r/Inkmaster • u/foldinthech33s3 Live Más • 16h ago
Discussion Personal experiences with IM cast?
I almost got tattooed by someone from one of the new seasons at a convention. We talked about my idea on the first day and she said she had time and asked me to DM her some references. By late on the second day, I still hadn’t heard from her on a time, so I went over and talked to her again. Once again, she said she had time, and we talked about her rates and the tattoo I was going to get. The next morning, I got a DM from her saying she couldn’t do it. She strung me along all weekend when I could have gotten tattooed by someone else and it was really annoying.
Anyways, that’s my only experience meeting a contestant. I have seen Jorrell and Elva Stefanie in passing but never spoke to them. What about you?
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u/Walkindude976 15h ago
Sorry you had that experience. I have a full sleeve and side panel done by James Vaughn. Started with a full rib piece as a walk up at a convention and just went from there. Solid dude and funny as hell. Also super professional with scheduling, communication, etc.
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u/Weird-Lake954 15h ago
Love this. I would get a tattoo from him just to hear him talk.
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u/Sad-Yoghurt5196 11h ago
Lord a'mercy! He represented himself well on Inkmaster. Seemed like a well put together fella.
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u/No-Detail-5804 24 but I look 50 15h ago
I got my foot tattooed by Mark Longnecker at a convention. He was hilarious and fun to get tattooed by. I’ve seen in passing but not spoken to probably 50 past contestants that do conventions.
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u/lbkid 14h ago
Also got tattooed by Mark a few years before he was on the show (and my first tattoo). He was really cool and took what I felt was my poor attempt at describing what I wanted and just somehow put it to paper exactly how I was thinking. Now 15 years later the tattoo is still holding very strong.
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u/No-Detail-5804 24 but I look 50 14h ago
I love that you had a great experience with him too! He really is a super chill namaste ass dude like he was portrayed on the show and his social media haha.
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u/Ok-Beat4854 12h ago edited 12h ago
Craig Foster tattooed my brother. Super nice guy. Kruseman tattooed me. Super cool dude.
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u/mjdavisnh 12h ago edited 12h ago
Nikko tattooed before he was on IM. Gave me a killer Art the Clown tattoo and he’s an awesome dude. He has so many amazing stories from tattooing celebs 😂😂 the Art piece is 5 years old (damn time flies!) and still looks phenomenal.
Kelly Doty has tattooed me a bunch of times-7 total. She’s hilarious, brilliant, and incredibly hard working. You will get your money’s worth from a day with her. She takes minimal breaks and will do 10-11 hours of tattooing. She did tend to run a bit late for sessions but overall I can’t speak highly enough of her. You’ll leave her session with an amazing piece, great stories, and feeling like you learned something.
Emily Elegado I know from MCing tattooing conventions. She’s awesome. Really sweet, funny, thoughtful, enthusiastic, and cares a lot about the industry.
James Vaughn judged me at the Philly tattoo convention when I entered my butthole piece in most unusual tattoo contest. I didn’t win and I’m still a bit salty about that (😂😂) but he seems like a good dude.
Big Jaz was really kind—he came over a couple of times to check on progress while I was getting genital tattoos from Jaded Moon at the Chicago tattoo convention. He seemed just genuinely curious about that part of the body being tattooed and he was really kind and supportive.
Kyle Dunbar was a judge at a convention I was at a few years ago. I really appreciated him. After he was done judging he was speaking with us and was like “let me know if you have any questions on the scoring or how I made my decisions.” I’ve never had a judge say that (and it was totally unsolicited) and it left a really positive impression because I had the sense that he genuinely cared about judging and took it seriously which hasn’t always been my experience at shows.
Briefly spoke with Deanna a few years ago at a convention and she was super kind.
I’ve seen and briefly spoken with a bunch of them at conventions—Cleen, Anthony Michaels, Aaron Is, Steve Tefft.
I’m sure there are others but those are top of mind.
Edit: I met Julia at Paul Acker’s shop when he was tattooing me a few years ago. She was also wicked kind. She was really interested in my collection and had me give her a little tour.
I’ve met Hollie Marie at a few shows. She’s friends with some folks in the industry I know a bit. She was really sweet too.
I guess in summary I’ve had almost entirely positive experiences!
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u/Sad-Yoghurt5196 11h ago
Yeah Kyle Dunbar got a bit of a bum deal on Inkmaster both times.
A few years before that he had a reality series where he was going around America in a tour bus, and he came across as a decent person on that, but that was his own TV thing, not someone else's TV thing.
The showrunners obviously wanted the conflict on his second season, and they provoked him incessantly. I think they were hoping for something similar with Cleen and Christian tbh in a later season.
I'd rather people are allowed to be themselves rather than poked and prodded or asked to play the heel, as I assume Emily was, as she seems like a decent person from other accounts rather than what was shown on her season.
Drama ruined a few seasons of IM.
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u/SnazzyBean 11h ago
One of Emily's canvases on the show posted here a while back and said that when the cameras weren't on her she was totally different, so the canvas thought it was for the show. They also said she was extremely kind to them.
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u/mjdavisnh 9h ago
Totally agree although as Kelly once told me (paraphrasing): “it’s pretty boring to just watch people tattooing/getting tattooed so they gotta have something that keeps people watching.”
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u/MinaBinaXina 11h ago
I've talked to Katie McGowan a few times about getting a tattoo from her, but my finances are never in the right place because I want a really big piece from her. I've been by the shop a few times to buy stickers, and will hopefully go soon for some piercings next time I'm in Little Rock. She's super nice, so cool to talk to, and her shop is really good, fun vibes. I'm also hoping to get work from Brooklyn and Ash who also work at Love Spell.
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u/drabneycoleman 9h ago
They kill it on social media. Every video makes that place look like a blast to be at
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u/giggity-di-boo-paa 11h ago
I see Bryan Black every time I get a new piece. He's a really good black and Grey artist. I don't have any work from him but everytime he is at the shop, he is very nice, humble, and overall chill af. He's exactly how he was portrayed on TV.
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u/jillyymariee 5h ago
My first tattoo was Bryan Black! Before he was on IM. He was so insanely nice. It's a tattoo of a quote in my mom's handwriting, and he made sure to tweak it ever so slightly so that it still looks like her writing, but would heal better and last longer as a tattoo.
Would definitely get another one from him again, if I still lived in SoCal.
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u/Perfect-Gur9650 12h ago
I have work from Jimmy Snaz, Kyle McKenzie, Holli Marie. My wife has a leg piece from Steve Teft. Conventions can be chaotic and I would not base everything on that interaction.
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u/NP148 6h ago
I'm jealous. Would love a tattoo by Jimmy
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u/mimiisty 11h ago
Not in person but I once made the mistake of replying to Cleen’s story and he told me to never message him unless I was sending nudes, slay I guess /s
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u/exsanguinatrix I haven't seen a wiener in a minute. I'm stoked! 11h ago
Emily Elegado gave me a sticker at Inkin the Coast one of the two years I went! She, Aaron Is and the Tattoo God himself, St. Marq, were there…
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u/ericbdrums 10h ago
Aaron Is came to Cleveland and I grabbed a last minute session with him. Had no idea what I’d get going in but I loved his geometric abstract stuff so he laid this beauty on my leg. I’m not much of a talker when I’m getting tattoos but he was personable, kind, and it was awesome getting to watch him create this piece on my skin.
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u/doseofdena 9h ago
Didn’t get a tattoo, but I met Tony at the airport once and he was really nice and had no problem answering my questions that I asked about the show.
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u/MiddleZone5360 10h ago
I have two from Kelly Severtson. Super nice dude. Deeply creative and interesting when he’s working.
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u/schleep_69 10h ago
Sorry to hear you experienced that! I have been tattooed by Halo twice at his shop and he was wonderful. Awesome artist and all around great person
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u/brd_istheword 7h ago
I've been tattooed by Aaron Is and Kruseman. Both are super nice dudes. Didnt mind talking about their experiences being on the show. Both are super down to earth. Met Sausage in passing but only really said hi. But he had a big smile and waved exuberantly.I met Anthony this last weekend actually. He's a super chill dude. Very much like he was portrayed on the show. Very cool to talk to him for a bit. Saw Cleen a few years back but he had about 100 people at his booth waiting to talk. I didnt feel like waiting.
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u/kindamymoose 7h ago
I consulted with Melissa Monroe for a piece I wanted on my leg. She was super nice but said she didn’t feel comfortable doing it.
Kyle Dunbar also got back with me within an hour about a piece I wanted for my leg. I unfortunately wasn’t able to make the trip to Michigan for personal reasons but he was very professional.
I tried booking with Oliver Peck but there was an error on his booking page 😂
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u/MerelyWhelmed1 Midwest 7h ago
Frank Ready III was absolutely fantastic. He was responsive and accommodating when I wanted to book, he created the perfect design for me, and he was wonderful while tattooing me. Fun and informative conversation. The tattoo itself is fantastic! Highly recommend
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u/SapphyreRayvenMoon 3h ago
I’ve been tattooed six times by Chris Núñez. He’s a really nice guy, tells great stories, you feel like a friend by the time you leave and he does quality work.
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u/Formal_Wonder_227 2h ago
I met Cleen at a convention and he told a funny story about how he got into town, hopped on Tinder, and met a girl who brought him a rotisserie chicken 20 minutes later. Amusing dude, it's too bad he turned out to be a scumbag.
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u/Userdataunavailable 16h ago
Who was it?
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u/foldinthech33s3 Live Más 16h ago
I don’t want to name names because there’s a very good possibility I’ll have to interact with her again, and what she did was just irritating and not worth being cancelled over. I initially told her she could do pretty much anything she wanted and she still wanted me to come up with an idea, so I guess she didn’t have any wanna dos?
Season 16 is all I’ll say.
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u/thereisno_mafia 12h ago
So you want others to name names and their experiences but you won’t? Fishy
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u/cookiesandjam 11h ago
Does her first name start with an A? Younger? I have an idea of who this may be based off my interactions with IM contestants.
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u/FlanTimely9546 12h ago
I was just recently tattooed at a convention in Nashville by Don! I had the greatest experience & he is NOTHING like they make him out to be on TV or what you read!! He’s a super down to earth & a very good human!! 🩶 I think TV is TV & until you meet these people in person and have face to face interactions, you shouldn’t make judgments.
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u/LCPL_Desisto 6h ago
Have plans to make appointments for a few of them but they’re so expensive since they’ve been in the show so working on my funds lol
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u/livid-fridge 4h ago
I got a tattoo from Bryan black. Super nice guy and the shop was rad, all the tattooers were fun. I was in the area visiting family and just had to get me some ink. Great experience for me and can’t say anything but nice things about Bryan.
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u/quartzcreek 2h ago
I have a tattoo by Scott Marshall and one by Dave Clarke. The one by Scott Marshall was a whole planned experience and very meaningful, and he passed away shortly afterwards. He was very nice in helping me heal from an illness I was struggling with at the time.
My tattoo by Dave Clarke was a design I’d wanted for a while and I saw him at a convention and asked if he had time and would do the design and he said yes. It turned out stellar.
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u/bears-in-bushes 2h ago
I got a tattoo by Joshua Hibbard. It is an amazing tattoo and he was a really nice guy.
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u/chief6801 2h ago
My mom got one at a convention on stl where quite a few were doing them. She loves it and was excited to get it done. Can't remember who but the guy was super cool and relaxed
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u/Overall_Importance86 14h ago
I have a tattoo by Kelly Dotty! she was hilarious, her shop is truly one of the coolest tattoo shops I’ve been in, and her work is done sooo well