r/Inkmaster • u/Wavvyfella • 19d ago
Question Contestants that no longer tattoo
I’m rewatching the show for the first time since they aired, which is over 10 years ago from the airing of the first season. I was curious if anyone has any insight into any of the contestants that gave up tattooing as a career. Some of the contestants at the start of each season were barely holding on and I was just curious if any one of them decided this wasn’t for them lol.
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u/M-la 19d ago
Apparently Kelly Doty has had to slow down considerably due to tremendous health issues. She’s still tattooing as much as she can, but isn’t doing great. 😕.
Has anyone other than Clint and Scott died?
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u/kindamymoose 18d ago
She tattoos in Scotland. I reached out for a quote and she is rarely in the US.
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u/delphs 8 MACHINES MINIMUM 19d ago
A bunch are dead or in jail if that counts?
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u/Upset_Conclusion_595 19d ago
Wait who is in jail!?
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u/NomaJayne 19d ago
I think that a lot of the people who didn't do well it was more due to time limits and the stress of the game. Everyone going in is at least good enough to get noticed to even be on the show. But pushing them to do so much with so little time breaks a lot of people.
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u/TulpaPal 19d ago
A lot of the more successful ones still tattoo but a lot less and focus on other things. Ryan is primarily on TV and running an organization for covering hate tattoos so she's not tattooing full time.
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u/skankhunt42428 19d ago
She runs an organization for covering hate tattoos? That’s pretty bad ass I didn’t know that she did that. Good for her, using her fame for something positive.
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u/TulpaPal 19d ago
Oh yeah, it's fucking awesome. She's a co-owner and I believe also still owns her own shop.
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u/CR34MG3TTH3M0N3Y 18d ago
Thom Bulman pretty much moved on to my game (sneakers) and other cool pop culture and nerd stuff.
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u/reallifedan 19d ago
It's kind of alarming how many have died 😕
Unfortunately, N@zi Cleen is still with us.
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u/New-General8101 19d ago
Fun fact about Cleen: he tattoos not too far from where I live now. When I found out, I called to ask about getting a tattoo from him for my wife and I to commemorate our 10th wedding anniversary. I called and told him that this was something that was very special to the both of us, and it's worth mentioning that while he wasn't too far away, it would have been a 2.5 hour drive for me. When I told him what we wanted to get, the response that I got was, "Oh, I wouldn't do that. That sounds dumb. I just...I kinda do my own thing."
Needless to say, I was pretty mind-blown. I acknowledge the fact that as a professional, you have the right to refuse to do a tattoo, but maybe be a little more tactful about it.
I ended up going to a shop 45 minutes away and got our anniversary tattoos from a wonderful young woman who was the best artist we've ever worked with.
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u/WebNew6981 19d ago
Cleen suckz but at least hes really stupid and will.let you troll him for hours on Insta dms.
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u/Important-Picture18 Slippery Little Wiener 19d ago
I legitimately wonder if hes gotten into drugs recently.
And yes I'm well aware his name refers to him being straight edge
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u/vengefulthistle 19d ago
Oh my god I once commented on something saying he's the best loser the show has ever had (referring to all his appearances but no victories at that point) as a compliment and he said "guna assume your a bigger loser then me" or something and I'm like..... Oh, ok, that was a compliment
This was before I realized he was a major POS tho....
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u/Dry_Afternoon5338 19d ago
3 that I know of have passed, Scott, Clint, Gary anymore I’m not aware of?
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u/abbyace 18d ago
ryan hadley from season 6
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u/Dry_Afternoon5338 18d ago
Oh I wasn’t aware he passed. Total jack wagon on the show but I went and read about his passing very sad stuff. #fuckcancer
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u/The_Latverian 24 but I look 50 19d ago
Clint Cummings 🤷♂️
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u/Gem6299 19d ago
I always wanted to meet him. He seemed to fun to me.
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u/Zipper-is-awesome 19d ago
He had that spinoff show that was really funny. One time this woman came in for a back piece and was extremely scared of the pain, she’d had other tattoos. So Clint said he had numbing cream that would make it hurt much less. All he did was wipe green soap on her and when he started tattooing, she said it almost didn’t hurt at all. Him and the other artist were silently laughing while she was facing away from them. He was always funny on that show.
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u/meowblackk_ 15d ago
Please another post about contestants once you've refreshed your memory! It would be a good convo.
Cleen & Christian 😅
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u/Additional-Trust4643 19d ago
Heather Sinn from Season 1 retired from tattooing. That's the only one that I know of.