Are Ink Master Canvases Really Stuck With The Tattoos They Leave With?
They say a diamond is forever, but true permanence often resides elsewhere. Short of death itself, is there anything more irrevocable than a tattoo?
Since it first aired on Spike on January 17, 2012, "Ink Master" gained colossal popularity and viewership. As a result, multitudes of tattoo aficionados flocked to the program to volunteer their bodies as "human canvases," which means they were given a free tattoo and got to be on TV at the same time.
But what happens if the on-screen attendees aren't satisfied with their ink? Are revisions part of the agreement? Do they have any time to brief their prospective artist on what they want? Are they stuck with the final product?
One Reddit user shared her experience with the would-be canvasses of the world. "This was one of my concerns before I got there. I asked about it, and they said what I walk out with is what I have. They were not responsible for any costs to fix/remove/cover up the tattoo," the person wrote (via Reddit).
So, yeah. You get what you get, and that's that.
Best and worst in show
Halo, aka Sean Patrick, former tattoo artist and "Ink Master" contestant, also weighed in on the matter. "[The show] isn't a proper avenue to get a guaranteed good tattoo. You're testing your fate and your body," he said (via the New York Post). He also said that he'd never volunteer himself as a human canvas.
One contestant who had a 35-hour tattoo mapped out over the course of five sessions walked away after just one of them. He claimed that the piece featuring a woman wearing a Native American headdress was something he couldn't follow through with.
It doesn't always end so bitterly, though. Season 3 contestant Ronnie Fernandez reported being perfectly content with his Japanese theater mask piece and claims that he wouldn't change anything about it. "I feel like I dodged a bullet. There were a couple people on my show who didn't get the greatest tattoos, and I could have been one of those," he recalled (per the New York Post).
Moral of the story: think twice before you ink once, because even once can last forever.