Here’s What You Missed From the Season 12 Premiere of Ink Master

Last night, season 12 of Ink Master premiered on the Paramount Network. As you already know, this season is a battle of the sexes and it’s the first time in the history of the franchise that there are an equal number of male and female artists. Upon arriving, the judges immediately thrust the contestants into the first elimination challenge of the season: which required the teams to tattoo three different canvases together.

For the first challenge, the girls created three lady head tattoos—one of a black-and-grey temptress, one of a neo-traditional mother Earth, and one of a traditional warrior.

The guys on the other hand created a black-and-grey viking ship, a watercolor warrior, and a traditional viking skull with a raven.

Judge Chris Nunez praised the woman for the face of their temptress but criticized the lack of contrast in the hands and the heart.  For the mother Earth, Oliver Peck loved the illustration but Nunez called the color saturation muddy. Lastly, Peck thought the warrior had rich color saturation but Nunez pointed out that the drawing wasn’t proportioned properly.

Peck complimented the boys team for the smooth shading in the black-and-grey piece, however, he told the artists it had a cut-and-paste feel. For the warrior, Peck complimented the linework but Nunez shared that he’d “never be a fan of watercolor.” For the skull, Peck told the artists that the application of the tattoo was rough and no one on the judging panel had a positive critique for this tattoo.

The judges decided that the women’s team took the victory for the first challenge of the season, with Peck complimenting the artistry of the designs and Dave Navarro the breathe-ability of the tattoos. To decide who on the men’s team would be going home, the artists had the nominate the three weakest artists of the group.

The men’s team decided that Tim Lease, Creepy Jason, and Tito. The bottom three artists were then tasked with tattooing American traditional pin-ups to determine who would be going home. In the end, Creepy Jaosn and Tito were given the opportunity to stay in the competition, while Tim Lease was told to pack up his machines.

What do you think of the premiere episode of Ink Master season 12? Which tattoo was your favorite of the episode? Should Tim Lease have been eliminated? Let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments section.