InkMaster – Show Overview and Casting Guide

InkMaster is the SpikeTV and is now part of the Paramount Network.  It is reality competition that features tattoo artists competing to be the top artist each year. This is a season long, elimination competition with the winner receiving the top prize. In addition to the monetary award, the winner also receives a spread in a leading tatoo magazine, and a huge spike for their work after the show. This show is amazing for all contestants as it can really boost the career of a contestant who goes home early. They key is to demonstrate you have good work on air, and it’s almost certain that you’ll have people looking for you after the show airs.

Ink Master by the Numbers

This is the original tatoo reality show.  Just appearnig on the show can launch an artists career even if they are voted off early.  I’ve seen several people who’ve appeard on this show, and they almost always have lines of people waiting for them to get work done at conventions.  The beauty of this show is that it gives the tattoo artists a chance to show case their own style.

The winner of the show will get the $100,000 and the title “Ink Master”, but everyone who appears on the show will have some of their tattoos shown to thousands and thousands of viewers.  Additionally, people can raise their rates after appearing on the show as it will add to the story for anyone who chooses to hire them for work.

This show will have 12 to 18 people with one person going home at the end of each episode.  This show is also very big into strategy and alliances.  Unlike other shows where the contestasts have to create a craft or food dish that are mostly the same, this show has a twist in that each canvas is totally unique.

There will be some easy and some impossible challenges each week.  A lot of doing well on the show is the ability to guide the canvas to picking can be done in the allotted time.  If you need examples of this, the absolute best example is season five winner Jason Clay Dunn.  He was sabotaged so many weeks by James “Cleen Rock One” Steinke winning the advantage and then having Jason take the most difficult task.  I remember watching this season with amazement as each week, Jason would convince the person to get a tattoo that could be complete and would look good.  Also, I recall every week him hitting them out of the park resulting in a client who was happy with the work.

Because there is only one season of Ink Master, this is an incredibly competitive show to get on.  On our scale, this show ranks as extremely selective.  There will be thousands of people applaying for the less than 20 slots each year.  In our estimation, this puts the chance of getting on the show at considerably less than 1%.

If you are selected by the producers for an interview or audition, you want to do everything possible to make yourself standout.  This show has the opportunity of changing the contestants entire trajectory.

What Makes Ink Master so Great

Every now and then, a reality show comes along that is so captivating, so interesting, and so addicting that it takes over our lives. For me, that show was Ink Master. If you’re not familiar with it, Ink Master is a reality competition show in which tattoo artists from all over the country compete against each other in a series of challenges, with one artist being eliminated each week until only one is left standing.

I became obsessed with the show for a few reasons. First, I am a huge fan of tattoos. I love the artistry that goes into them and the stories they can tell. Second, I am fascinated by the tattoo industry as a whole. I love hearing about the artists’ backgrounds and what drives them to create such amazing pieces of art. Finally, I loved how competitive the show was. There was always something at stake, whether it was pride or money or simply the title of Ink Master.

Why You Should Watch Ink Master

If you haven’t seen Ink Master yet, I highly recommend it. Here are a few reasons why:

1. The Tattoos – Obviously, the main reason to watch Ink Master is for tattoos. The tattoo artists on this show are some of the best in the business, and they always create stunning pieces of art. Whether you’re a fan of traditional tattoos or more modern designs, there’s something for everyone on this show.
2. The Challenges – Another reason to watch Ink Master is for the challenges. Each week, the artists are given a different challenge to complete, ranging from replicating an old-school tattoo to creating a tattoo based on a work of art. It’s always fascinating to see how each artist approaches these challenges and what they come up with in the end.
3. The Drama – Let’s be honest: we all love drama, and there’s plenty of it on Ink Master! From arguments between the artists to the fierce rivalry between the teams, there’s never a dull moment on this show.

If you’re looking for a new reality show to watch, I highly recommend Ink Master. It’s truly one of the best television shows right now! Not only are the tattoos amazing, but the challenges are fascinating and there’s plenty of drama to keep you entertained. Trust me, once you start watching, you won’t be able to stop!

Ink Master Strategy Guide and Overview

This is the original tattoo reality competition, and it remains the most popular both in terms of the number of viewing audience and the impact on the artists career who appear on the show. The show has now had five regular seasons featuring the season long elimination style format and a a two episode holiday special in which some previous contestants were brought back as all-stars for the chance to win redemption and $10,000. The vast majority of the information here will be dealing with the traditional season long version of the show, and we will create a separate smaller guide for the holiday specials if Spike chooses to create a version after the 2015 season.

One of the major challenges of this show is that the artists are required to master all different forms of tattooing. While the basics of color saturation and line work are similar across the various formats, the specific elements often trip up the contestants. Early in an artists career, they will often have to become a jack of all trades simply to feel their time by creating any design that the customer wants. However, as the artists mature in their craft, they will often be able to have a client list who seeks them out for a specific style of tattoo. This means that the more experienced artists often get a lot of practice in a few areas of the field.

• • Use Social Media to Get Experience and Publicity Prior to appearing on the show, you should look post on FaceBook and Twitter that you are trying out for the show. You can have specific days where you do each type that you feel are your weaknesses and offer people a discount other promotion item to them. One great perk may be taking a picture with them that appears on your facebook wall/twitter page. If you are selected for the show, they will have a great story.

• • Bring Two or Three Machines One aspect of the show that is very different than working in a shop is the immense time pressure. Because of this you want to take all equipment issues out of the equation by bringing multiple machines. One artist was greatly impacted when his machine had some mechanical problems that ate up a lot of his time.

• • Find Images Sites in Advance Artists are allowed to use a tablet or PC to find images as reference. Having some items picked out in advance can really help in communicating high level ideas to the canvas. It’s possible to go through many more options by comparing images that are already complete.

• • Sell the Canvas This tip was demonstrated by Josh Hibbard who was a complete master at convincing the canvas to change either the placement or design. Josh understood the time restrictions and what is possible to get done. Everyone loses if the artist agrees to do a tattoo that ends up looking bad. The contestant is likely to be sent home and the canvas has to wear it for the rest of their life. 

• • Do the Challenge One fact that is amazing is that even after five seasons, there are still contestants who choose not to do the challenge or try to go too far out of the box. Designs like Japanese, American Tradition, and Photo-Realism have very strict guidelines. It’s far better to design a reasonably quality piece in the style requested than try to wedge your specialty into every challenge.

• • Avoid Making Enemies The skull pick process is designed to create conflict between the artists. It’s good to be near the top of the pack, but if you are consistently the person who wins the challenge you’ll also be targeted so that you’re eliminated before the finale. Over the last two seasons neither Sausage nor Cleen won the show.
  • Be Friendly There will be 16 contestants on each show and the winner will be set for life. However, there are 15 people who won’t win. This means that 93% of the people who are cast won’t be leaving with the prize. Regardless, appearing on the show can blow up a career either in an upward or downward direction. If you come across as a jerk or difficult to work with, it’s possible that people will avoid working with you. You’ll have to be on your best behavior in the real world because people will be looking for you to lose it. Conversely, if you are nice and friendly on the show, then people will have a bias in the other direction and chalk up any rudeness on your part as merely having a bad day.
  • Best Overall: Each episode concludes with a single person being the MVP of the week. This is the person who did the absolute best on both camera and food creation.

Applicant Restrictions:

• Be a professional Tatoo Artist
• Be able to spend six weeks on set

Wrapping Up

The application process for this show is currently closed as the 2015 season is being filmed. We will update this page for artists for the 2016 seas as well as the application process for human canvases for the upcoming season.

We are currently looking for the application form for the current season of this show.  If you find a link, we’d love to hear from you in our contact form or in our twitter page.