Ink Master: Shop Wars is the ninth season of the tattoo reality competition Ink Master that premiered on June 6, 2017, on Spike with 16 episodes. The show is hosted and judged by Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, with accomplished tattoo artists Chris Núñez and Oliver Peck serving as series regular judges. The winning shop received $200,000, a feature in Inked magazine, the title of Ink Master, and the title of Master Shop.
The premise of this season was having teams of two sorted by their tattoo shops going head-to-head in a tag team elimination-style competition. This season features nine rookie shops battling nine veteran shops each week while tackling a skill that exposes each veterans' shortcoming from the last time they competed.
This season saw the return of thirteen veterans; season one contestant Tommy Helm, who originally finished the competition as the runner-up, season two contestant Lalo Yunda, who originally finished the competition in 10th place, season three contestants Yovan "E.S." Barraza and Richard "Made Rich" Parker, who originally finished the competition in 9th and 10th place respectively, season four contestants Aaron "Bubba" Irwin and Josh "King Ruck" Glover, who originally finished the competition in 11th/12th and 9th/10th place respectively, season five contestant Aaron "Aaron Is" Michalowski, who originally finished the competition in 6th place, season five and season seven contestant James "Cleen Rock One" Steinke, who originally finished both competitions as the runner-up, season six contestants Katie McGowan and Matt O'Baugh, who originally finished the competition in 8th and 3rd place respectively, season seven contestants Christian Buckingham and Picasso Dular, who originally finished the competition in 3rd and 13th place respectively, and season eight contestant Anwon "Boneface" Johnson, who originally finished the competition in 7th place.
The winners of the ninth season of Ink Master were Old Town Ink (Aaron "Bubba" Irwin and DJ Tambe), with Black Cobra Tattoos (Katie McGowan and Matt O'Baugh) being the runners-up.
Judging and ranking
Judging Panel
The judging panel is a table of three or more primary judges. The judges make their final decision by voting to see who had best tattoo of the day, who's going home and who wins the competition.
Jury of Peers
The shops critique each other's work to see who had the worst tattoo of the day that will send one of them to the bottom.
Contestants
The competition featured a total of 36 contestants who competed in teams of two (18 teams total). Each team acted as one throughout the competition, winning together, and losing together.
Shop names, contestant names, and cities stated are at time of filming.
^Old Town Ink were among the top in the challenge, but were put in the bottom by the Jury of Peers.
^Basilica Tattoo, Golden Skull Tattoo and Old Town Ink defeated Artistic Skin Designs in the Tag-team Face-Off challenge to determine which shop would stay in the competition.
^Basilica Tattoo won Best Tattoo of the Day in the first round, while Unkindness Art won Best Tattoo of the Day in the second round.
^Basilica Tattoo and Black Cobra Tattoos won the first round, and Old Town Ink won the second round in the Tattoo Marathon to advance to the finale.
The shop won Ink Master.
The shop was the runner-up.
The shop was eliminated during the finale.
The shop advanced to the finale
The shop was exempt from the first elimination.
The shop won Best Tattoo of the Day.
The shop was among the top.
The shop received positive critiques.
The shop received negative critiques.
The shop was in the bottom.
The shop was put in the bottom by the Jury of Peers
The shop was eliminated from the competition.
The shop was put in the bottom by the Jury of Peers and were eliminated from the competition.
Flash Challenge – Part 1: After the artists meet Dave, Peck and Nunez at Skylands Stadium, they go into their very first Flash Challenge where they had four hours to create an ice sculpture that represents their respective shop. But that of course is not the only Flash Challenge they faced.
Winner: Allegory Arts
Flash Challenge – Part 2: The rest of the shops, except for Allegory Arts, carve out their custom logo before molding it out of molten metal. Another shop will also be safe from elimination.
Winner: Unkindness Art
Elimination Tattoo: The shops drew one of the animals as their live reference. They will then tattoo their animal in the style they picked. Thicker Than Blood, however, took a different approach and drew their tattoo without incorporating the live snake.
Top Shops: Artistic Skin Designs and Black Anchor Collective
Best Tattoo of the Day: Artistic Skin Designs
Bottom: Tri-Cities Tattoo, The Marked Society Tattoo and Thicker Than Blood
Flash Challenge: The shops had five hours to create an original design out of colored Post-it notes. Before the challenge began, Dave brought out Old Town Ink (Bubba Irwin and DJ Tambe), the first veteran shop that took over Thicker than Blood's spot in the competition. During the critique, Wes broke down due to not being at home for family reasons.
Winner: Old Town Ink
Elimination Tattoo: The shops put their fundamental skills to the test when they have to tattoo an illustrative blackwork design. Old Town Ink got sent to the bottom by the Jury of Peers because they used a Magnum needle than a Lining needle, but the judges decided to make them safe from being eliminated.
Top Shops: Allegory Arts, Old Town Ink and Artistic Skin Designs.
Best Tattoo of the Day: Artistic Skin Designs
Bottom: Old Town Ink, Tri-Cities Tattoo and The Marked Society Tattoo
Flash Challenge: The shops had two hours to create identical micro ear tattoos. Since winning the last Elimination Tattoo, Pinz and Needles picked their canvas first while the rest of the canvases handled their skull picks.
Winner: Old Town Ink
Elimination Tattoo: The shops tattoo a pair of black and grey cherubs at the same time. Since the judges were divided in choosing the winner, it was clear that one individual from each shop were the standouts in this Elimination Tattoo.
Top Shops: Unkindness Art and Pinz & Needlez
Best Tattoo of the Day: Unkindness Art
Bottom: Think Before You Ink, Tri-Cities Tattoo and Allegory Arts
Flash Challenge Inspired by Corona Extra, the shops had four hours to help give the canvas the moment they lived.
Winner: Artistic Skin Designs
Elimination Tattoo: The shops go to war with color realistic battle scenes. But the battle for survival arises near the end when Pinz And Needles' canvas second guessing the design of her tattoo while Classic Trilogy Tattoo's canvas passed out.
Best Tattoo of the Day: Old Town Ink
Bottom: Think Before You Ink, Classic Trilogy Tattoo and Pinz & Needlez
Eliminated: Think Before You Ink
114
6
"Get the Flock Outta Here"
July 18, 2017 (2017-07-18)
N/A
Returning Veteran: Boneface
Skill of the Week: Artistry
Flash Challenge: The shops had five hours to create a work of art by first drawing on a black inhesive board before using one of the colored velvet powder over their design.
Winner: Old Town Ink
Elimination Tattoo: Each shop must show their true artistry by doing a freehand tattoo. Each artist had three hours to draw the design on skin. Then, its respective partner will tattoo the drawn piece for six hours.
Top Shops: Unkindness Art and Pinz & Needlez
Best Tattoo of the Day: Pinz & Needlez
Bottom: Black Spade Tattoo, House of Monkey Tattoo and Classic Trilogy Tattoo
Eliminated: House of Monkey Tattoo
115
7
"On the Bubble"
July 25, 2017 (2017-07-25)
N/A
Returning Veteran: Christian Buckingham
Skill of the Week: Ingenuity
Flash Challenge: The shops had five hours to create a design on a giant sheet of bubble wrap by carefully injecting ink into each bubble. During the critique, Thom of Classic Trilogy Tattoo called out Ulyss of Allegory Arts for using white out in the flash challenge, but it backfires on him.
Winner: Black Spade Tattoo
Elimination Tattoo: Each shop worked on a new school tattoo with one artist tattooing the first three hours and the other tattooing the last three hours.
Top Shops: Unkindness Art and Old Town Ink
Best Tattoo of the Day: Old Town Ink
Bottom: Bone Face Ink Tattoo Shop, Black Spade Tattoo and Artistic Skin Designs
Eliminated: Bone Face Ink Tattoo Shop
116
8
"Masterpiece Mayhem"
August 1, 2017 (2017-08-01)
N/A
Returning Veterans: Matt O'Baugh and Katie McGowan
Skill of the Week: Consistency
Flash Challenge: An emotional flash challenge has the shops tattooing a replica of a little loved ones' condition onto its respective human canvas for three hours.
Winner: Unkindness Art
Elimination Tattoo: Matt and Katie's past comes back to haunt them as they and the remaining shops must to use consistency by tattooing a famous work of art.
Top Shops: Classic Trilogy Tattoo and Artistic Skin Designs
Best Tattoo of the Day: Artistic Skin Designs
Bottom: Allegory Arts, Black Spade Tattoo and Unkindness Art
Eliminated: Black Spade Tattoo
117
9
"Pin-Up Panic Attack"
August 8, 2017 (2017-08-08)
N/A
Returning Veteran: Tommy Helm
Skill of the Week: Proportion/Perspectives
Flash Challenge: The shops had five hours to create a sculpture by adding more or less of their own plaster on to a canvas.
Winner: Black Cobra Tattoos
Elimination Tattoo: The shops tackle Tommy's least favorite design that exposed his weakness in proportion, a Pin-Up tattoo. The artist and its partner were each given 30 minutes to tattoo the same canvas. Peck did not co-judge due to medical emergency. During the elimination judging, Ulyss of Allegory Arts was forced to sit on a chair due to a panic attack during the elimination judging.
Top Shops: Basilica Tattoo and Black Cobra Tattoos
Best Tattoo of the Day: Basilica Tattoo
Bottom: Empire State Studio, Allegory Arts and Pinz & Needlez
Eliminated: Pinz & Needlez
118
10
"Drill Baby, Drill"
August 15, 2017 (2017-08-15)
N/A
Guest Judge: Tommy Montoya
Returning Veterans: Cleen Rock One and Aaron Is
Skill of the Week: Precision
Flash Challenge: The shops had five hours to create a design by drilling different holes onto a wooden canvas. Tommy Montoya filled in for Oliver as the third judge for the flash challenge.
Winner: Black Cobra Tattoos
Elimination Tattoo: The shops get to work tattooing matching portraits on two different canvases. In the critique, Oliver Peck came back while Tommy became the guest judge for the elimination tattoo, and revealed that he had a heart attack which explains his absence from the last episode and the flash challenge.
Top Shops: Golden Skull Tattoo and Empire State Studio
Best Tattoo of the Day: Golden Skull Tattoo
Bottom: Allegory Arts, Classic Trilogy Tattoo and Artistic Skin Designs
Eliminated: Classic Trilogy Tattoo
119
11
"Grim Inker"
August 22, 2017 (2017-08-22)
N/A
Skill of the Week: Adaptability
Elimination Tattoo: The final eight shops fight for survival as four shops must work together to tattoo the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse on the human canvas at the same time. However, only one artist from each shop will do the tattooing. The first team consisted of Tommy Helm from Empire State Tattoo, Erin Chance from Unkindness Art, Ulyss Blair from Allegory Arts and Matt O'Baugh from Black Cobra Tattoos while Noelin Wheeler from Basilica Tattoo, Cleen Rock One from Golden Skull Tattoo, DJ Tambe from Old Town Ink and April Nicole from Artistic Skin Designs round out the second team.
Best Tattoo of the Day: Empire State Studio, Black Cobra Tattoos, Allegory Arts and Unkindness Art
Face Off Tattoo: Golden Skull Tattoo, Basilica Tattoo, Old Town Ink and Artistic Skin Designs have to duke it out. This time, the artist who didn't participate in the elimination tattoo must use the adaptability to tattoo a free handed design.
Eliminated: Artistic Skin Designs
120
12
"Pit Fall"
August 29, 2017 (2017-08-29)
N/A
Skill of the Week: Placement
Elimination Tattoo: The final seven shop deal with armpit tattoos by creating two six-hour coordinating pieces with one artist from each shop tattooing the left armpit and the other tattooing the right armpit the next day. In addition, Peck and Nuñez assigned the human canvases. For the second armpit tattoo, each shop had to switch canvases and finish another's shops tattoo, thus creating a head-to-head comparison.
Best Tattoo of the Day: Golden Skull Tattoo
Bottom: Allegory Arts, Unkindness Art, Old Town Ink
Eliminated: Allegory Arts
121
13
"Sell Out"
September 5, 2017 (2017-09-05)
N/A
Skill of the Week: Self Promotion
Elimination Tattoo - Part 1: The power was put in the hands of the human canvases as each canvas had 5 minutes to interview each shop about a tattoo they would like to get. After the interviews, the canvases drew skulls to determine a picking order.
Best Tattoo of the Day: Basilica Tattoo
Elimination Tattoo - Part 2: The human canvases picked a random number on the bottom of the skull. They will then pick one of the tattoos that was done by its respective shop in part one of the elimination tattoo. Black Cobra Tattoos was put up for elimination after they were not chosen by neither canvas.
Best Tattoo of the Day: Unkindness Art
Face Off Tattoo: Black Cobra Tattoo, Empire State Studio, Golden Skull Tattoo and Old Town Ink must tag team their respective partner to tattoo the style and subject that were each chosen by the winners of the elimination tattoo. Basilica picked American Traditional while Unkindness Art wants them to incorporate the style into a snake because of the show featured several artists screwing up the design in the previous seasons.
Eliminated: Empire State Studio
122
14
"Casting the First Stone"
September 12, 2017 (2017-09-12)
N/A
Skill of the Week: Cohesion
Flash Challenge: The shops had six hours to paint a nude human canvas onto a two dimensional canvas that looks seamless.
Winner: Golden Skull Tattoo
Elimination Tattoo: Final five shops deal with Asian deities in this tag team elimination tattoo.
Top Shops: Old Town Ink and Unkindness Art
Best Tattoo of the Day: Old Town Ink
Bottom: Golden Skull Tattoo, Balisica Tattoo and Black Cobra Tattoos
Eliminated: Golden Skull Tattoo
123
15
"Marathon to the Finale"
September 19, 2017 (2017-09-19)
N/A
Tattoo Marathon - Round 1: The final four shops compete in a two-part tattoo marathon that will determine who goes to the live finale.
Best Tattoo of the Day: Black Cobra Tattoos and Basilica Tattoo
Tattoo Marathon - Round 2: Old Town Ink and Unkindness Art fight for the last remaining spot in the Ink Master Live Finale.
Best Tattoo of the Day: Old Town Ink
Eliminated: Unkindness Art
124
16
"Shop Wars Finale"
September 26, 2017 (2017-09-26)
N/A
Finale - Round 1: Twitter users voted Black Cobra Tattoos into the final two, based on the live 6-hour tattoo. Judges voted Old Town Ink into the final two based on the 35-hour master canvas black-and-gray tattoo.
Finale - Round 2: Judges voted Old Town Ink as Master Shop based on the 35-hour master canvas color tattoo.
