[Submitted via press release]
MTV Base (DStv Channel 322) is aiming to get under viewers' skin with the series premiere of Ink Master, the first-ever tattoo competition reality series.
10 of the US’s top tattoo artists will battle it out in permanent ink for a $100,000 cash prize, an editorial feature in legendary tattoo magazine Inked and the indelible title of “Ink Master”.
Ink Master premieres on MTV Base (DStv Channel 322) on Tuesday 22 May 2012 at 21:00 CAT.
To celebrate the launch of Ink Master, a special “Ink Master” themed version of MTV Base’s “Official African Chart”, co-presented by DJ Zinhle alongside Sizwe Dhlomo, will be taped at legendary Johannesburg tattoo parlour “Iron Fist Ink”, and air on MTV Base on Wednesday 23 May at 17h30 CAT.
The tension and stakes are high in Ink Master. Every week, the artists face a tough panel made up of series host Dave Navarro and renowned tattoo artists Chris Nunez ("Miami Ink") and Oliver Peck (Elm Street Tattoo).
Further top names from the tattoo community appear during different challenges as guest judges, including acclaimed artists Scott Campbell and Jack Rudy, Inked magazine creative director Todd Weinberger and celebrity tattoo aficionados NBA player Chris Andersen and Ton Jones ("Auction Hunters").
Ink Master contestants will compete in various tattoo challenges that not only test the artists' technical skills, but also their on-the-spot creativity, where they must create and execute an original tattoo on command.
Challenges focus on different tattooing techniques, such as shading, line and proportion, and styles including photorealism, Tribal, American traditional, and pin-up.
At the end of the day, the contestants will have to face up to their harshest critics - the people they tattoo. These “human canvases” range from tattoo novices to connoisseurs with a full sleeve of body art and even those who want to cover up a prior tattoo mistake.
Satisfying the individual whose skin bears the artists' handiwork will also be a major element in determining the winner.
Featured tattoo artists in Ink Master Season One are (listed in alphabetical order):
- Al Fliction, 42 - Owner and artist at Bklyn Ink in Brooklyn, NY.
- Jeremy Miller, 27 - Owner and artist at Pigment Dermographics and Fine Art in Austin, TX.
- Tommy Helm, 38 - Owner and artist at Empire State Studio, Oceanside, NY.
- Shane O'Neill, 39 - Owner and artist at Shane O'Neill Tattoo shops in Middleton, DE and Willow Grove, PA.
- Brian 'B-TAT' Robinson - Owner and artist at Moving Ink based out of Essex County, NJ.
- Heather Sinn, 41 - Co-owner and artist of The Tattoo Room in Simi Valley, CA,
- James Vaughn, 38 - Owner and artist at Straight A Tattoo in Asheboro, NC.
- Bili Vegas, 29 - Owner and artist at Sacred Tattoo in New York, NY
- Lea Vendetta, 40 - Artist at A Stroke of Genius Tattoos in Boca Raton, Fl.
- Josh Woods, 30 - Owner and artist at Black 13 Tattoo in Nashville, TN.