Best and Worst Freehand Tattoos on Ink Master

Check out my competition here. Oh, man. That's a Steve tat-tat. It is. It was this or kittens. I was going either way. - Fuck yeah, man. That's cool. Me picking Steve is 100% tactical. Nobody else in this competition has the fucking balls to step up and do a freehand tattoo. So I'm taking Steve on just so I can show off. [TENSE MUSIC] DAVE: Anthony and Jesse, your teammates determined that you were the weakest. You must now face off for survival.

You've each been randomly assigned a canvas, and your canvases are completely open. The subject and style of your design is completely up to you. However, to prove your adaptability, you must draw your tattoo directly onto your canvas's skin freehand. Whoa. DAVE: You cannot use any stencils, and you must draw from scratch with no reference. Freehand and no reference? Jesse has made a name for himself being an illustrator and coming up with images off the top of his head.

I'm [BLEEP] screwed. JESSE: This is exactly what I need because I want to do something crazy. I want to do what I do. This is my comfort zone. DAVE: You have six hours to tattoo, and your time starts now. Let's get it on. CHRIS: Jesse Smith and Anthony Michaels could easily make it to the finale. One of them's not. I specialize in little critters. Rabbits, squirrels. I do the googly eyes and teeth. These two tattooers have such a different background.

We can do, like, a traditional eagle or Something. That's cool. That would surprise the judges because they wouldn't expect that. CHRIS: Typically, experience is everything, but there are times where inexperience creates hunger and creates drive. ANTHONY: I know the judges wouldn't expect it, either, but I'm gonna murder this [BLEEP]. We'll have to see how Anthony does going up against a veteran that knows all the tricks. I'm just drawing right now, seeing what comes out.

This is the first time in this competition that I've got a piece of open skin to do whatever I want. I'm taking advantage of it. I can't even figure out what Jesse's drawing. I can't, either. Nobody knows. JESSE: This tattoo right here is a game-changer. If I win, then I've knocked Anthony out, one of the strongest competitors, and I have an easier path to the finale. I'm ready to show these guys what I'm made of. [TENSE MUSIC] ANTHONY: I screwed up the American traditional clipper ship.

I have to redeem myself. I'm tattooing a freehand eagle across the shoulder blades of my canvas. I'm out for blood. I'm creating something that's badass. OLIVER: Anthony has taken a big risk in a huge shoulder-to-shoulder eagle on this guy's back. I don't normally tattoo this style, and I figured I'd push myself a bit, you know what I mean? OLIVER: Staying black and gray with it? ANTHONY: No. OLIVER: No? JESSE: I'm [BLEEP] going for it. OLIVER: What Jesse's doing is his own made-up character that there's no rules.

There's nothing to hold him to the fire on this tattoo. All right, guys, you have four hours remaining. [TENSE MUSIC] Ooh, damn. I think right now, Anthony's balls might be bigger than his head. He wants to impress the judges, but I need him to maintain control so that we can make it to the end like we planned. I would just really, really, like, concentrate on making sure your fades are perfect. Make sure your [BLEEP] is technically on point.

JESSE: Everybody's helping Anthony out. Nobody's trying to help me out. Make sure you do tough clubs. I got three on top and then one on the bottom. I have four. Yeah, three on top, one on the bottom. I'm not competing against one person on this tattoo. I'm competing against five. I'm pretty sure it's three and one. JESSE: But you know what? Adaptability is being able to take a bad situation and make it good.

My dad was in the army. I grew up all over the world. I've had to adapt every time I've moved. I was always exposed to a bunch of different artists, and I pulled a piece from every artist I've ever met, and that's where my style comes from. Now I'm all alone, and I'm getting to do what I want to do. Anthony's in trouble. Everybody's gonna help Anthony because Jesse's tattoo is coming straight from his head. It's not gonna be very easy to critique. I think he should tell them I did an eagle because he eats little googly-eyed creatures.

Anything you say about it, he could just explain away in some imaginary fairytale story. JESSE: This particular guy lives in the chaotic sea, preys on skipper fish. I don't know why Anthony's choosing to do traditional today when he doesn't do traditional. Maybe he's got a point to prove. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. That is it. Time is up. Machines down. No more ink. Down to the wire. Good job, dude. It's badass. You can't get a more different approach on each one, you know?

Pretty crazy, man. Jesse was smart doing something that he loves to do, big-eyed crazy creatures. Your muppet's got "toofeses." I don't know what the hell it is. Well, they can't get you on anatomy because nobody knows what the [BLEEP] that thing is. But I think it should be way more saturated than it is. Jesse's supposed to be the color guy. Go figure. [TENSE MUSIC] DAVE: Today, you faced off to prove your adaptability by freehanding your design directly onto the skin with no reference.

Jesse, let's start with you. [TENSE MUSIC] So what we looking at here? JESSE: This is a oco-bunny fish. It's pretty much straight from my head. OLIVER: It's a very creative tattoo, but at first glance, it's a little bit confusing, the way the body turns around the back and what's going on. Are those supposed to be stitches that are holding the thing together in the back? Yeah, this particular character, he's been through some bad times.

He relies on the pattern on his sides to attract other fish so he can have a meal for the day. It makes me sad to know that he probably won't last that long because he can't move like a normal fish. That thing's crazy. OLIVER: I think it's a great creative approach. There are some areas that are really shining-- the nose, the fang, the little textures that really stand out strong. But there's some saturation issues, some muddy colors, like the orange spots that look scratchy and unfinished. And there's some areas that I think could have been a little brighter instead of that pale yellow.

Overall, it has a more muted, washed-out feel. Well, Jesse, there's no doubt about your creativity. But then looking at the consistency of the outline, you have a lot of different line weights. You have some areas where you get a little gray, or you have some thickness where it looks like you had to pick up in some spots. Overall, you did a really cool image. This is gonna boil down completely on both sides of the table to technicalities. Anthony.

This isn't really the most traditional eagle in the world. ANTHONY: I wanted that feel. I know there's so much more about traditional tattooing. There's so many rules involved. So I wanted to be a little looser but keep some elements of traditional, being the black, and I tried to simplify the design as much as I could. But have you drawn a lot of these eagles? No. OLIVER: Drawing an eagle like this from memory, very risky. Just going from nothing and coming up with an aesthetically pleasing look, I think it's a great take, but there's some questionable ways you did the feathers in the wings.

ANTHONY: I didn't want the wings to look so uniform. OLIVER: I shouldn't be able to see the feather lines go all the way to the base. That black should be black enough to where those lines disappear into the blackness. CHRIS: Where, to me, things get short is the color. I don't love the brown stripes off the yellow in talons and in the wings. It doesn't speak to me as powerfully as everything else in the tattoo. [TENSE MUSIC] DAVE: All right, it's time to go to the judges here. Which artist is going home?

OLIVER: I feel like there's some technical problems with both these tattoos. CHRIS: We will all agree that both have some kind of anatomy issue. We all agree that some areas of each of the tattoo are light. Where I would say that there's a gap would come down to outlines. Definitely Anthony's tattoo has a much stronger outline. Looking at it line by line, pass by pass, stroke by stroke, the finesse that's in that outline, that is what's really strong.

DAVE: In terms of overall readability and maybe just taking it up a notch, Anthony may have stepped a little bit further out of his comfort zone. OLIVER: Anthony took the big risk. He did a tattoo to win the. Final choice to go home? OLIVER: I gotta vote for Jesse. My final decision, Jesse. DAVE: The judges have decided. Jesse, you do not have what it takes to be Ink Master. Please pack your machines and close shop.

[TENSE MUSIC] This week, you must freehand a tattoo. Drawing directly on the skin without a stencil is the ultimate test of artistry. You'll have three hours to freehand your designs and then six hours to tattoo. Based on your work, one shop will be out, and your drawing time starts now. Lalo, what's our strategy? I'm very excited to tattoo. OK. I think you're amazing at drawing. OK. Other than the background, I wouldn't go crazy.

We don't need to overcomplicate it. Oh, look who's talking about not overcomplicate it. I'm just trying to make it simple. LALO: Me too. PICASSO: My approach is to do something simple and very readable for Lalo to tattoo. All he has to do is follow my lines and really make this amazing. CHRIS: The person whose drawing has to quarterback the tattoo throughout because they see the vision and they have to translate that to the person that's inking it.

PICASSO: Anytime you do something I don't like, I'm gonna go [HISSES]. For this challenge, we decided it's best if I just walk away and let Lalo do his thing. Sometimes we don't work very good when we're sitting over each other's shoulder. Do us proud, Lalo. LALO: Don't worry your pretty little head, I got it. Please don't screw this up for us. You see how it's, like, darker gray there, and then it fades out? Oh, I see what you mean.

It's a little bit lighter off that shoulder. DAVE: Wow. Did you do this? JESSY: Mm-hmm. ALLISIN: Jesse drew the full rendering of this image. It's like I'm working off a stencil. I feel like we're gonna bounce back from last week, so I'm ready to get it done. It looks [BLEEP] good, man. You're killing it. Told you we were gonna make a realism artist out of you yet. I'm like a proud mama right now. I'm a little disappointed in House of Monkey.

Only because I know Picasso is just a [BLEEP] monster. It's cool, but he's just so much better than that. LALO: Picasso? - Yeah? LALO: You want to take a look? [TENSE MUSIC] He is going crazy. That color palette makes no sense whatsoever. LALO: Don't be nervous. It's a good day at House of Monkey. PICASSO: We were supposed to have a nice amount of black and a simple color palette.

We didn't need all this blue. Lalo, you had one job. The colors, man. DAVE: Today, you had to prove your artistry. House of Monkey. Picasso did the drawing, and Lalo tattooed. I like the drawing a lot, but my only problem with the tattooing is the colors. OLIVER: The problem with this tattoo is this big, scratchy baby blue bubble on the top and this light green that's not finished in these cactus.

It's not solid. It's not smooth. Just a lot of sloppiness. [TENSE MUSIC] Pins and Needles. Jessy drew, and Allisin tattooed. OLIVER: It's a very clean, very deliberate, beautiful drawing. I love the detail in the feet and the tree, the face of the vulture, the soft shaded background. CHRIS: You guys did a great job here. Welcome back. - Thank you. Thank you guys. [TENSE MUSIC] DAVE: The judges have decided that the best tattoo of the day goes to Pins and Needles.

Based on your work, one shop will be packing their machines. The judges have decided, House of Monkey, you do not have what it takes to be Master Shop. Please pack your machines and move out. [TENSE MUSIC] Coaches, today, you must face off. Win the face off, and your team is safe from elimination. [BLEEP] Let's go, Steve. This week, we're testing proportions. For this tattoo, you must freehand your design directly onto your canvas's skin without a stencil.

- What? - What? STEVE: Freehanding tattoos on the skin is insane. To show proportion, usually you have a reference and you stencil it. That way, it's perfectly proportioned. To freehand it ups the game so much. DAVE: Head to your stations. We will send in your canvases. [TENSE MUSIC] What's the easiest way to show proportion? In something that's proportionate to itself. I'm thinking any kind of face with a hand. It's up to me to win safety for my team. We need it the most. I'm coming into this week one artist down.

I cannot lose another artist. You have six hours to tattoo, and your time starts now. All right, measure the bottom. It's a little over two fingers. Two and a half fingers. That's why I want to draw it like this so I know. See? A portrait is literally the hardest thing to freehand. This is my chance to show the other team, the haters, the [BLEEP] talkers, why I am an Ink Master. It's a very risky move, but it shows a lot of balls.

We don't give a [BLEEP] what they do. Look at the-- on the right-hand side, the glasses on Steve's piece. Every single line is [BLEEP] up. People from "The Dream Team" are coming over here being like, Steve's old and he's a dinosaur. This [BLEEP] is about to whip all y'all asses. The other teams can say what they want about Steve, but at the end of the day, they don't know what they're [BLEEP] with.

DAVE: Coaches, today, the fate of your team was completely in your hands. Let's see how you did. Steve, let's start with you. Very smart play using anatomy as a way to show proportion. Anything that's remotely off, anatomically speaking, is gonna scream lack of proportion. OLIVER: That hand out in front of the face and the glasses, the pipe, the hand holding it keep proportion and tell exactly what's going on.

It really played well. Thank you so much. It was awesome watching him draw this. Did you guys help him do all those lines that don't line up? Are you talking? Because we were talking. On the glasses, there's lines that didn't line up. On the cuff, there's lines that overlap, underlap. In the ear, there's lines that go right straight through it. If somebody can draw a portrait on skin and knock it out like that, I'm listening. Until I see that, shh. DAVE: The judges have decided the best tattoo of the day goes to Steve.

All right. Boy. That means Team Steve, you are safe from elimination. Yes. We are stress-free right now. Steve kicked ass. Welcome to the faceoff. Deanna, Roli, Jeremy, and Jason, this is your last chance to save yourself from elimination. To prove you deserve to stay in this competition, you must draw your tattoo directly onto your canvas's skin freehand. ANTHONY: What? That's crazy. DAVE: You cannot not use any stencils. I don't freehand on the skin, ever. For me, when it's perfect on paper, that's when it goes to the skin, and that's when I tattoo it.

One little mistake, and I'm out of here. DEANNA: I love doing freehanded tattoos. I've done it a lot. This is my time to shine. DAVE: You have six hours. And your time starts now. Get them, girl. This is your challenge. What all areas are open? I've got my whole right leg, whole right arm in the back. OLIVER: If an artist has never freehanded a tattoo before, there's definitely a big learning curve. I was thinking about freehanding an owl on there.

I want to up my game, so it's making it harder for these guys to catch up. MAN: Owl is my spirit animal, anyway. Do you like-- ooh, let's do it. I've been waiting this whole competition to do something anywhere near my style. And finally, in this challenge, I get to do that. I'm gonna show everybody what a Jason Elliott tattoo is. JEREMY: They already did Hannya masks. Would it be dumb to do? Whatever you want to do, just do it.

JEREMY: I'm thinking about doing a Hannya mask because I know I could draw it and tattoo it in six hours. They don't care if they just did a Hannya mask? Why the [BLEEP] would you care? This is the last tattoo you do ever, make this the one you want to do. Yeah, yeah. I'm taking a huge risk with this tattoo. Team DJ just did it, but I know I could do a Hannya mask that could keep up with DJ's. He can tattoo. It's just his design sometimes is questionable.

ANTHONY: Yeah. And he'll have to figure that out. DJ: He's just picking something that I mean, it was just done. Well, the funny part is you got two guys that are technically really good at tattooing and designs suffer a little bit, and two people that can really design and their tactical suffers a little bit. So who's gonna outdo who? DEANNA: I freehand a lot of home, so this is really cool. I'm the only one in the room that's freehanding a face. Damn, she's good. DEANNA: Nobody has the balls to do that. If anything is off, a face can look real weird, real fast.

It's gonna be a cool little piece, dude. But I'm taking that risk because if I pull it off, it's gonna blow the judges' minds. She's excited. DJ: She's gonna knock out these boys, that's why. Take them out by the ankles. [TENSE MUSIC] JASON: I'm feeling really great right now. ANTHONY: You having fun now, huh? Yeah. There's no way that this tattoo is gonna put me in the bottom. I mean, it's bold, it's slick, and it's fresh.

Any chance of going home today? No, bro. Not even. I mean, the only one that's getting close to you is Deanna, and her black is not solid. DEANNA: Dude, hang in there. You're twitching. My canvas has been twitching this whole entire time. You got it. In a freehand tattoo, you're already really worried about not wiping away your drawing. Now I have to worry about my canvas moving around. All right, guys, two more hours. JASON: That's nice. I like that. Thank you.

It feels like me and you are probably gonna kill it. DEANNA: Really? JASON: Oh, yeah. DEANNA: Why just us? What's wrong with theirs? JASON: Ours just look better. We're just-- we're better tattooers. JEREMY: What a surprise. Deanna did a lady face and a rose again. Show us something different. With this tattoo, I'm showing that I do every style known to man. It looks exactly how I drew it.

The color is bright. The linework is bold. There's no way I'm going home. DAVE: Today, you faced off by freehanding your design directly onto the skin. Based on your work, one of you will be packing your machines. Let's start with Deanna. Deanna, I really like this tattoo from you. It's really delicate. It's really feminine. There's a touch of sexy to it. I also think it's really balanced. I like the fact that you were able to draw this on to the skin with a pen.

Thank you. CHRIS: You shine here in the way the tattoo ends. OLIVER: I wish that you did have some different textures instead of just stippled out liner shade look that it has to it. It's a good tattoo. I think it could have been a great tattoo. [TENSE MUSIC] Next up is Jason. One of the things that I like about today is that we're seeing your own style for the first time, and I really like this style. CHRIS: You did a great job making this thing dynamic on the skin. Drawing it in the position that you drew it, it looks fierce because it's looking at you, but it could be going after prey.

It has a messy, perfect harmony. This is definitely the best overall tattoo that you've put out here. Thanks. Next up is Jeremy. How did you feel about getting this challenge today? I'm very limited to what I can really draw, like, on the spot. It usually takes me a day or two to draw something perfect, so this is something I could draw that was easier for me to actually pull off a tattoo that's finished. There's a lot of things going on here. Instead of making it a long, slender face, it's really short and really wide. But what's throwing me here is the way you choose to color this thing.

You put the yellow as the light source, but the light source is everywhere. But then the front of the face isn't yellow. OLIVER: This is a lowrider panel paint job. You got red stripes and red panels and yellow stripes and yellow panels. I don't really like the color placements. Just the fact you don't count the bottom teeth in between the canines, that's just mind-blowing to me to have seven teeth. But they're all straight.

Yeah, straight to the garbage. That's where those go. I give him credit for going for it. You could play safe day, but he really swung for it and obviously missed a little bit here. But he's got a fight in him. You know, people don't think he's fighting because he's quiet and he keeps to himself. But the dude's fighting. DAVE: All right guys, it is time to determine who's going home. Are we agreed that Jason and Deanna are safe? You good with that? CHRIS: I'm good with that. I think Roly's was pulled off with more finesse than Deanna's.

CHRIS: Roly's shark can't swim. If the animal can run, if it can swim, if it can slither, OK, it's real. Shark, not swimming. That's that. It's honest, fair judging across the board. I'm seeing the problems that you guys have with Jeremy's tattoo, but also as a canvas, if I got a shark that was all out of whack, I'd be a little bummed out about it. CHRIS: Roly's black and gray, Roly's line work, I think technically, Roly is stronger, but for me, if we go to Jeremy's, the problems I have are light source, construction, composition.

It's a complete miss. For that, Jeremy. DAVE: The judges have decided. Jeremy, you do not have what it takes to be Ink Master. Please pack your machines and close shop. For this faceoff, you must draw your tattoo directly onto your canvas's skin freehand. No. [BLEEP] I'm [BLEEP]. Everything I love to do is realistic, and it's really hard to freehand realism. You have five hours, and your time starts now.

JESS: I'm doing a traditional rose and a crying heart. Depending on how time's looking, I might even do a realistic eye inside the crying heart. With color? JESS: Yes. - Yeah? Nice. JESS: This is totally outside my wheelhouse, but it's definitely something I know I can draw off the top of my head. You got to splay them leaves a little bit. Otherwise, they're just two of them pointing at each other. JESS: Are these spread enough, or do you think?

CHRISTIAN: No, no, I'd do one this way, one this way. You never want them going the exact same direction. JESS: If I'm gonna do such a simple design, that means I need to execute it flawlessly. Oh, dude. Super cool. CLEEN: You better make them bulletproof. Jess is doing a traditional ass [BLEEP] rose right now. Not even I'm going traditional right now, and that's what I like to do. [TENSE MUSIC] Freehand, it's 100%, like, my favorite way to even approach tattoos. CHRISTIAN: I do like your skulls. I think they're cool. TURK: Thanks, man. If I'm gonna get to do whatever I want, well, I'm gonna do something that makes me happy as hell.

Cute dead stuff. DAVE: Today, you faced off by freehanding your design directly onto the skin. And based on your work, one of you will be packing your machines. Turk. It's a pretty sick tattoo, man. A really nice job on the wood grain in the planchette. You have this really heavy, bold outline around the perimeter of the planchette and around the skull. And just how precisely those end, where the cigarette breaks out, where the smoke comes in and goes out, it's very deliberate and really clean. Thank you. Sick. Tiffer. OLIVER: It's a very unique drawing.

I love the color play in the rope. I love the design of the rope. Good color theory throughout. Dude, this thing is [BLEEP] weird. TIFFER: It's cool, though. DAVE: It's cool. Great job, man. Appreciate it. Killed it. Jess. OLIVER: It's very stale. This choice to just do this open skin heart with just this true gray in here, really taking it away from what you'd expect to see in a traditional style tattoo of this nature. CHRIS: The rose has very different, very weird shapes for the exterior petals.

Not what you want to present on a day where you're drawing for your life. DAVE: It's time to determine who is going home. CHRIS: Today, Jess's is the one that sticks out as the true bottom. My vote is also for Jess. The judges have decided. Jess, you do not have what it takes to be Ink Master. Please pack your machines and close shop. [TENSE MUSIC] Artists, your coach's shot at $25,000 is riding on your shoulders.

They're known for creating one-of-a-kind tattoos that perfectly fit the body. And today, you must do the same with a freehand tattoo. Oh my god. Drawing your design directly onto your canvas's skin, it must flow with their body. With no stencil to guide you, your composition must be perfect or your tattoo will be an unappealing disaster. I'm so scared. I'm so annoyed. I just hate everything about freehand. It's so hard to get proportions right. It's really pissing me off that I have to draw this on someone's skin.

I don't like it. You'll have seven hours to freehand your design directly onto your canvas's skin. Fail to impress the judges, and you'll be packing your bags. Good luck. I'm gonna shave you and get your back prepped. And then I'm gonna play with some stuff on your back and see what happens. LAURA: I love drawing these things. Damn, girl, you almost done. MAN: She is a speed demon. LAURA: Growing up, I didn't have a whole lot of friends.

It was just, like, this weird kid. Drawing was a way for me to escape that reality and put myself in a new one. MAN: Nice. I like it. I got the OK, so I can start. [TENSE MUSIC] It doesn't work. I'm getting nowhere on the back. If I put the flag there, it's not really gonna show great composition if there isn't a reason for it. Where the flag would have to come, it stops weird. It's not, like, working. If you do calf, it's just gonna be a better area to do it. You're gonna get what you want and still be able to get a awesome piece.

- Yeah, let's do it. - Your calf? OK. Rock it, girl. OK, I feel like I can breathe. Now I have to redesign this entire thing. Get drawing. ASH: I just want a final design to look at when I'm done, you know? Why you gonna draw it on a piece of paper again? Draw it on the calf. That's your paper. I am learning so much. They call me, like, the queen of the bottom because, like, I've done a lot of styles that I don't. At home, I do black and gray realism. That's what I do.

Ash, shut up. Keep tattooing. - I know. I'm the worst. This is why, like-- I was like, when you're talking, you ain't tatting. So shut it. I'm always like, do, do, do. I don't need your stories. You need to get your ass finished. Today, you had to freehand your design directly onto your canvas. Women's team, let's start with you. I hope they call me first. Ash. I was just kidding when I said I wanted to go first.

This really bold, really heavy black style plays well. But compositionally, doing the handcuffs and the skull would have been the best thing for you. You overwhelm yourself with so much flag and so little stars, so much choppiness and unease that you take away from all the nice work that you do in the skull and in the handcuffs. Flags are tough. Laura. OLIVER: Great illustration. The way the tentacles flow and create such a dynamic silhouette. I love the rich darkness of the tattoo. In the webbing, that little hit of light purple with the skin break and then coming in

with that red really gives that a nice iridescent look and feeling. For how much tattooing you did, it looks really nice. Thank you. Good job. DAVE: Judges, it is time to determine who had the best tattoo of the day today, Today, I think, Danny, Laura, those are the two stunners of the day. DAVE: Those are my two favorites. My vote is for Laura. Thank you. DAVE: You showed a nice flow here. And I just love the color and the detail you put into this thing.

I'm gonna go ahead and go with Laura. DAVE: The judges have decided the best tattoo of the day goes to Laura. All right, guys, time to determine who's going home. CHRIS: Ash's looks like a cover-up. The top triangle, because it's so out of sort, just that section looks like you covered something. My vote is for Ash. OLIVER: My vote is for Ash. OK. DAVE: The judges have decided, Ash, you do not have what it takes to be Ink Master.

Please pack your machines and close shop. Thank you. Bye, guys. Bye, Ash. [TENSE MUSIC] If you want to join the league of winners, you must prove that you can match or even beat their skills. Damn. Shit, dude. JOEL: For this elimination tattoo, each of the Ink masters will pick a style. Oh. You must tattoo in one of the styles called by the Ink Masters. While you tattoo your canvas, the Ink Masters will also tattoo at the same time. - Oh. - Head to head. JOEL: In critique, your tattoo will be directly compared to the Ink Master's tattoo in the same style.

Fuck. No pressure. Steve, what style do you pick? Want to have some fun, so black and gray surrealism freehand. - Wow. - What? Freehand surrealism. Let's see what we got. Let's have some fun. Skulls and demons and shit. - That's it. - That's it, man. You will have six hours to tattoo. The styles have been set. The subject matter is entirely up to you. Your canvases are completely open.

Head to your shops, and we'll send in your canvases. Good luck. Hell yeah. - I tattoo fast, so. - Oh, really? I tattoo pretty fast as well. STEVE: Super fast. You like skulls and stuff? STEVE: A little bit. CREEPY JASON: I also like skulls and stuff. I'm definitely coming after you today. STEVE: I didn't even know anybody would pick it. I like freehanding, man, so doing it against you, it makes it even more fun for me.

Let's have some fun, man. Just rip it up. I'm planning on killing that monster right there. STEVE: I hope so. - Woo. All these Ink Masters have strengths and weaknesses. I absolutely think one of us can meet or beat them. Check out my competition here. Oh, man. That's a Steve tat-tat. It is. It was this or kittens. I was going either way. CREEPY JASON: Fuck yeah, man. That's cool. Me picking Steve is 100% tactical.

Nobody else in this competition has the fucking balls to step up and do a freehand tattoo. So I'm taking Steve on just so I can show off. Badass piece, man. CREEPY JASON: Yeah, thanks, dude. Appreciate it, man. STEVE: Man, everybody's fucking crushing it. That's how it's been, dude. Only good tattoos going home. Today, you had to tattoo in one of the styles called by the Ink Masters. If you were able to beat or match the Ink Master, you are safe from elimination.

Creepy Jason, you tattooed in black and gray surrealistic freehand called by Steve. Before we critique your work, let's check out Steve's tattoo. Fucking evil, bro. You really nailed it. When it comes to texture and depth and contrast and how you're building this deepness to everything that gets thrown back, the further you look back, the more depth it gets. And that's the cool part. I love the little bridge of the nose and the subtlety that you made it look like it's almost broken underneath the skin.

NIKKO: I'm a fan of horror tattoos like this. I think it's badass. That's a sweaty hand. All right, Creepy Jason, let's see how you did. I like there's a delicateness to it. I love how you threw the web in the back. I think you smashed this, dude. Awesome. There's a lot of little intricate stuff, like, in the eyes and in the eye sockets. Inside of the skull, you have all of the creepy, dirty, dingy web stuff. Then the body of the spider almost looks like it's that really thin exoskeleton sort of cocoon.

JOEL: Judges, did Creepy Jason match the master? RYAN: Texture for texture, quality for quality, Creepy Jason definitely matched the master. NIKKO Creepy Jason, I do think you matched the master. Jason matched the master. Woo! Creepy Jason, you matched an Ink Master, and you are safe from elimination. Thank you, guys. Appreciate it. That's a good job, Jason. Angel, Holli, and Pon, none of you were able to match the master, and one of you will be going home.

This is your last chance to save yourself from elimination. The three of you must face off. To prove your adaptability, you must draw your tattoo onto your canvas's skin freehand. Fuck, man. Yes! Oh! That's a tough one, man. I was totally gonna suggest that, too. Tomorrow, you will have six hours to draw onto the skin and tattoo. Your canvases are completely open, and the subject and style of your design are completely up to you. Fail to prove you're worthy of the title, and you will be going home.

Oh, man. Good luck. MAN: This thing's gonna look so badass when it's done. HOLLI: I'm very excited. Drawing time is included in the six hours, so I gotta fucking boogie. RYAN: I love a challenge like freehanding. You have one shot to really commit to this piece of art and draw directly onto human skin. CREEPY JASON: I fucking hate it when people watch me draw. ANGEL: I know. It's pretty bad. CREEPY JASON: Is she ever gonna get that fucking paw looking right?

Nobody knows. RYAN: Lots of artists are great tattooers, but not every tattooer is a great artist. I don't know what I was thinking the other day. I just did, like, a lady head with a snake. Being a mostly realistic artist, I almost never do freehand because I'm a very calculated tattoo artist. I'm so anal about my stencils. The last thing I want to fight for my life in this competition is a freehand challenge. I do draw funky shit.

WOMAN: Gotta keep it exciting. Absolutely. Little cat butt cheeks. What do you think of this design? I think it looks like a pug. Whether or not Pon can duplicate it, yet to be seen. I personally don't have a lot of faith in the guy as a tattooer, so I guess will find out in a couple of hours. See how much he's fucked it up. Are you doing golf commentary? Yeah. Hey, Jason, you know what you could do? You could go fuck yourself.

Creepy's coming over here, playing his fucking mind games. This is the closest I've ever been to elimination in this competition. I don't need this shit right now. Oh, there we go. We got the first dip. WOMAN: And action. [TENSE MUSIC] CREEPY JASON: Fucking A. Awesome. Yeah, that looks good, those little lines. WOMAN: Love the skullet. The fucking skullet, bruh.

WOMAN: Yeah, it's a whole vibe. HOLLI: I chose to do a snail because you can get a lot of cool textures with them. They flow really nice onto the body. And I wanted to do a skull with a mullet because I fucking love mullets, man. I like weird stuff morphing into other stuff. They wanted to see my artistry, and they wanted to see who I am. I don't know how I can do that any more than with this tattoo. ANGEL: I just want to get to the part where I can button shit up 'cause some shit just goes in sloppy when you're freehanding, and you gotta clean it up.

Don't forget about those eyes, remember? ANGEL: I'm not trying to fuck that up again. I know they're bringing it, so fucking here I go. It's that time. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. That's it. Time's up. No more ink. Whee! We made it. I think that's it. PON: There's no such thing as a bad pug, just difficult pugs. And this was definitely one of those difficult pugs. Today, you had to face off with a freehand tattoo to prove your adaptability. Based on your work, one of you will be packing your machines.

Let's see how you did. Pon, let's start with you. For freehanding this tattoo, it's big, it's strong, it's powerful. The color is super, super solid. It has a ton of personality. It's really cute. I was questioning the horns. One horn is pushed all the way back of the head, and then one horn is coming out the middle of the head. That other ear is tucked behind. So in my head, it made more sense, like, it was coming out from right there. RYAN: I will say, there were a couple of little areas where it looked like you whipped just a little too far, but it's a really good tattoo, Pon.

Thank you so much, guys. They hit him hard, huh? Angel. You knocked this tattoo out of the park. The face on it is awesome. The eyes, just the white highlight, perfectly set in there. The piece missing off that fucking ear. It's like this caterpillar's been wrestling. RYAN: Artistically, your knowledge of anatomy on an animal that doesn't even exist makes me believe it does exist. Those feet are adorable.

I just feel like you really needed an extra hour and a half to finish it. NIKKO: I wish you would have just either did more in the belly or left it completely blown out, like, nothing there because it would read a little bit better. Fuck! Holli. I like your snail. I like the creativity. I like the skull shell biting into it. I like the mullet. This is a fun tattoo. I let myself be a little bit freer than I normally allow myself. The most impressive part is the head of the snail. You created this really cool shine right in the center of it, and the complementary colors that come off those little antennas, it was right on.

This was a different artist that did this tattoo today. I see so much growth in just this one piece, but the right side of the tattoo looks like that was done by the new Holli, and the skull and mullet on the left was done by the old Holli. You went in, and you lined every single piece of hair with black, black, black. And it's the only place on the tattoo that's done that way, technically. And so it separates it from the snail. This is the hard part. Time to determine who's going home. AMI: We have to make a decision between three great tattoos. Yeah, for sure.

Look at Angel's cat. Anatomically, guys, that illustration is insane. Tattoo-wise, I mean, it's a little soft. AMI: I would have been blown away, and the second question would have been, when are you gonna get it finished? The skull in Holli's is also unfinished because it doesn't tie into the beautiful snail that she has on the right. So if Angel's is looking unfinished, then so is Holli's. So they're neck and neck in that. And when we look at Pon's, it has an anatomical error. The horn that you put in the back bothers me. It should be in the front like the other one. It would make the thing look more symmetrical.

Tough. Who's going home? RYAN: I mean, it's obvious all three of them raised the bar for themselves today. I can't send Angel home with that sort of illustration, and I can't send Pon home with that technical tattoo. I can't. So unfortunately, my vote-- is for Holli to go home. NIKKO: It was so close. But my final decision is for Holli to go home. I can't get past that horn, Pon. It's a huge mistake. My vote is for Pon to go home. That's two votes for Holli and one vote for Pon.

Ami? AMI: Pon, it's so solid and done so well. And Holli, you pulled out every fucking trick in the book to try to make this happen. This is the best tattoo you've done, and it's definitely creative. I have to go with the technical. Holli, I'm sorry. My vote is for you to go home. JOEL: The judges have decided, Holli, you do not have what it takes to be Ink Master. Please pack your machines and close shop.

[TENSE MUSIC]