Tattoos have never been of much interest to me. I’m Jewish, and tattoos are frowned upon in the Jewish community, so I’ve never really given them much thought – until this summer, that is. I, like many of my peers, enjoy browsing Netflix in my free time. I was skeptical when one of my suggested shows was Inkmaster, a competition television show that puts tattoo artists to the test. Curiosity got the best of me, so I started the show.
The show begins with a number of tattoo artists from all over the United States. Each week, they have to complete a “Flash Challenge” that tests their basic art techniques like line work, gradient, and proportion. Then, there is the “Elimination Tattoo” where each artist actually has to tattoo a human canvas on television. (Side note: human canvas is the tattoo-term for “person getting tattooed.”) These tattoos are critiqued by three judges (and the occasional guest judge), and whoever has the worst tattoo of the week is sent home. The competition winner earns the title of “Inkmaster,” $100,000, and a feature in Inked Magazine.
The judges are arguably one of the best parts of the show. The host is Dave Navarro, a founder of the band Jane’s Addiction. I’ve decided that it’s impossible for him to deliver any unscripted lines successfully. Really – he says almost the exact same things in every single episode. The judges that are actually qualified include Chris Nuñez, formerly of Miami Ink, and Oliver Peck, a famous tattoo artist with shops in Dallas and Los Angeles who has a toothpick hanging out of the right side of his mouth 100 percent of the time.
The show is like any other reality show with bickering contestants mouthing off to each other and behind-the-scenes drama. However, Inkmaster is the best reality show because what each tattoo artist does physically changes people’s appearances for the rest of their lives. The contestants need to have an impressive skill-set, the ability to think on their feet, and artistic flexibility. In this show, something is actually on the line. They paint prosthetics for amputees, they carve meaningful images into dog tags for people who’ve lost their loved ones in the military, and they create permanent art on people who volunteer their skin for the sake of a reality competition show. I know that if I get a tattoo I could very possibly be disowned, but this show really, really makes me want one.
