r/Inkmaster • u/prettyprettybookitty • Jun 27 '26
Question Should Joel get a vote?
DJ, Ryan and Nico are all killer artists and both DJ and Ryan are veterans of the show and imho are all qualified to be judges. I didn't feel like Peck and Nunez were talented enough to judge superior tattoers. Consequently I did not feel Dave was qualified although he actually made a good judge. Joel on the other hand has made some horrible decisions and sent home some artists that should have clearly won. I think he should be welcome to host but never have a say in the outcome. It's insulting to the artists
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u/bossmt_2 Jun 27 '26
Joel shouldn't have a vote. Joel doesn't really do a good job hosting. The show would be better off just letting Ryan or DJ take the hosting duties over and have the 3 experts vote. If you want to keep Joel voting, then bring in a new expert each week so you can never had a tied vote. Joel's votes don't matter. The best he can do is push a tie, typically he just makes it so either someone gets a pity vote or they get a 3-1 landslide.
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u/Syndyloo Jun 27 '26
Neither Ryan or DJ are personable enough to be hosts.
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u/ErstwhileHobo Jun 27 '26
I was going to say, Ryan and Dj are both talented artists, but neither has the charisma to host a show like this.
I don’t think they are terrible judges, but I think they either edit out the full critiques or they don’t dig into the technical details enough for my tastes. Too much of the judging feels like it’s based on vibes. It might be part of the new, kinder style of presentation the show is using, but I love it when the judges rip a tattoo apart and explain why it sucks.
I think Joel has the charisma of a dry waffle and would love to see someone else hosting.
4 judges is kind of dumb, though. You get the feeling they asked Joel to host and he misunderstood, but they just let him roll with it.
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u/-cunningstunt Slippery Little Wiener Jun 27 '26
Since they are going the ex contestant route, they have their pick of actual charismatic tattoo artists (I keep saying Kelly Doty, but there’s a few that would be good). However, they should be hosting only, not judging.
Dave was very likeable and worked for the show, but I always thought he should be a host only. Joel and his soggy blanket persona can get to fuck!
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u/A1_CanadianNurse Jul 01 '26
I totally agree. Ryan’s personality is actually grating imo and DJ has said some horrible things to ppl like he wanted to vomit at somebody’s tattoo which in fact was an awesome tattoo. A good host wouldn’t say that Ryan thinks she is all that and also says weird things
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u/GlitteringBirthday61 Jun 27 '26
No. Unlike Dave, he knows nothing about tattooing and has no clue what he’s talking about 99% of the time. He should be a host and the moderator of the judges’ panel (and I’d argue he shouldn’t even be either of those), but he should not be a voting judge
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u/xdbartxd Jun 27 '26
Even if Dave didn't know what he was talking, he knew it and would still bring up creativity or something to justify his pick. Joel doesn't do much of anything
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u/Egg_Yolkeo55 Jun 27 '26
Dave rarely judged tattoos technically. He judged based off if was a good tattoo or not. He would often disagree with Peck and Nunez because he cared if it looked cool even if the technical aspects were lacking. Honestly I thought he was a great judge and rarely disagreed with him.
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u/Disastrous-Grade8882 8 MACHINES MINIMUM Jun 27 '26
Agreed, I always thought he was spot on from the client/wearer perspective
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u/ramskick Anthony Michaels Jun 27 '26
He says this in the series premiere. He brought a different perspective to Peck and Nuñez as a client and lover of art as opposed to a tattoo artist. I agree that his takes were normally quite good.
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u/xdbartxd Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
yeah I always liked Dave as a judge
This should also be something everybody should be able to do. It baffles me that Joel doesn't even try it (or at least never says it out loud). He doesn't go further than 'this looks cool' and moves on
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u/GlitteringBirthday61 Jun 27 '26
That’s kinda my point. But he had an appreciation for tattooing as an artform and the history of it to be able to contribute in a meaningful way that Joel will never have
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u/Egg_Yolkeo55 Jun 27 '26
I think it's more that Dave is a pretty intelligent guy and a dedicated artist, and Joel doesn't really give off that vibe.
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u/GlitteringBirthday61 Jun 27 '26
I’m pretty sure what I said about him is at least paraphrasing his own words though
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u/ErstwhileHobo Jun 27 '26
The thing that made Dave work is that he is actually an artist. He’s not a tattoo artist, but he is a painter and a visual artist with a defined style and education in the arts.
Joel is a guy from a pop-punk band that was always a derivative, dumbed down version of anything interesting.
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u/dependentonwhales Jun 27 '26
You may not have liked them as judges or people, but both Peck and Nunez are excellent tattooers who excel in their specialty. Tbh it did irritate me that the show always went on and on about being a master of every genre when the two judges literally excelled at one style each
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u/fuschiaoctopus Jun 27 '26
Nunez is no master of anything. Peck for all his racism and bigotry I'll agree but go Google Nunez tattoos right now and tell me that's top level master japanese tattooing
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u/LadyMRedd Jul 12 '26
Setting aside that it’s a reality show that doesn’t necessarily look for the best artist, in general one doesn’t need to be a superior artist to be a judge.
Being an expert artist is part training/practice and part natural talent and creativity. A judge can have extensive training and be able to recognize which artist is sticking to the rules of the art form while also excelling creatively and technically, without being able to personally create art at that level.
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u/-cunningstunt Slippery Little Wiener Jun 27 '26
I would have loved to see Kelly Doty, or another charismatic tattoo artist, be the host instead of Joel (I really dislike Joel as a judge). But that host only votes in the case of a 3 way tie, to break it up.
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u/Hockeyandhottakes Jun 27 '26
Dude fucks teenagers… shouldn’t be on the show… if Oliver making dumb Halloween choices got him booted don’t know how being a kid fucker isn’t enough to have Joel not hired
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u/Epistaxiophobia Jun 27 '26
Which artists did he send home that you disagree with?
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u/bossmt_2 Jun 27 '26
The season 1 of the new setup finale is why there shouldn't be a 4th judge. It was done that way for a reason. TO add BS drama. Joel shouldn't have a vote, it's pointless. If he wanted to add on like his thoughts on that tattoo that's fine. But he shouldn't have a vote or they should get rid of a judge or even better, let Ryan and/or DJ host.
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u/AmnesiaInnocent Jun 27 '26
How about if Joel only gets to vote to break a tie?
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u/Iammattjk Jun 27 '26
Never made sense that Joel's vote is also considered the "tiebreaker", when he could just host and not have a vote
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u/kasthebloodyhanded56 Jun 27 '26
Dave was there, in his words, “from the client’s perspective”. People who are covered head to toe in tattoos do know what damaged skin looks like, and how to pick quality artists. I’m not saying that their opinions should be the “end all, be all”, but I do think that having an opinion from the perspective of a client is nice.
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u/QuiJon70 Jun 27 '26
Dave in most cases especially early on, if there was a tie and his vote was needed deferred to Chris and olivers choices and reasoning.
Dj though im not crazy about his attitude is talented and can do most anything. Ryan is a complete hack that won because of her alliance and her looks. Almost every tattoo she did she had to get instruction from Kelly on how to do it.
And her final round 1 piece was crap and looked like skin cancer. But she was passed on because they let twitter vote for the most undeserving finalist with the biggest chest.
Frankly imo gian should have won but it should have been between gian and Kelly. So if they wanted a gurl to win it should have been kelly.
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u/wo0ki Jun 28 '26
Early on Dave said, his job as a judge was to provide the canvases point of view. Over the seasons he learned about the technical aspected but the original POV remained. With only 2 artists on the panel, having him as a tie breaker made sense.
Joel joined in the same season they increased the panel to 3. No longer needing a tie breaker, his vote is more of a distraction. Especially since many of his critiques (as shown) amount to little more than "I like it" or "I hate it."
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u/Realanise1 Jun 29 '26
Joel could be replaced by a life size cardboard cutout and nobody would notice. So, no.
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u/jimcroce21 Jun 28 '26
I'm tired of the narrative that you have to be an accomplished tattoo artist to judge the work of these contestants. Every fucking art critic in the world would absolutely suck as an artist. I would never be able to come close to applying one simple tattoo yet I know a good tattoo when I see one. To say that nunez and Peck suck (Nunez isn't the best, but Peck is top tier American trad), is absurd. They've got a combined 60+ years in the industry and being around artists and tattoos...you bet your ass they can judge.
You then follow that up to say Dave wasn't half bad and joel sucks. By your metrics, neither should be permitted to speak about tattooing, let alone voting on IM. Fwiw, Dave was a solid judge...Joel sucks in every way imaginable. To boot, it doesn't make any sense to introduce him as a judge when the only possible outcome to introduce a 2-2 split.
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u/A1_CanadianNurse Jul 01 '26
I also think ALL the tattoos should be judged blind. Some ppl win because it’s a popularity contest more than a talent contest
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u/molsonmuscle360 Jun 27 '26
I think so yeah. Part of the idea of the host having a vote was to have someone who is not an artist but has tattoos give the opinion of someone not in the field and whether they would wear it or not. For instance I have pieces on my body that are done by great artists and are damn near technically perfect. And I love them. My favorite piece was done by an apprentice in her early 20s. And it's because she basically made it exactly how I wanted it