Big Boy Laroux

http://www.spike.com/shows/ink-master

Anyone watching?

Not sure how the forum feels about Tattoo shows, pretty much everyone in the world got burned out on the Miami/LA/NY Ink stuff.

But this is a competition show. Only started watching because a local Nashville artist - Josh Woods is competing. His stuff (and his shop) is pretty damn awesome.

Thought I would hate the show - tattoo challenges/time limits are never a good idea - but the work was really pretty decent overall.

I plan on watching all the way through. There's some really good talent, although really confused how 2 or 3 even got on the show. Like the first eliminated - B-Tat - his stuff (on the show, as well as his "portfolio") is GARBAGE, no way would i let that guy tattoo me.

madcougar

I watched the show and kinda liked it. But it's ridiculous to say that these are some of the best tattoo artists around. Heck most of them got panned for their first effort. I assumed that most of them would be great right from the start.

Big Boy Laroux

definitely agree. There are some really average artists on there.

But Woods is great, as is Shane O'Neill. You should check out their portfolios.

Woods (typically a cartoony style, but he can do realism very well):

http://black13tattoo.com/gallery/tat...ist=joshwoods/


O'Neill (his portraits are amazing):

http://www.shaneoneilltattoos.com/tattoos/

LiquidSky

Watched the first episode last night and liked it. Didn't realize someone from Nashville was on. Will check out his link.

Big Boy Laroux

Liquid - if you are in the market for any ink, Black 13 (josh woods' shop) is THE place to go in Nashville. I've gotten a few tattoos there - all the guys do amazing work. Just check out the gallery. I haven't had any work done by Josh himself, but I have met him and he's a great guy.

I would also recommend Ian White ( http://ianwhitetattoos ). I got inked by him at Black 13, he recently left to open his own shop (no bad blood or anything, he just always wanted his own shop). He does great portraits and black/grey (I'm a black/grey guy myself).

LiquidSky

Thanks for the info!

Original Desmond

This was a pretty cool show.Usually competitive reality tv formula but the contestants and judges are pretty cool

My Other Self

I liked it. I don't know if Dave Navarro is really qualified to be a judge. I mean he's just a tattoo enthusiast, right? Does he put ink on people?

I just like the fact that people can walk away with fucked up tatts. The one that B-Tat put on that guy was pretty bad.

Big Boy Laroux

In the intro, Navarro just said he's been getting tattooed for 20+ years. I agree it doesn't really qualify you to judge technique, but if you're around tattoo shops and tattooed people, you can easily tell what is and isn't a good tattoo, as well as what an artist should/should not be doing.

And really, it's just his name/popularity that matters. They wanted someone famous to be a judge. And there's not really any super famous tattoo artists with name/face recognition, besides Kat Von D (but everyone is damn sick of her (and rightfully so)). What qualified Padma Lakshmi to judge on Top Chef?

People online are up in arms that the first guy gone is a black guy. It's not because he's black, it's cause his stuff is horrible. I've seen better work than B-Tat's portfolio on Ugliest Tattoos (amazing website, by the way. Makes me say "why god why?" every single day). The show should be blamed for not getting a better black artist in the first place.

My Other Self

It almost felt like he was in there just so there was a black guy in there. The other dude (forgot his name at the moment) isn't much better.

Did the internet blow up when that Next Great Baker was voted off (who was a black guy) and killed himself right after the episode was filmed.

B-Tat was not talented. Simple as that. Of all the portfolios they showcased and people's end result, he had the least talent. I'm sure people wanted that guy who's client ran off during the middle of it to go, but that dude had way more skill from what they showed.

Big Boy Laroux

Yep - "Why my boy B-Tat got da axe when dat other dude didn't even finish?"

Cause that other guy's 1/4 finished tattoo was better than B-Tat's finished one.

NORML54601

I caught a replay of this and found it enjoyable. I love the description my cable box provides for the next episode:





I do agree that these guys should be much more talented to be in a national televised competition.

LiquidSky

I wonder if any of these folks would be willing to let B-Tat give them tattoos?

LiquidSky

Another good episode. The only person I don't like is the dude with the loud mouth. Everytime he opens it, bullshit streams out.

Big Boy Laroux

Yeah, Al Fliction NEEDS to go. Annoying as hell. Wtf is up with the sunglasses he had on?

Lea was definitely the worst tonight, IMO. I feel that Jeremy's design was really good - and his end result was better than Lea's. But the judges were right - his points did end in dots. Not a good thing. And I guess being in the bottom twice in a row hurt him. I did get sick of him saying that he only does one style. Come on man, you have to be able to do more than that.

I do find it strange that they don't have backup canvases, like the psoriasis case. Or that was probably manufactured drama to get the guest judge tatted.

Also, how would you feel if you were a canvas watching the show and hearing them critique and calling your tattoo crappy?

madcougar

Al is a total douche. He's obviously the "villian" of the show. Even the tattoos that they called crappy, looked OK to my untrained eye. I would bet that 80 to 90 percent of tattoos aren't all that.

With that said, I didn't understand the "line's shouldn't end in points" thing. Kinda like the critiques on American Idol sometimes. It seems like you'd want a line to end on a point. Can anyone explain?

It really looks like there are about four people in this group who are better than average and everyone else is not that good.

Big Boy Laroux

lines should end in clean points, NOT in dots or periods.

For example - take a sharpie and draw a line - but instead of picking up the sharpie after drawing the line, leave it there for a little bit. Ink will build up on the paper in a dot/circle/period. That is not a clean point.

Jeremy did the same thing with his tattoo. there were noticeable points that ended in dots.

i did like the blonde girl's tattoo - i liked how she added that red into the design.

The bald guy - his tattoo wasn't really tribal... but kudos to him for designing something that fit his client. She was feminine, and an all-black tribal piece would not have looked good on her. I give big props for that, cause technically, the judges could have ripped him for not doing true tribal.

Josh (guy from Nashville) - he did some nice bold blackwork - i just wasn't a big fan of the overall design.

The head tattoo - i'm not really a fan of head tattoos, but the design was cool and the skull on the back would have looked great when finished. But that guy didn't really fit my image of what a guy with a tattooed head looks like (that big guy, Ton, he fit the image. Just like Bam Bam Bigelow!)

madcougar

That makes perfect sense. Thanks.

Big Boy Laroux

Ink dots at ends of lines are also an indicator that someone is pressing very hard when writing. It implies that Jeremy also presses too hard while tattooing - that may explain why his previous canvas couldn't take the pain.

FantasticVSDoom

Yeah missed the last episode, but with all the great tattoo artists in NYC, why in the fuck pick Al Fliction? Hell you can walk down one block in Williamsburg and there are apprentices in shops that are 10xs more talented than him.

madcougar

And 10x less annoying I would bet.

LiquidSky

Good episode. Glad someone finally got the axe.

Big Boy Laroux

Yeah, i was already so so so so sick of his crap.

sometimes villains work - but mostly in games like survivor. I don't like them in talent competitions.

Shane was really the only one that showed any real concept of shading - most of them were just black.

Bili's attitude was ridiculous this episode. get over yourself, man.

madcougar

Who ever will stir the pot, yell at everyone, annoy everyone including the audience, and have a super over the top opinion about themselves now!?

Big Boy Laroux

It may be a boring show without him.

The only non-challenge time was filled with his crap.