hair. There's a definite trick to hair. That that guy standing right back there can tell you one little trick that'll change your life and it's so easy. Little touches of detail like that are what make portraits really shine. You don't have to have exorbitant detail in every nook and cranny, but when you do bring certain aspects of it out with little
details here and there the whole photo just kind of clicks. I think that's where you're lacking. (dramatic music) (intense music) - Between the two of you,
we went back and forth. You guys both really hit in a lot of areas and you also missed in some areas. There's so much on the line here. There's the hundred grand,
the "Inked" magazine feature, but there can only be one winner here. (intense music) - James, the judges have decided (dramatic music) you're going to the finale. Congratulations, man. Josh, you don't have what
it takes to be ink master. Time to pack your machines and go home. (rock music) - Who is this? - My grandmother.
- Your grandmother? All right. The problem with portraits is anytime you have a curved surface, what it tends to do is
create an optical illusion where it stretches their heads out. I'll squish it just a little
bit so when it goes around, it'll actually elongate
it and it'll fix it. - Just as it's as close as
possible to the actual picture. You know what I mean?
- Hey, man. I gonna do my best for sure. You know, I haven't done
a portrait in 10 years. - You don't think her face
should be over more here. - And I've got a canvas who
has very strong feelings of how he wants this tattoo done. I wish there was a way
I can figure out how to gauge the curve here. Black and gray is definitely
not one of my strengths and portrait's not one of my strengths. This is two of my weaknesses
grouped into one challenge. It's going to be a tough one. (rock music) - Today, you must create
a portrait tattoo. Remember, we're testing precision. If your tattoo doesn't look like the picture, you'll be packing. You have six hours to tattoo
and your time starts now. - I'm not going to lie, dude. I was looking at your art and it was kind of making
me a little nervous because it's a portrait
and I didn't really see any of those from you, so I
was like, "Oh my God". I'm definitely putting
a lot of faith in you. That woman's a saint in my
eyes. She always will be. - You know, you got to have
confidence in your artist 'cause a negative projection
sometimes works against you. My canvas is putting an immense
amount of pressure on me. - [Canvas #1] Her face
looks a little bit fatter. - We squish it down so it looks fatter. When we put it on your leg
and it curves around your leg, it's going to look skinnier. You see how it skinnies out? I'm convinced that the
curve of the canvas is going to elongate the portrait. By squishing it down a little bit, it's going to compensate for that. I need you behind me on this, man. - Trust me. I need to be behind you. - Okay, good, good. Everybody's wondering if I
can pull this portrait off. It's pretty intimidating. I start coloring in the
hair and I'm realizing that squishing a photo was a bad idea. How are you feeling about it? - [Canvas #1] As long as she don't look like she just got out of
Taco Bell, I'm golden. - I gave this guy a fat grandma. That's the one fear that my canvas had. - We still talk about her
like she's in the next room. That's how much she meant to the family. - I'm trying to project
confidence in this scenario, even though I'm super
freaking out on the inside. - Mr. Jesse Smith.
(dramatic music) How are you feeling about this? - I feel like I dropped the ball. - [Nunez] We're judging precision. I got to say, I don't feel like any of the details from
this tattoo are precise. - The hair could be a
little more realistic. Hair is a tough thing to do. It's one of the hardest
things in a portrait. It could have been more detailed. It looks a little too,
just not real enough. - [Navarro] You look at
this photo, you see strands. The way you tattooed his hair is more like a weird fur/tribal pattern. Not to mention just the entire perimeter of the face does not look the same. You totally (beep) it up. - Your style of tattooing
is very wall-to-wall, but you can't tattoo a
portrait wall-to-wall. What you do, you're great at, but what you need to do is
get great at everything else because you're supposed to. I don't like this part of my day. - Hey, it's my fault. - It sucks. (dramatic music) - The judges have decided. (intense music) Jesse, you do not have what
it takes to be ink master. - Get the (beep) outta here. - I really enjoy watching you work. The technical aspect that you have in the way you deliver
your tattoos is incredible. What you do, you do top of
your field. It sucks, man. It sucks 'cause I want
to see the battle royale. However, today, unfortunately
you got beat out. - Hey, my bed, I'm lying in it. - [Man] We hate to see you go, buddy. - Please pack your
machines and close shop. Today, you will be tattooing portraits. (rock music)
- Holy (beep). This is going to be really
big challenge for me. It's been a long, long time
since I've done a portrait. - Let's meet your canvases. Your canvases have brought the subjects for their elimination tattoos. If your tattoo doesn't look like them, they'll be sure to let you know. - Definitely going to be
a little bit stressful having a person that I'm actually going to be tattooing there, watching me. - Canvases, one by one, please introduce the
subject of your portrait. - I would like to get a
portrait done of my mom. - I don't want to do all
the wrinkles in there. That doesn't always play
out well as a tattoo. - Let's get a portrait of my mother here. - You have six hours to
tattoo an accurate portrait. If it doesn't look like the
photo, you'll be packing. And your time starts now. (rock music)
(tattoo machine buzzes) - We decided we're going
to tattoo her on her calf. She's not a big girl and it's a lot of detail in a small spot. Every wrinkle, every strand of hair, every eyelash is going into this tattoo. - I can't believe the
work that goes into this. - I have to at least try to
take this home for my family. I can't keep being the
bottom of the barrel. - Make sure you tell him if
he's doing something wrong. - Kyle's looks like a ball of raisins kind of smashed together. Is that horrible for me to say? He should be trying to soften her face and just show the main shapes of her face, rather than every single (beep) wrinkle. - Kyle.
(dramatic music) - Oh, (beep). - [Navarro] Well, you
accurately captured a lot of parts about this lady. If you look at the shading on her nose, it actually has dimension. You actually put the contour in there, but then you went in here and put too much time in every wrinkle. You accentuated the parts of the photo that you kind of don't want to accentuate. I don't know if I was
the first one to say it but it definitely wasn't the
only one to say Leatherface when I looked at this tattoo. It's not a flattering look. - I felt like I kind of had to. - I believe your accuracy is one of the stronger points on it. You nailed it, dude. It's a lot more accurate,
not to pinpoint Jason and his glasses, you got a tough one, but I think he did a great
job on it, personally. - Joshua. Were there any challenges
with this canvas? - She has all those wrinkles. For me it was, "How do
I show the main ones without throwing a
spiderweb across her face?" - I really like this tattoo.
She's got a great character. You took liberties to smooth things out but you still captured her essence. - [Nunez] Technically man, you have a very nicely executed tattoo. The thing that is a bummer
is I just wish this tattoo went a little further down. Some of the aspects of the photo that make her face come alive is the fact that her hair comes a little bit longer and you see these
shadows that come up here that really define the length of her face. - There really was no other place, other than, maybe, than his ribs. - [Nunez] Instead of
putting that V line there, you could have just faded
hair down a little longer, just to give that neck
a little bit more neck, but definitely portrait
challenge is your forte. Between you and Tatu Baby, you have the smoothest tattoos of the day. - We're here to decide
who has the worst tattoo. - My artist is Joshua,
portrait of my mom right here. - It looks like she has
a very short hair cut and it has nothing to do with the picture. It's about accuracy.
- It's about placement. I think where he picked to place
the tattoo really hurt him. - The placement was 110% on me. - But you lose the accuracy
anytime the arm moves at all. - That wasn't on my artist. - But it could cost him the money. - My tattoo artist was Kyle and
it was a portrait of my mom. - [Man #2] Her face is more wrinkly. - [Woman] He aged her way too much. - Yes!
- Yeah. - I think he captured
me, all my lines and. - To me, it kind of looks like Leatherface from "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". - I don't know what to say. - He should have gave
that piece more life. - But you got to understand
he had the most detailed one. - Definitely, just too much
going on to actually see her. - But you don't see that it's her? You're not seeing it's her? - I think it's the worst one. I'm sorry. - I would agree.
- I do, too. - So we have reached a decision. (canvass' mother sniffles) - Today, you must tattoo the ultimate test of
precision: a portrait. (dramatic music)
- Oh, man. - Today, once again, the
canvases are in pairs. Every canvas wants the same
portrait as one other canvas. - Wow! - Giving a side-by-side
comparison, like never before. - What? - Go big or go home. - That means you'll all
be going head to head with one other artist and the judges will directly compare
your work in critique. One of you will win and
one of you will lose. - Can't lose.
- Damn. - That is a beautiful picture. Where are you guys
planning on putting this? - On the side of my thigh. - Nice. - That's the ultimate spot right there. That's the one I want. Boom. - Unfortunately, we don't get to choose. - So, we're doing a little girl? - Yes. - Doing portraits of younger
children is very difficult because they don't have
definitive lines in their faces. If you put a little too
much shading anywhere, this whole thing is going to hell. (rock music)
(tattoo machines buzz) - I'm sweating bullets right now. Portraits are not my thing. I'm going up against Eric and
there's no margin for error. - You chose to put yourself up with Eric. Why'd you make that choice? - Figured it'd be a good push. Really be a really great challenge. My strategy on this portrait is to use all the precision
I can in the eyes, nose, and the mouth can make it look exactly like his mother. I'm not scared. I'm going to make sure I
go beyond to get this win. (rock music) - Oh wow! I love it! - Right, it's pretty right?
- Yeah! - That's awesome! - Cool. There's no chance in
hell that Mark's going to beat me today on
this portrait challenge. I'm always pushing the limits. I'm always trying to be innovative. Oh, you added some flowers? - Yeah, some stuff just
to finish it off nicely. So, it looked cool. - Well, it's lookin' good! If I beat Eric, the judges are definitely
gonna have to take notice. My whole strategy right now
is to go big or go home. - Four hours remaining. - I'm really trying to take my time here. One mistake, this portrait is done. Any little slip up, you're not going to recognize the person. - Do you wait to do like some
of the heavy, heavy darks? - I don't know. I guess it depends on
the portraits, really. I mean, I don't know. - Chris's tattoo looks very sloppy. If he doesn't go back
in and smooth that out, that could be the kiss of death. - This is one of the scariest, most intimidating challenges
of the entire competition and this is the one that I've
been ready for since day one. (canvas groans)
Stay with me. Almost to the end, okay?
- Mm-hm. - I'm ready to watch
everybody else fall down and me to rise. This may be one of my best wins. This is what's gonna put us
in the winner's circle, okay? - Mark, let's start with you.
You went up against Eric. - Out of everything I've seen you do, this is the most precision
I've seen you execute. Really nice details in the mouth. They're really light shades
and the little highlights that you did in the wrinkles of the lips really make the tattoo look beautiful and this is a big comeback for you. Soak it in and keep
trying to ride the wave. (dramatic music) - Eric. - The attention to detail
on the eyes is nice. The eyes are the most important
part of the entire face. But there are certain things that are changed, like the nose. You can actually see the
other side of the nostril and in the photograph you can't. So, it almost tilts
the face in one aspect, but then everything else is the same. - That's how it was in the photograph when I bumped up the contrasts. - [Nunez] You altered details
which changed the shape of this lady's face. That bottom lip is a
completely different shape than what it is in the photo. As far as precision goes,
you missed the mark on that. - All right, guys, between Mark and Eric, who wins the head-to-head competition? - Mark captured the
likeness. It looks like her. The proportions are totally correct. - Final answer?
- Mark. - Mark.
- Mark. - Winner of the head-to-head
challenge is Mark. Chris you went head to head with Aaron. - [Nunez] My big problem
with this tattoo is you made up a bunch of highlights that don't exist in the photo. On her neck, underneath her chin, you just made up a
complete white highlight that doesn't exist. It really does change the shape
of this girl's face a lot. And then you really went graphic with it. You exaggerated the lines,
inner creases in her mouth. In the photo, she looks real soft and round and you put a
lot of hard edges on her. That hurts you on precision day. - Aaron. - I think the first thing
that I notice on this is that droopy eye on the right. It sags a little bit. I think that throws things completely off. - Another place that the precision is not there is in that mouth. Those lips are not her lips. And then, the really
dark you did in the gums, it makes it almost look
like she's missing teeth. The translation from
the photo to the skin is where the precision has to be 100% and a portrait is very unforgiving. - Portrait king just got decrowned. - All right, guys. So, who wins the head-to-head competition between Chris and Aaron? - This is kind of a tough one for me. Chris, I think yours is
actually over precise. The hard lines kind of take away from any softness that
a portrait might have. - Aaron's looks more
like a little girl to me. - I literally find enough
things in both that are bad that I don't have a clear
winner or a clear loser. (dramatic music) - Just judge each section.
Just judge the mouth. - Chris got it.
- Chris got it. - Now just judge the eyes.
- Debatable. - Just judge the hair now.
- Aaron - Aaron, got it.
- Just judge the chin. - Chris got it.
- Chris got it. - Now just judge the cheeks.
- Aaron got it. - [Navarro] Aaron. - Guys, I'm out. I'm not picking a winner. - Flip a coin! - We don't flip coins in this thing. - Okay, no, I'm just saying, man. - The fairest thing that I
can say to both of you is that I don't see either
one being a landslide to the plus or the minus. - I agree with that; no winner. (dramatic music) - All right, for this
head to head challenge, there is no winner. (dramatic music) - We're here to determine who had the worst tattoos of the day. - That is my tattoo
and my artist was Eric. - The thing that gets me is the dark shadow he put on the cheek. It's not enough detail and
the hair is just too flat and the picture looked more alive. - This is my tattoo and
my artist was Aaron. It looks more like my sister. I can't see myself at all in that picture. - It's actually the eyes and the nose. That's the slight difference
that he didn't catch right. - Yeah. That's my sister's nose. It needed to be a little more rounder. And it's kind of just there. - He didn't do this very well. - I like the tattoo. I just think that it does
not look like my daughter. - That's my tattoo. My artist was Chris. - The light's different on the left side than it is on the right side. - And the lines around
the mouth, it's off. One's higher than the other. - Yeah, one's more round, while another one looks like the line just went straight down. - Yeah.
- We're at this point of the challenge where any little thing needs to be on point.
- Yeah. - Mm-hm. - Final decision?
(dramatic music) My vote is for Chris to go. - Aaron. - Aaron. - The judges have decided. Aaron you do not have what
it takes to be ink master. - The choices were just off and if you were to hit
one or two choices right, this would not be this decision. - Please pack your
machines and close shop. Today, your canvases want
portraits of toddlers. (dramatic music) - Toddler portraits are
so much more difficult than normal portraits
because the proportions have to be very round and soft
otherwise you can age the image and make it look like
somebody that it's not. - I think his little
plaid shirt is adorable and I would definitely include that. - If I can convince this canvas
to switch to black and gray, I can flip this entire
thing around on Kevin. I am a portrait artist. I do portraits regularly.
- That's wonderful! That's such good news.
- Yeah. But I do black and gray portraits. - I see that you do add some color. So that's an option maybe? - [Ryan] Color tattoos don't
age as well as black and gray. - Well, it looks like you can
still make the eyes bright, which is what I wanted.
- Yeah! - I wanted bright eyes and you can do that with black and gray. - Oh, absolutely! If I'm doing black and
gray on portrait day, kiss your ass goodbye Kevin. - Hi. Are you going to win this thing? - I don't know. I haven't done many color faces, but. - You're going to do color? - Yeah, I don't want to do
a black and gray portrait right next to Kelly's
black and gray portrait. - Don't stress tattooing next to her. She has a totally different style. - Yeah, you're right. If I was going to get tattooed by you, I would get black and gray. - All right, well, I'd rather listen to you guys.
- Just our opinions. - After hearing that? - What do you think? - I think I want to give them what they want to see, you know? - Let's do black and gray. - Really?
- Yeah, just win. (intense music)
(tattoo machines buzz) - He's still over there drawing. My son's father hasn't started yet. - Yeah, that is kinda weird. Gian is freaking out right now. This is the best possible scenario for me. I do portraits all the time. I don't see anybody in this house beating me on a portrait challenge. (canvas moans) - Sometimes, when you wipe it,
it's worse than the tattoo. - Yeah, it's that hat. I took a big risk playing
my strategy the way I did, staying in that middle ground. Now that things are heating up, I need to step it up and start winning. - Artists you have five hours
left. Five hours remaining. (tattoo gun buzzes)
- Yeah, you went for it! - Well.
- Good. - If I did something
that you guys didn't want and then did badly, I
just feel like an idiot. My tattoo is not looking
exactly as I had planned because that photo was so light, I have to put shading in there that's not necessarily in the photo. I know it's solid, but it may not be as accurate as it could be. - Five, four, three, two, one. That's it! Time's up, machines down! No more ink! - Oh my God! That's gorgeous! You got everything!
- Yeah. - It's perfect! - Nikki you tattooed the
same portrait as Kelly. - [Judge] I can see the
resemblance of the kid but I think the likeness
is a little bit off. - That face is really,
really, really washed out and I knew I'd have to
kick up the contrast. - You missed a lot of light tones and it's extremely bright
right below his eyebrow. It's so contrasted. - To me, the area where
this thing strays is how bright the eyes and lips are. The sparkle overdoes it. You put that highlight
in the top of the lip, it gives it a lipstick feel. I really think that this looks like Little Miss Teen Toddler. Put a wig on it, put on a little tutu, she's done up for the pageant. - Nate, you tattooed the
same portrait as Gian. - Nate, you captured the likeness. I like the way that you
captured a little indention on the top of the nose and the really subtle
highlights in the eyes. That little glimmer is perfect. I love the way you put a
line right on his hand. Normally a lot of people don't do that and it gets washed out. Accuracy, it hits the mark. - Thank you. - Ryan. - It's a very slick, smooth tattoo. A lot of great technical ability in there. The detail work in the shirt is very nice, but where accuracy really counted was in the eyes and that upper lip. The darkness under the eyes
got a little bit too dark and you dramatize the little
peek in his lip too much. The hair looks a little bit
animated, like a comic book. It just takes a little
bit of the life out of it. - The other thing that gets me is the right eye has more
of a V to the top of it in your portrait than a soft, subtle roll. Those are soft little
details that you miss, but on accuracy day, those
are the things to point out. - She's prec.
- Thank you. - Where are y'all wanting to put these? - [Canvas #2] On my thigh. - I wanna get a picture of my son. - No babies.
- No. - Baby portraits are the kiss of death. They're such subtle features and shading. It's so easy to mess up. Please do not give us a baby portrait. - This is my great-grandmother. - Ooh, we love. - It's a nice photo from here. - My nana, her mom. - Oh, that's cute.
- That's a good one. - That is a good one. - What are you wanting to get tattooed? - A tattoo of my daughter. - Okay.
- Black and gray. - I can't even see that. - The photo is this big. There's no way to do a precision portrait on something the size of a dime. I do not want this tattoo please. - You will have six hours to
tattoo a precise portrait. Based on your work, one
shop will be out. Good luck. - Is that a ponytail or is that like a ribbon or something?
- Yeah, that's, no, it's a ponytail.
- Okay. - Black Cobra definitely screwed us! They gave us the little tiny picture! What do we got? What do we got? What do we got? It's so hard to blow
a little tiny photo up to get a good quality portrait! - It's old. There it's just grainy. - I'm kind of nervous right now because Aaron got kicked
out on portrait day. And you know what? I was in
the bottom last time I did one. But I'm not ready to go
home yet. We just got here. - Can you check what
I'm doing to make sure that we're on the same page? - [Eva] Yeah. - I am at Eva's mercy on this one. I'm definitely not the
best portrait tattooer. So, this is the gap where this is? - Yeah, there's one lower and one higher and then it kind of wraps.
- So, this? - Yep, you got it! - Like that?
- Yeah, that looks great to me. - I know that she knows what she's doing. So, I'm just going to try to do the same. It's a trust game at this point. (tattoo machines buzz) - Your skin gets really red really easily. - Oh, yeah, that's true.
- That's about it. - Yeah, that always happens.
- Yeah. - Oh my God! Her skin is lightin' up
like a damn Christmas tree! - Let me see. How's it going, bro? - You know, just making sure, 'cause it's getting really irritated. So, I have to be like super gentle. I have to do a super
subtle, soft baby portrait and I can't tell how dark the ink is? I'm so screwed! Oh no! - You have four more hours remaining. - How are you going to judge this? - We may have some clear bottoms which might save us a lot of hard work. Allegory Arts, they're just
using color photos thrown off to the side on a black and gray portrait. - [Montoya] That's crazy and
their backs to each other! - She's not even looking at
the photo. She's just tatting. Artistic Skin Design, did you
notice the skin differences? - The canvas is everything, man. You got an older woman, a young lady, their skins react different. One, you just you put gray and it's gray. The other one put the same gray and it don't look like nothing. It's just beet red.
- Yeah, it turns red. - Golden Skull Tattoo, you're up first. (dramatic music) - Cleen, did you practice before you came? - Yes. - [Nunez] I definitely want
to tip my hat to you, man. You did a great portrait here. The eyes and the mouth,
you hit them perfectly. Especially, that little
turned up corner of the lip on the right side, is what
really captures her look. - Aaron, I liked the way he
did the black in the hair. Your hair maybe is a little
bit better than Cleens, but as far as the application
on the face and everything, Cleen might've made it
a little more smooth. - [Nunez] Y'all did a great job taking the exact same
approach on the tattoo. I mean, you really tried to mimic each other's stencil to the T. - There's a lot of
precision in this tattoo. - Allegory Arts.
(dramatic music) - [Navarro] You very
clearly missed the mark on details in the photo. Y'all had the same approach for this nose but that is not a human nose. It has a very feline look to it. - [Nunez] Ulyss, the tattoo doesn't look like this little girl. The eyes, they're just different shapes. - [Navarro] Eva, I think
you did get in there with a lot more precise detail on the hair and overall the technique
and the shading is smoother but you still distort
the shape of her face. The shading you put above her left eye, you create these
indentions and protrusions that just aren't there. On a precision day, you need to pay exact attention to every single little detail. - Nailed it! - The coffin, yeah. - Artistic Skin Design.
(dramatic music) - You usually look at a portrait and you're drawn to the eyes. I'm drawn to the clothing. On both of them, that
sweater and that shirt, I see precision all day but it just looks like a
different artist did the top half. - In both of them, the hair
is completely different. Dane, you brought the left
side down a little further. And April, you brought the
right side up a little. They're not consistent
or precise with the photo and certainly not with each other. (dramatic music) Black Cobra Tattoos. - There's precision in
terms of being similar in your approach on the tattoo, but they're equally
different from the photo. - I don't feel like either of
you hit the hair in any way. There's a lot of inferred
made up kind of styles and that changes the dynamic of her face. Also, the shading in the face, it doesn't look soft like skin. It looks like fur. You look at one tattoo to the next, there is a lot of differences. (dramatic music) - Judges, time to announce who had the best tattoos of the day. - I think that Golden
Skull did really great. - Yep.
- Final decision? - Golden Skull. - I'm going to have to say Golden Skull. - My decision is Golden Skull. The judges have decided the best tattoos of the day go to Golden Skull. - I didn't see that coming. - Who is this woman? - It's my grandmother on her wedding day. - And where are you wanting to get her? - [Canvas #3] On my thigh. - Are you opposed to
blowing up the picture of her face.
- That's fine. - Instead of doing the whole body? - Yeah, oh, yeah!
- Yeah? - That's a lot of detail
in there and there. - It's just small. How do you pull that off? It's tiny. - Tiny little face, Juan. - The wedding photograph is too small. I mean, a portrait, it's
all about the detail. How are you going to
work with this picture? - Hi.
- Oh, she's a doll! - Thank you!
- Who is she? - This is my daughter. - [Deanna] Where are
you looking to get her? - [Canvas #4] On my back. - And what about color choice?
- Purple. - I do a lot of faces.
That's what I'm known for. I've been waiting for portrait day. - Yeah.
- This is my (beep). - Really?
- This is what I specialize in - That picture is blurry. - Yeah, no.
(beep) It's very soft and like a
lot of (beep) can get lost. So, I mean, look how (beep) up that looks. My portraits are very
vintage looking anyway. So, immediately I'm drawn
to this wedding photo. - How's the photo when
you pulled it up, good? - Nope.
- It's not. - It's really pixilated. When I blow this face up,
all the features wash away. Pixel challenge, nailed it! I can't even do a proper stencil because I can't see the features in it. I just want to be able to
show off and I hope I can with something.
- You can. - That's no, it's just. At this point, I might as
well just tattoo blindfolded. May have (beep) myself on this one. - All right guys, you have
six hours to show contrast tattooing a monochromatic portrait, and your time starts now. - I'm going to place the
stencil on you standing up, so don't lay down just yet. - Portrait day in the
"Ink Master" house has always been an atrocity. Today, we're looking for that to change. - [Steve] That's going to be black, dude! - [Roly] Well, it's going to
be my darkest tone though. - I would not go navy blue.
- Yeah, no, but- - I would go this blue. - I'm the last person on Steve's team. I feel obligated to take
his advice at this point. - That is super dark. - But, Steve is just fighting me on everything that I feel is right. I can use this blue and that blue. - No, you can't. You're wrong. - I maybe down to one artist, but now we don't have any more weak links. All my focus can be on Roly. You only get one blue and if you put that dark blue next to that black, dude, it's going to be all black. - I'm going against my instinct and I'm going with what
Steve is telling me to do but I'm just wondering if
I'm doing the right thing. (dramatic music) - This is my day to show off and I just shot myself in the foot. So, I'm kind of referencing
this in this picture and I'm seeing where I put my black. Could be in this kind of
darker area of the dark red? I just want to make sure that's correct. - I mean, that's the only way I see it. If that's all you can use right
there, that's the only way. - I'm hitting the challenge,
but it still doesn't take away from the fact that this
photo is blurry and wonky and so is my tattoo. I could be screwed. - Deanna.
(dramatic music) - For a monochromatic portrait, the softness in the
application is beautiful. I love the way you just
cut out the negatives in the dress at the bottom and I love the sheerness of the veil, but if we look at her two front teeth, you can see a little bit of divide. Very, very slightly, but in your tattoo, he gave her one big,
crazy tooth in the front. - That print out of that picture,
you couldn't see a tooth. You couldn't see even the hair direction. - Deanna's choice to take
that portrait is a choice. That's the things you
live and die by in here. - Team Steve, Roly, come on down. - [Peck] There's a few things
that stand out to me is that you could have
done a little different. Number one, the teeth. In the photo, she has some shadows on her teeth that the
shadows are the angles. In your tattoo, you angled the teeth. - Where I find this gets strange is how you have that solid line that's creating the shape of her cheek. In the photo, that would be
a softer blended appearance and so the shape of her face gets a little bit away from you. - All right, guys, it's time
to determine who's going home. - Put Deanna's next to
Roly's, it's night and day. Mouth's off, eyes are off in Roly's, and it's not applied as well. - My eyes are at least in the right place. - Deanna's are in the right! - For a portrait,
cross-eyed and a buck tooth, kind of ends it for me. Knowing what these photos look like, there's too many things that
get away in Jason's tattoo. My vote's for Jason. - It's gotta go for likeness. (dramatic music) My vote is for Deanna. The judges have decided. Deanna you do not have what
it takes to be ink master. - I really appreciate the
opportunity to be here. It's really been an honor. Thank you. - I don't agree with this.
I hate to see you go. Know that you're just as good as anybody else in this competition. - Please pack your
machines and close shop. (dramatic music) Let's meet your canvases. (rock music) - Traditional illustrative portrait of my grandmother on my forearm and I would like to get the whole body. - Would you be against doing less? - Yeah, because I kind of
really do want full-body. - Just because, when
you're going that small, to make it look just like her
is going to be pretty hard. - Anytime you're doing a
portrait this small it's going to be difficult but you
could probably turn it into a traditional pinup style tattoo. Especially, given that the woman
already looks like a pinup. - I mean, maybe if you cut the legs out. - So, you're willing to work
with how much we can cut off and how much big you could do it? - Yeah, we'll see.
- Thank you. - I'm looking to do a
black and gray portrait of my grandma on my arm. - That's probably the
clearest picture here and it's the smallest one. - This tattoo could
potentially be really cool. It has a lot of detail in
it that can lend itself to a really cool traditional tattoo. - I would like to get a color portrait of my daughter on my shoulder blade. - Oh, portraits of little kids! That is really hard! Their
features are so soft. Definitely the hardest one up there. Oh, I just got nauseous. - Artists you have six hours to tattoo a traditional
illustrative portrait and your time begins now! - All right, dude, let's do it! - Let's see if we can
get this thing to work! - Step on over here, ma'am. - This is portrait day with a twist. We're asking these artists to
do renderings of photographs. So, the photograph and the portrait that they create have to look alike, but they have full license
to use heavy lines, heavy color, deep black shading. - (sighs) I think we'll be able
to pull it off. Let's do it. - They can do it as they see fit as long as they capture
the look of the picture. - Let's see what we could
get started, all right? - [Canvas #5] Yeah. - It's confusing because they said an illustrative traditional portrait, so, it's like, "Well, which one is it?" Traditional is exact
opposite of portraits. Portraits are realistic,
not much line work at all. Traditional is bold, loud lines and solid black that's whipped out. They want it to look like the people. So that's why I was like, when
I was doing yours, I'm like, "I'm going to try and make
it look as best I can, and then the hair and
the shirts and like that, I can get a little bit more traditional. Give a more illustrative face with a traditional hair and body. I think a lot of people would assume that being illustrative would be easier, but changing somebody's features to make them simpler is
actually going to be harder. Come on. Not to me, but for time. - I was afraid that I scared you away. I wasn't trying to be mean. I hope she doesn't think that. - No.
- I'm actually really nice. - I definitely went back and I was like, "I don't think this is going to work". - Since I got to go more illustrative, now I have to show a
little bit more detail and the face is too small
to show all the details and make it look like this person. I got a little nervous.
I'm not gonna lie to you. - Well, we felt the same, but we feel the same
now, so that's better. - That's it. It has teeth in the tattoo. And I don't know how to approach this without making it look
like it has veneers. Ah, shit, grandma's got a mustache. - Oh my God. I was like, "Oh, (beep). Are you kidding?" - Tough crowd, tough crowd. I am shook as (beep)! - Four hours left everybody. - She's such a cutie. My canvas wants a portrait of her daughter on her shoulder blade. I'm just making sure
it's super, super clean. I've been excited for
portrait day since day one. I'm going to make it look (beep) great. You know, 'cause it's your daughter. The kid portrait is a difficult ask but I think the full body one
was probably more difficult and I'm really surprised that
Pon gave that to himself. - I think I'm going home. - Why?
- I'm supposed to be making it look traditional, but I went too black and gray. - [Jake] Like this? - Yours is nice. Mine, it
doesn't look traditional. - I feel like you have to go traditional, but not so traditional
where it doesn't look like the person anymore. - Yep. Have you looked at the girls? - Laura's is not traditional level at all. - I don't think mine's traditional enough. - Well make it. - How do I do that? There's so many factors
that come into play, specifically with child
portraits, that you cannot do. You can't put harsh lines
on the eyes or anything or else the child can either
look like it's wearing makeup or that they're older
than they really are. Dude, everyone's doing different stuff. I don't (beep) get it! - [Man #3] They want what a Jason's doing. - How am I supposed to do
that with a little (beep) kid? - That was the whole point. - Oh, okay. So that's the curve ball
you guys were throwing me. - Yeah. - My mind automatically flocks to realism when I do portraits. So, I'm still stuck in that mindset. I think I'm in trouble for the first time. To try to completely change that, I mean, I hate to say it but I might've just found my weak spot. Here I was all really
pumped for portrait day and I don't know what happened. - Jake.
(dramatic music) - [Peck] You definitely get a good look of a antique photo and bring
it into an illustrative style. The way you do the hair, the necklace, the clothing, and the
outline is right on point. The bridge black open skin way to go. - The stylized way that you shade the face but still have your softness to it works. The hard lines and the simplicity
of it anchor the face in. The hairdo anchors the face in and gives us the feeling of
seeing the lady that was there. I believe overall that,
for hitting the likeness, you do a really good job. - Thank you. - Pon.
(dramatic music) - [Peck] As far as
capturing look of the person with a simple drawing, you don't do it. If you look at her right eye,
the top of her eye is curved. In the tattoo, it's a straight line and then curved underneath. Just the little looks of
what's going on, you lose it. The shape of the mouth is
off, the width of the neck. - I was hoping to do a pinup. She wasn't budging on anything. And then, I got in my own head. - As dark as you went in
the collarbone is weird. As the shoulders come out, I can be like, "Okay, it's stylized, gritty". It's whatever if you're looking to go that route of illustration, but what I can't not see is
the precision in the face. Her eyes don't line up. The
nose has a crazy curve to it. The mouth is off center. That's all the places where
you need to be precise. - Laura.
(dramatic music) - [Peck] It is a nice,
well applied tattoo, but it's hard for me to say that this really looks like this girl. The expression on the face, you're not really getting
that little tight grin and her neck looks really wild. The way you have the back of her shoulder and her neck going all
the way up to the ear, makes her neck enormous. - (beep), that sucks. - The other thing that I really dislike? These black lines you put on her forehead that aren't connected that are just random black lines there. I know that you're trying to show the suggestive loose
hairs, but very strange play. - Based on your work, one of you will be packing your machines. (dramatic music) Ultimately, one thing is for sure, these canvases wanted a rendering that looked like the photo. So, that's where I'm coming from. My decision is for Pon. - Pon. - The judges have decided. Pon you do not have what
it takes to be ink master. - Hey man, I'm glad to
have made it this far. - Please pack your
machines and close shop. - Thank you, guys. (dramatic music) - So, what are you wanting to get today? - Black and gray portrait of
my grandmother on my left eye. - That's a good one. - That's cake all day. Jerrel,
that's the one that I want. - Black and gray portrait of my mother on my left shoulder blade. - That was a great one. - Black and gray portrait of my great-grandmother on my calf. - It's a tricky one. - The face in this portrait is going to be really difficult to achieve. It could go wrong in so many ways. - You all have six hours to tattoo a portrait of a senior citizen. - This is your chance to show the judges precisely what you're made of. Fail to impress us and you
will be packing your bags. Good luck. - It's gonna be a pretty gentle process. So, don't tap out on me. (dramatic music)
(tattoo machines buzz) - [Canvas #6] You are light handed. - [Frank] Yes, ma'am! - [Canvas #6] I might be driving to Oklahoma for my next tattoo. (both laugh) - My tattoo is a portrait of
my canvas's great grandmother. She's got a full head of black hair, so making this look not like a
solid mass of black sludge is a really delicate balance. - Oh, sweet!
- Yep, havin' fun! (tattoo machines buzz)
- Cool. I knew that at some point, Jerrel would start playing
this game for himself. This is a bomb and I'm not
going to let that land. - I'm gonna have to finish before I want. I can't believe that I'm
having skin issues right now. Everything is red and everything is dark. - How's it been? - [Canvas #7] Once in a
while it hits the spot. - Hopefully, it'll lose the redness. At some point, I'm going to be able to see and add little details here and there. But, for now, I'm working blindly. Don't move for a second. - All right.
- Let the, let your skin breathe. I've been calling for this day from the beginning of this competition. This was my day to kill it. Hit the table and put everybody on notice. - You're about running outta time. I can't take much more of it. - I can't (beep) believe that my life is in danger right now. - Three, two, one.
(dramatic music) That's it; machines down.
Time is up; no more ink. - Wow! I love it! - Cool!
- Looks beautiful, man. - Dude, I love it. It's amazing! It looks exactly like her! - What's up, dude? - You killed that shit. - Thanks, man. - Frank.
(dramatic music) - Your values got a
little bit further away from you than they needed to be. The darkness of that V between her eyes, it's turning her expression
to a meaner expression. - [Navarro] She has a
couple of freckles or moles that you made a lot more noticeable than they are in real life. And then, instead of showing me that she's got wrinkle lines,
you show bubbles on the chin. Your interpretation of these textures give it a different look
than what's in the photo. - Had to happen to somebody. - Hiram.
(dramatic) - [Peck] You get some great details! The details in the teeth are nice, but they're way harsh compared
to the softness of the photo. You get hyper detail of these wrinkles and she looks way older in the tattoo than she does in the photo. You aged her. - Just letting it fall back and giving those little
inferences that's the move. Less is more. - That thing looks crazy. - It's all good, man.
- Hey, I deserve it. - Angel.
(dramatic music) - A white hairdo like this is tricky, but the way you put the heavy
black around the outside and leave a lot of negative and just a little bit of detail in it, it looks very believable. The silhouette shape of
the hair's the only part where you miss it a little bit, but when I look at the picture and I look at the tattoo,
I see the likeness. I think it's spot on. - Thank you. - You killed it.
- Thanks, guys. - Judges it is time to
determine who's going home. - [Peck] I got problems with
all three of these tattoos. - I mean, for me, I'm looking for which photo
looks like the tattoo the most. The bottom half of Frank's
tattoo is a different person. - The brow, the nose, and
this sharp angle on the lip, they're three major differences, dead smack in the center of the face. My vote is for Frank.
(dramatic music) - [Peck] My vote's for Frank. - The judges have decided. Frank you do not have what
it takes to be ink master. - It's been an excellent experience. I'm just so stoked to have
gone as far as I have. - I commend you for the
way you conduct yourself and your tattooing, man. - Please pack your
machines and close shop. - Thank you very much.
(dramatic music) - Hiram and Bob, one of you will also be packing your machines today. (dramatic music) - Holy shit. - All right, judges, who is the second artist going home today? - [Nunez] The problem with Hiram's is that you see these crazy shapes and details that aren't human like. The neck, that is not
the details of her neck. - [Peck] Then you have the
dots everywhere on Bob's. - Right, but I'm leaning
towards Bob as hitting it better just on likeness alone. Final decision? - [Peck] My vote for is Hiram. - And my vote's for Hiram. - The judges have decided. Hiram you do not have what
it takes to be ink master. - [Peck] That's the way shit happens, man. - Please pack your
machines and close shop. - Thank you very much, guys.
