Ink Master is a tough and exciting competition show that necessitates enormous skill and aptitude when it comes to drawing on the skin, despite the fact that it is very dramatic with staged fights and insults appropriate for elementary school students. The presentation shows that while many people can tattoo, only a select few can emerge as the best and demonstrate their mastery of a variety of tattooing styles and techniques.
It’s safe to say that the show is wildly popular in the tattoo community with many spin-off series and a nearly ten-year run of 13+ seasons, with the big prize being $100,000 and a spot in the esteemed Inked Magazine. Over the years, there have been more than a dozen winners, but many fans are curious as to where these fortunate victors are now.
Anthony Michaels
Anthony, who is tremendously gifted, has always been praised for his modest talent and obvious craft proficiency. He demonstrated his passion for tattooing by returning after winning the competition to coach and assist other artists.
Anthony currently resides in Tucson, Arizona, where he works at Twenty Five Twelve, a tattoo and piercing parlour. He continues to primarily paint black and grey portraits, and Inked Magazine routinely highlights his work on its social media pages.
Dave Kruseman
The sixth season, commonly known as the Masters vs. Apprentice season twist, was won by Dave. The inaugural winner of the American Traditional specialist also received a brand-new Dodge Challenger in addition to the monetary award and exposure in Inked Magazine.
Kruseman now works at Old Line Tattoo in Hagerstown, Maryland, and is a married father. The tattoo artist continues to be a well-known figure in the tattoo industry and has earned over 100K Instagram followers.
Jason Clay Dunn
Jason, a tattoo artist who specialises in Japanese-style work, participated in season 3 of Ink Master before defeating tattoo icon Cleen Rock One to claim the title in season 5. It’s evident that he was a highly brilliant artist who deserved to be in the end, despite his fight with other participants, but especially Josh. Although many fans didn’t anticipate him to win against Cleen.
Jason used to be at Tattoo Alchemy in Montclair, California, a place known for its Asian art, American traditional tattoos, and bespoke black and grey designs. Jason, however, has made the decision to abandon the conventional retail setting and instead accept personal commission works via appointment forms on his website.
Joey Hamilton
Joey’s fate was in the hands of the canvases in the first season to use a human canvas jury, and he triumphed in the finale. Despite competing in t he final against Tatu Baby and Jime, many fans preferred Hamilton due to his general passion for the art form as well as his artistic prowess.
In addition to co-owning Revolt Tattoos in Las Vegas with fellow Ink Master Star Sausage, Joey is now married with a child. Even today, it brings joy to fans’ hearts to watch the Ink Master heritage continue in a brand-new store.
Joshua Payne
In the tenth season of Ink Master, Josh was a member of DJ’s team and immediately posed a serious danger. Even though he was portrayed as a haughty loudmouth, it was obvious from the start that he would be difficult to beat because he was already a very well-known figure in the tattoo industry.
The winner of season 10 is presently employed with the Long Live Tattoo Collective store in Denver, Colorado. Despite having a broad portfolio on his Instagram page, Payne continues to focus primarily on tattooing styles and colorwork that are inspired by Japan.
Old Town Ink
Even though group-themed seasons aren’t usually a fan favourite, many viewers began to warm up to Bubba Irwin and DJ Tambe’s Old Town Ink. After winning Ink Master twice, DJ even returned to the competition as a mentor, establishing himself as one of the industry’s most renowned young tattoo artists.
DJ is still the proprietor of Bad Apple Tattoo in Las Vegas and Branded Tattoo Company in Nashville. Fans need not fear, though, since Bubba continues to be a co-owner of the Old Town Ink stores in Scottsdale and Mesa, Arizona.
Ryan Ashley
Thanks to her distinctive ornamental tattooing style, Ryan Ashley is unquestionably a fan favourite. Though the length of time it took a female to reach the finale caused some controversy, it was obvious from the beginning that Ink Master would be difficult to defeat because the judges hardly ever had any significant criticisms for her during the rounds.
According to what her followers can gather from her social media, she does not now work for a tattoo parlour and instead schedules appointments for custom work through her own website. The female winner is still regarded as one of the most well-liked and talented victors of all time and has racked up over a million Instagram followers.
Scott Marshall
Scott mostly kept a modest profile during the tournament while consistently producing outstanding work. In the end, Marshall triumphed and avoided elimination from the game against Sausage and Matti.
For a period, he would showcase his greatest work on Instagram while working at the Roselle Tattoo parlour in Roselle, Illinois. Unfortunately, Scott unexpectedly passed away in 2015, a year after his significant victory, but his followers will always remember him for his contributions to the tattoo industry and his legacy.
Shane O’Neill
At the time of the show’s 2012 debut, Shane had been tattooing for 15 years and was a self-taught artist. Many admirers are curious about what he is doing now because he was the first person to win Ink Master.
Currently, O’Neill is the proprietor of Infamous Tattoo in Middletown, Delaware, where he still primarily tattoos portraits. Despite having just about 60,000 followers on Instagram and being somewhat idle there, he obviously keeps busy with his appointment-only clients.
Steve Tefft
Steve took first place in season 2 and afterwards served as a coach. To make amends for a disgruntled human canvas, he also made a return appearance in Ink Master: Redemption, however many fans found his numerous rivalries to be a bit tiresome.
Regardless of what his supporters may say, he is undeniably doing well these days and holding his own. Today, he still creates unquestionably incredible tattoo designs as the proprietor of 12 Tattoos in Groton, Connecticut.
