The Worst Tattoos Ever Done On Ink Master
"Ink Master" has been on the air since 2012, and plenty of tattoo artists have been featured on the show. Each season, a group of artists goes through elimination challenges until one is crowned the winner and gets the title of Ink Master, as well as goes home with the $100,000 prize money. The show is a great way to showcase their artwork and get more publicity.
However, even if the contestants are experienced tattoo artists, there are still bound to be blunders made, and they are made even worse by the fact that tattoos are permanent — and the show doesn't take responsibility for bad tattoos. The errors may be caused by time constraints, little experience on the subject, or just plain oversight. Throughout the seasons, there have been artists who became more well known for the bad tattoos that they created rather than their good work, but as the saying goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," so you be the judge. Here are a few of the worst tattoos seen on "Ink Master."
Roland Pacheco's Acid Cat
In the first episode of "Ink Master" Season 4 that aired in 2014, the contestants were given a convention-style challenge wherein they were tasked to tattoo hundreds of human canvases, just like they would in a real tattoo convention (per Paramount Network). One of the tattoos described by the judges as "bad" was from Roland Pacheco. When the judges approached him to inspect his work, Oliver Peck said, "I think I speak for every single person in this room when I look at that cat and I say 'what the f***'," to which Pacheco replied that "art is subjective." Peck continued to say that the tattoo was an "atrocity." In an interview, Peck referred to the tattoo as "Acid Cat."
Despite creating one of the worst tattoos of the episode, Pacheco was given another chance and wasn't sent home. Most don't want to be known for their bad work, but it seems that Pacheco is proud of the tattoo, as he has "Creator of Acid Cat" written on his Twitter profile. As a matter of fact, he even released limited edition shirts that featured Acid Cat in 2016.
James Vaughn's pin-up girl with two right feet
The first season of "Ink Master" featured some interesting works. In Episode 6, the elimination challenge had the tattoo artists do a pin-up girl. Each human canvas had their own idea for the design, and it was up to the artists to do an interpretation. James Vaughn's canvas wanted a pin-up girl with a peach, and it seemed like a simple enough request. When it came to judging, however, judge Oliver Peck noticed a striking detail and said, "I'm gonna get right to the point. This girl's got two right feet" (via Screenrant).
Upon closer inspection, Peck was right. The pin-up girl was in a sitting position with her legs lying in one direction, but as judge Chris Nunez said, "there's two big toes on the grass." That wasn't the only problem with the tattoo, though. The judges also criticized the face, and Peck said that her teeth were "just scary looking." That mistake sent Vaughn to the bottom three, but luckily, someone did a tattoo worse than his.
Cee Jay Jones' typographical error
One of the biggest mistakes a tattoo artist can make is an error in spelling, and that's just what happened to Cee Jay Jones in the first episode of "Ink Master" Season 2. The elimination challenge had the artists create a tattoo based on their human canvas' idea. During the judging, Jones wasn't confident about her work. Judge Chris Nunez was quick to say that he wasn't a fan of the colored outline, but aside from that, there was a major mistake that the judges noticed.
According to Inked Magazine, Jones wrote "Cortnthians" instead of "Corinthians" on the tattoo, and she only noticed the error when it was pointed out by the judges. Since it was the first episode, the judges were testing the basic skills of the artists, and the misspelling was an error the judges just couldn't accept. Jones tried to defend her work by saying that it was an easy fix and that she has plenty of experience fixing tattoos. Nunez replied by saying, "You should work at a plastic surgeon's office then cause you would make a s***load of money." In the end, she was eliminated from the competition.
Bubba Irwin's neo-traditional portrait
The elimination challenge in Episode 6 of Season 4 was a neo-traditional lady or gentleman tattoo. The neo-traditional style is distinguished by bold lines and bright colors, and it's a mixture of traditional tattoo techniques with modern elements (via Tatt Mag). The judges were looking for the artists' ability to showcase contrast. At the judging, Chris Nunez said, "So, this gentleman is actually not Asian, as it turns out."
The tattoo was based on a portrait of the human canvas' grandfather, who wasn't Asian at all. Irwin was shown a portrait of the subject, and he missed the mark. The eyes were also of different sizes, and the tattoo, as the judges said, was just overall a bad drawing. Nunez said, "The obvious problems in this tattoo are huge. The drawing's everything." Irwin was eliminated for his bad interpretation of the portrait, as well as managing to change the subject's race with his bad drawing.
Kyle Dunbar's portrait
"Ink Master" Season 3 Episode 10's elimination challenge tested the tattoo artists' accuracy, and they were tasked to tattoo portraits based on people chosen by their human canvas. In addition, the people who were chosen to be the subjects of the tattoos were also present. Tattoo artist Kyle Dunbar had to create a portrait of his human canvas' elderly mother, according to Screenrant.
At the judging, Oliver Peck noted that Dunbar was able to capture the details on the portrait. However, he also said that he went overboard with adding all of the wrinkles on the face, effectively highlighting the old age of the subject. "I don't know if I was the first one to say it, but I definitely wasn't the only one to say 'leatherface' when I looked at this tattoo," Peck continued. As the judges were deliberating, they noted that although Dunbar's portrait was technically accurate, it wasn't a flattering representation of the woman. He was put up for elimination but was ultimately saved by his past works.