Ink Master (season 3)

Judges

Dave Navarro (Host and judge)

Chris Núñez (Judge)

Oliver Peck (Judge)

Guest judges

Chris Johnson (Ep. 2 Flash Challenge and Elimination)

Tony Hundahl (Ep. 3 Elimination)

Seth Ciferri (Ep. 4 Flash Challenge and Elimination) (Seth's last name is sometimes spelled Seferi as pronounced in the industry)

Chuey Quintanar (Ep. 5 Elimination)

Troy Denning (Ep. 6 Elimination)

Nikko Hurtado (Ep. 7 Elimination)

NaVorro Bowman (Ep. 8 Elimination)

Greg Capullo (Ep. 9 Elimination)

Corey Miller (Ep. 10 Elimination)

Twig Sparks (Ep. 11 Elimination)

Special appearances

Frank Trigg, MMA fighter (Ep. 6 Elimination) - Human canvas

Jimmy Smith, MMA announcer (Ep. 6 Elimination) - Human canvas

Mark Matthews, Season 2 contestant (Ep. 8 Elimination) - Human canvas

Thomas "TJ" Halvorsen, Season 2 contestant (Ep. 8 Elimination) - Human canvas

La Ron "Ron" Givens, Season 2 contestant (Ep. 8 Elimination) - Human canvas

Steven "Kay Kutta" Givens, Season 2 contestant (Ep. 8 Elimination) - Human canvas

Cee Jay Jones, Season 2 contestant (Ep. 8 Elimination) - Human canvas

Clint Cummings, Season 2 contestant (Ep. 8 Elimination) - Human canvas

Nick D'Angelo, Season 2 contestant (Ep. 8 Elimination) - Human canvas

Sarah Miller, Season 2 contestant (Ep. 8 Elimination) - Human canvas

Judging and ranking

The way Ink Master ranking works is similar in each season. The artist with the best tattoo, as deemed by the judges, wins the challenge. The artist with the worst tattoo is eliminated. The number of wins combined does not affect overall ranking. A contestant can be on the verge of elimination the entire season and still theoretically win the title of Ink Master, so long as they produce a better tattoo than the other artists up to the final challenge.

Minor changes in the judging and associated rules have occurred throughout the seasons in order to increase suspense and keep audience interest.

The judge listing types are:

Judging Panel

Guest Judge

Audience Voting

Human Canvas Voting

Winning and Losing

Contestants compete to display their strength in various aspects of the art of tattooing. Each week's Elimination Challenge features a particular skill that the artists must display their mastery of. To determine the winner, the judges must decide who has the best tattoo, which must also follow the guidelines for the skill being tested. A contestant risks elimination if they create a technically solid tattoo that does not meet the style or subject criteria for the week.

To win, a contestant must outperform the other artists while adhering to the skill chosen for the challenge. The artist whose tattoo is judged to be the worst of the week will be eliminated.

Contestants and progress

Sixteen tattoo artists were selected to compete in season 3. Names, residences, and years of experience are in the table below.

Elimination Challenge Progress

Credit Order: Ally, Chris, Craig, E.S., Frank, Jackie, Jason, Jime, Joey, James Danger, Joshua, Kyle, Maddie, Made Rich, Mystical Mike, Tatu Baby

    Legend INKMASTER  The contestant won the competition and was named Ink Master. RUNNER UP  The contestant was the runner-up on Ink Master. 3RD PLACE  The contestant was 3rd place on Ink Master. WIN  The contestant won best tattoo of the day. HIGH  The contestant was given an honorable mention by the judges. HIGH  The contestant was considered to be among the top. LOW  The contestant was considered to be in the bottom. LOW  The contestant was among the bottom group in the judges recall. LOW  The contestant rank voted by the human canvas jury. OUT  The contestant was eliminated from the competition. OUT  The contestant was eliminated in the flash challenge.

Episodes

Episodes begin with a Flash Challenge, a task that usually does not deal with tattooing itself, but has contestants utilize skills related to tattooing in an unusual way. Most of the time the skills highlighted in the Flash Challenge will be needed to complete the Elimination Tattoo. The winner of the Flash Challenge gets to pick which human canvas they would like to tattoo during the elimination challenge and, as a new twist from the first season, assign each contestant their canvas. The contestants are then given a chance to meet with their canvas before tattooing them the next day when they will be given a set amount of time to do the tattoo. A judging panel then commences where the best tattoos of the week are recognized, the weak tattoos are pointed out and one contestant is eliminated from the competition.

Episode 1: Baby Got Back

Episode 1

First aired July 16, 2013

Skill of the Week: Flexibility

Flash Challenge: Tattoo a prisoner using a single needle tattoo machine.

Winner: Joey

Elimination Challenge: Cover-Up

Winner: Tatu Baby

Eliminated: Frank — Although Mike did a bad tattoo (and was not adequately prepared for the competition) and Madison's tattoo lacked details, Frank's tattoo was the worst executed with rough edges and a bad outline.

Human Canvas Verdict

Episode 2: Thrills for Grills

Episode 2

First aired July 23, 2013

Skill of the Week: Precision

Flash Challenge: Work in teams of three to draft and create a custom automotive grill plate.

Winners: Jackie, Joey, James

Elimination Challenge: Realistic Medical Anatomical

Winner: Craig

Eliminated: Mike — Contestants Chris and Madison were on the low end; sharing equal shortcomings. The anatomy realism from Mike's tattoo was not present and textures failed to produce.

Human Canvas Verdict

Episode 3: Tattoos and Lace (aka Fire and Lace)

Episode 3

First aired July 30, 2013

Skill of the Week: Texture

Flash Challenge: Create and tattoo a realistic sexy leg garter on a live model.

Winner: Joshua

Eliminated in Flash Challenge: Madison — A new aspect in this episode resulted in the elimination of the worst tattoo in the Flash Challenge, Madison's tattoo displayed only basic texture for the leg garter.

Elimination Challenge: Tattoo a phoenix.

Winner: Craig^1A

Eliminated: James Danger — Danger's canvas did not see eye-to-eye with him. She walked out, resulting in no canvas for Danger to showcase his ability upon. The judges interviewed both Danger and the canvas to see what the problem was; after which it was determined Danger could not handle the nagging personality of his canvas. The judges agreed that being an Ink Master, one would need to know how to instill confidence in their client, and should have the skills to do what is requested. They also factored in his Flash Challenge tattoo of a leg garter which was poorly detailed and rough in different areas to reinforce their decision to eliminate him.

Human Canvas Verdict

^Note 1A : The winner was not officially confirmed during the show but on the Ink Master website.

Episode 4: Elysium Challenge

Episode 4

First aired August 6, 2013

Skill of the Week: Linework

Flash Challenge: Assemble a tattoo machine and tattoo a barcode, inspired by the movie Elysium.

Winner: Craig

Elimination Challenge: Tattoo a Celtic design.

Winner: Joshua

Eliminated: Ally — Ally and Jason were oj the bottom for failing to be consistent and symmetrical with their Celtic tattoos. After deliberating, the human canvas panel voted to release Ally (with Jackie as their second choice).

Human Canvas Verdict

Episode 5: Baby Beats Down

Episode 5

First aired August 13, 2013

Skill of the Week: Values: Black and Gray Shading

Flash Challenge: Tattoo an evenly-shaded design over a scar on the client's body.

Winner: Tatu Baby

Elimination Challenge: Black and Gray Day of the Dead tattoo.

Winner: Jime

Eliminated: Chris — The judges were not very impressed this challenge across the board, and the results were the opposite of their expectations. Chris, Craig, Jason, and Rich's tattoos were overly dark; with Craig drawing additional criticism for mixing black and white ink for the gray shading (a faux pas in the industry). Tatu Baby executed a good design but failed on detail. Joshua, Joey, and ES came up short on their usage of black. Jackie and Jime were the only artists who elicited praise from the judges. The judges ultimately decided Chris had the worst tattoo.

Human Canvas Verdict

Episode 6: Animal Instinct

Episode 6

First aired August 20, 2013

Skill of the Week: Detail

Flash Challenge: Paint a model in the pattern of animal chosen randomly.

Winner: Kyle

Elimination Challenge: Tattoo an Asian themed tattoo with detail.

Winner: None of the artists qualified for a win according to the judging panel.

Eliminated: Made Rich — Tattoo was too simplistic and lacked any detail. None of the artists displayed the talent to rank highly in this traditional Japanese tattoo challenge. The two other lowest-ranking artists in this challenge were Jackie (who failed to use detail in a legible fashion) and Joshua (whose tattoo was too basic and suffered from bad placement).

Human Canvas Verdict

Episode 7: Monumental Mistakes

Episode 7

First aired August 27, 2013

Skill of the Week: Dimension

Flash Challenge: Each artist designed 2 tattoos for the judge: one "good luck" design and one "bad luck." Dave Navarro was the canvas for this challenge; the two artists with the strongest designs were given the chance to tattoo one of their two designs at the same time. Jason and Tatu Baby were chosen to commit their tattoos to skin.

Winner: Jason

Elimination Challenge: Landscape — Create a large tattoo depicting a realistic landmark.

Winner: Joey

Eliminated: ES —The objects in ES's bridge landscape all appeared similar-sized, and did not show dimension. Joshua's tattoo showed a strong outline; but lacked detail and dimension. Tatu Baby had a similar issue due to her use of shading.

Human Canvas Verdict

Next Episode Teaser

Episode 8: Baby Don't Go

Episode 8

First aired September 3, 2013

Skill of the Week: Proportion

Flash Challenge: Design a tattoo for a fellow artist to artistically apply to another artist. The person chosen to tattoo an artist must receive a tattoo from the person they are tattooing.

The teams are

Winners: Joshua and Kyle

Elimination Challenge: Tattoo a pinup, using Ink Master Season 2 contestants as their canvases.^2A

Winner: Jime

Eliminated: Craig — Craig's piece was judged the most unappealing, and his weakness with black and gray shading was apparent. In the recall, Tatu Baby mentioned she was ready to drop out because of embarrassment from poor work over the past few episodes. She was disappointed in herself, however the judges convinced her to stay on board if she was not voted out. Joshua and Craig were also emotional about the degree of challenges they faced, and the results thus far were not what they expected. Craig was eliminated after the judges determined his tattoo was the worst of the group.

Human Canvas Verdict

Next Episode Teaser

^Note 2A : Jessie Smith, Mike Tacij, Lalo Yunda, Steve Tefft, Jamie Davies and Tray Benham, contestants from Season 2, were not present in this episode.

Episode 9: Skulls and Villains

Episode 9

First aired September 10, 2013

Skill of the Week: Consistency

Flash Challenge: Carve a design into a replica human skull.

Winner: Joshua

Elimination Challenge: Design and tattoo a super villain from the world of DC Comic books, with consistency being the primary skill tested.

Winner: Joey

Eliminated: Jackie — The judges were split over the use of color in Jason's tattoo, however it displayed consistency. Jackie's tattoo contained bad linework, and the design was mirrored compared to the actual DC Comic character, failing to display consistency on multiple counts. Jime rounded out the bottom with a style that was not fitting of a comic book icon.

Human Canvas Verdict

Next Episode Teaser

Episode 10: Eyes of the Beholder

Episode 10

First aired September 17, 2013

Skill of the Week: Accuracy

Flash Challenge: Tattoo a client's eyelid.

Winner: Jime

Elimination Challenge: Tattoo an accurate portrait on a customer, using a live person as the reference.

Winner: Tatu Baby

Eliminated: Jason — Despite Jason's tattoo having a good overall look, the blending of the hair could have been more accurate; and a few features appeared inaccurate when comparing side by side with the model. Kyle overly worked his tattoo: although the features appeared accurate, the overworking made his piece appear scary. Jime's portrait skills were out of practice, and the overly dark shading of his tattoo sent him to the bottom three.

Human Canvas Verdict

Next Episode Teaser

Episode 11: Heroes and Heads

Episode 11

First aired September 24, 2013

Skill of the Week: Finesse

Flash Challenge: Engraving personalized dog tags for veterans and families of fallen soldiers. The challenge is connected to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

Winner: Jime

Elimination Challenge: Tattoo the head of a client, with no style limitation.

Winner: Jime

Eliminated: Joshua — Kyle had less detail than the judges were looking for; and from a distance one could not tell what the tattoo was supposed to be. Tatu Baby's piece featured strong color but weak linework, and the overall anatomy was not her best work. Joshua drew mixed reviews from the judges: his lack of drawing skills appeared in this tattoo, and his design was less detailed than previous work. As a result, and factoring in his past mistakes, Joshua was the next contestant to be eliminated.

Human Canvas Verdict

Next Episode Teaser

Episode 12: Enduring the Pain

Episode 12

First aired October 1, 2013

Skill of the Week: All aspects of tattooing combined.

Flash Challenge: None

Elimination Challenge: Tattoo a design created by a previous guest judge. Chuey Quintanar's design goes to Jime; Seth Ciferri's design goes to Kyle; Troy Denning's design goes to Tatu Baby; Corey Miller's design goes to Joey. Each artist must apply their tattoo to the same canvas at the same time. In a secondary challenge, each artist must apply a 6-hour custom tattoo of their own creation onto a dedicated canvas.

Winner: Jime

Eliminated: Kyle — Kyle's first tattoo had a simple, bold design and was well executed. However the design of his second, custom tattoo was difficult to read, and its texture fell flat. Jime's first tattoo by Chuey Quintanar was applied well, with shading and line-work on par. For his custom tattoo he used his specialty (new school), and the line-work and coloring combined with shading proved to be one of his best works. Tatu Baby's first tattoo (designed by Troy Denning) was unfinished. The shading and line-work was well done in the portions where it was completed, but her failure to complete the piece was a major issue. Her custom piece featured strong lines, even shading and good coloring; a contradiction to her first tattoo. The unfinished piece weighed heavily on the judges' decision whether to keep her. Joey's first tattoo by Corey Miller was decently applied, but judged as slightly too dark in the background, and not well-defined. Joey's custom tattoo was well done from a glance but not anatomically correct. Kyle became the final contestant to be eliminated as his tattoo was difficult to read, as well as for not having won any elimination challenges and being in the bottom three times in a row. Despite this, the judges informed Kyle that he and the other eliminated contestants may have a second chance of coming back for season four of Ink Master depending on audience votes.

Human Canvas Verdict

Next Episode Teaser

Episode 13: Ink Master Live: The Epic Finale

Episode 13

First aired October 8, 2013

Skill of the Week: All aspects of tattooing combined

Elimination Challenge: The three remaining artist must apply a tattoo incorporating each skill tested on throughout the season. They have the flexibility of location of the canvas, studio to apply and design of their application. Other than the other standard rules, the artists each have 35 cumulative hours to complete their work.

Winner: Joey

Runner Up: Jime

Third Place: Tatu Baby

Season 4 Returning Artist: Kyle

The Show

Human Canvas Verdict

Next Episode Teaser