Perhaps less non-challenge footage and more tatt footage.

I like Billy but he really was hard headed (no pun intended LOL) last night. To be honest, I thought he was going home.

Like all other reality contest shows, I'll bet the people who get the boot are sequestered somewhere. Can you imagine having to listen to that bunghole Al rant 'n rave? I'd hide and smoke a big fat joint. LOL!

I thought Josh Woods got a raw deal this week. His was BY FAR the most realistic tattoo (aside from lea's). The fruit and veggies POPPED off the skin, looked like you could eat them. Who cares if the proportion was a little off - i personally thought 3 little strawberries (as nunez suggested) would be worse - you'd lose the details of the seeds. And the avocado seed is too big? Really, Navarro? You're now a tattoo expert AND an avocado expert?

I thought Shane's black/grey wolves were actually kind of weak. Compare it to Lea's black/grey, which looked much more lifelike (and why she won).

Now, with Al gone, the editing appears to be painting Shane as an asshole/villain. I doubt he said "that fire helmet was a joke" right in front of that girl's face. That looked like creative editing to me.

Bili has become unbearable. He's a whiny little bitch.

Agreed....but I wouldn't kick him outta bed.

He does not take any type of criticism well and always has problems with the human canvasses.

I cannot believe he put the time of his own birth on that tattoo. Agree with the guest judge - that's a fireable offense!

Hey BBL, I agree. I'm glad he's gone.

The style of tatts for the challenge are my favorite. I love old-school and anything that looks retro. I especially like tatts from the 1950s with the blue ink. My dad has some from when he was in the Navy. Bili's negative comments about those types of tatts turned me off.

I do agree with bili that tattoo artists and machinery have gotten much better over the years - so you can do complex art with lots of shading, etc. Where the original American traditional style came around because it was simple, with limited colors.

But people like that style because it's classic and bold. That's why the style is still around. So if someone says they want that style, you give them that style. Don't give them what you think is better, unless the client agrees.

At this point, Shane is the only guy I would let tattoo me. Maybe Tommy in a pinch. Everyone else... no way.

I'd let Josh, Shane, and Tommy. In that order.

Not much to argue with this week. Shane did the best pin-up. Josh did a cool cartoony tat (his specialty), but it wasn't a true pin-up.

WTF was up with the guy that got the tattoo from Josh? A tattoo of his ex, half cowboy and half mermaid? I know people have a lot of strange reasons behind tattoos, but those all screamed bad idea. Kudos to Josh for turning it into something sweet.

LOL at the pin-up with 2 right feet.

Agreed

@ the 2 right feet

I was telling BBL if I ever got tatts, it would be a retro pinup girl and a 1950s muscle dude.

Holy shit! Some of those were bad. Those faces! and the two right feet!


The only one I liked was Shane's design. It was excellent. That's the kind I would want.

Tommy's would have been a great tattoo if he hadn't screwed with the face so much. Shame.

Hard to believe these were the BEST tattoo artists they could find for this.

So my Nashville rep goes home. I thought it could have been either him or James, it was a crapshoot on this specific tattoo. James turned a latina lady into an asian...

Josh should have stayed based on past work, IMO, since these 2 tats were pretty close in terms of awfulness. I've seen some portrait work from Josh that is much much better than that (even though he does more new school color work).

Can't argue with Tommy and Shane making it, though. They've been at the top throughout the competition.

Finale - no real surprise who the winner was. Even before the show began, you could tell his portfolio was so far above the other competitors.

Shane's Buddha statue was pretty amazing, and the detail in his skull was very nice.

I liked Tommy's work, too, although i wasn't as amazed by his woman tattoo as the judges.

Still would have loved to see what Josh Woods could have done with 12 hours and total creative control, as opposed to just seeing 2 japanese tattoos from James. He probably wouldn't have won, but at least Josh's would have been unique.

No surprise. Shane knocked them both out of the park. Considering the guy "doesn't do color" that skull was pretty sick. The judges sounded very nitpicky with him about it. I figure it was to add some drama to the finale, as Tommy's lady tattoo WAS crosseyed and had no ears.

Episode to episode, I wasn't too impressed with James, but that half sleeve was pretty tight. Thought what Chris said about it being busy was bullcrap. I've never seen a full half sleeve that isn't "busy."

Shane's Buddah was AMAZING... I'd love to let that guy tattoo a statue of the Virgin Mary on me.

yeah, i never understood that complaint about Shane - of course he does color. The guy prefers black & grey, it's not all he can do. And he does it well, as well as (if not better) than everyone else there - just look at his portfolio.

http://shaneoneilltattoos.com/gallery/

Bob Ross!




Crikey!





And i agree, half sleeves are always busy, especially japanese. The waves, flowers, etc. there are a lot of components.

Personally, i'm not so into japanese tattoos, so i didn't care for James' final tattoos. They weren't ugly by any means, just not my style.

Anyone watching this season?

I'd let them pile up on my tivo, and caught up in a little marathon today (have one left to watch).

I actually didn't mind the forced drama creator (Kay Kutta) as much as I did last season, as he had more of a sense of humor about messing with the opponents. I actually hope the guy does well - you could tell he had some interesting designs, just execution was off.

And the flash challenges have been more creative this year, so the show is more watchable (last year I ended up just watching the last 20-30 minutes).

I don't really feel that there's a clear top dog like Shane was last season.

I'd personally rank the remaining contestants in this order:

1) Sarah - My personal favorite (based on work so far in the show). But she annoys me otherwise (personality and her face ).

2) Jesse - I'm really not a New School tattoo fan, but man he is GREAT at that stuff

3) Tatu Baby - Her Black/Gray is great, and her yoda tattoo was pretty awesome

4) Jamie - Did a sweet black/gray chewbacca, but his other stuff has been up and down

5) Steve - Don't get the love for him (he's won a few challenges). He's done a few decent black/gray, but he has done some awful tattoos in my personal opinion.

6) Clint - Average stuff, and he annoys me

7) Sebastian - agree with a critique from someone on the show. He can replicate a picture, but hasn't shown any creativity.


I actually thought Lalo got a raw deal - he had some great talent and was probably the best artist on the show (although lacking in execution). But I can see the critique that his tattoos may bleed/get washed out in a few years

The artists don't seem as good as last season but tatu baby is delicious.

I've been watching.

What the hell does it say on Tatu baby's neck ?

This end up. Sorry, -had to do it.

Yeah... google her name and check out the images. She has two careers going. This group is definitely different than than the first as there isn't one stand out artist. At this point, I think it's Jesse's competition to win. But I'm rooting for Tatu Baby.

I enjoy the show, but this season is more like "Hell's Kitchen", -half of the contestants aren't particularly competent (or at least not when they're working outside their niche), and there's a lot of outright hostility on display. I keep waiting for a confrontation between one of the disgruntled "skins" and the artists, since each week there are clearly some botched jobs. I wonder if there's some "finishing" work thrown in after the competition to at least make the tattoos more presentable. I'm surprised, but I generally prefer Oxygen's "Best Ink".