The fourth season of the tattoo reality competition Ink Master premiered on Spike on February 25 and concluded on May 20, 2014, with a total of 13 episodes. The show is hosted and judged by Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, with accomplished tattoo artists Chris Núñez and Oliver Peck serving as series regular judges. The winner will receive a $100,000 prize, a feature in Inked Magazine and the title of Ink Master.
This season saw the return of season 3 contestant Kyle Dunbar, who originally finished the competition in 4th place.
The winner of the fourth season of Ink Master was Scott Marshall, with Walter "Sausage" Frank being the runner-up.
Judging and ranking
Judging panel The judging panel is responsible for passing judgement on each artist. They collaborate and use information from their own perception, the audience vote, human canvas vote, and the winner's worst vote to determine who should be sent home. Weight of decisions is set by the terms of the challenge skill.
Audience voting Audience voting, introduced in season two, is done through Facebook and Twitter using the available tattoos for vote on the Ink Master website. Voting will directly affect the contestant lineup for the following season; the contestant with the highest vote count will have the opportunity to return.
Human Canvas Jury The canvases for the challenge gather after the tattoos are completed and vote on the best and worst of the days tattoos. While the primary judges have the final say, the weight of the canvas vote does affect the final decision of the judging panel.
Elimination Tattoo Winner's pick This season allowed the winner of the elimination tattoo challenge to put a contestant in the bottom.
Contestants Names, experience, and cities stated are at time of filming.
Contestant Name Years ofexperience Hometown OutcomeScott Marshall †15Chicago, IllinoisWinnerWalter "Sausage" Frank13Las Vegas, NevadaRunner-upMatti Hixson10Virginia Beach, Virginia3rd placeSean Patrick "Halo" Jankowski9Baltimore, Maryland4th placeMelissa Monroe5Farmington, Wisconsin5th place"Gentle" Jay Blondel14Massapequa, New York6th placeLydia Bruno9Albany, New York7th placeKyle Dunbar20Flint, Michigan8th placeJim Francis12Milwaukee, Wisconsin9th/10th placeJosh "King Ruck" Glover6Las Vegas, NevadaKeith Diffenderfer13York, Pennsylvania11th/12th placeAaron "Bubba" Irwin7Scottsdale, ArizonaRoland Pacheco8Hawi, Hawaii13th placeRandy Vollink9Mesa, Arizona14th placeDavid Bell20Fredericksburg, Virginia15th placeAshley Bennett6South Windsor, Connecticut16th placeDamon Butler3Boston, Massachusetts17th place Notes
†: Indicates that the artist has since died after filming
Contestants' progress Contestant Episode12345678910111213 SAFEHIGHTOP2TOP3TOP2SAFEHIGHBTM3ADV WinnerSausageSAFESAFETOP3HIGHSAFESAFELOWSAFERunner-upMatti HixsonSAFESAFESAFETOP3SAFETOP3SAFEHIGHLOWADVEliminated HaloHIGHHIGHHIGHLOWHIGHSAFEBTM3SAFEBTM3ELIM Guest HIGHSAFESAFESAFEHIGHHIGHBTM4BTM3BTM2BTM2ELIM GuestGentle JaySAFESAFESAFESAFELOWSAFEBTM4LOWBTM2ELIM GuestLydia BrunoSAFESAFESAFESAFEBTM2SAFESAFEELIM GuestKyle DunbarSAFESAFEHIGHLOWSAFESAFELOWDQ GuestJim FrancisSAFESAFEHIGHHIGHLOWLOWELIM GuestKing RuckSAFESAFELOWLOWSAFEBTM3ELIM Guest SAFESAFESAFESAFELOWELIM GuestBubba IrwinSAFE SAFEBTM3BTM3SAFEELIM GuestRoland PachecoBTM3BTM3BTM3BTM3ELIM GuestRandy VollinkBTM3BTM3LOWELIM GuestDavid BellLOWSAFEELIM GuestAshley BennettSAFE GuestDamon ButlerELIM Guest
The contestant won Ink Master. The contestant was the runner-up. The contestant was eliminated during the finale. The contestant advanced to the finale. The contestant was exempt from the first elimination. The contestant won Best Tattoo of the Day. The contestant was among the top. The contestant received positive critiques. The contestant received mixed critiques. The contestant received negative critiques. The contestant was in the bottom. The contestant was in the bottom and voted Worst Tattoo of the Day by the Human Canvas Jury. The contestant was put in the bottom by the Best Tattoo of the Day winner. The contestant was put in the bottom by the Best Tattoo of the Day winner and voted Worst Tattoo of the Day by the Human Canvas Jury. The contestant was eliminated from the competition. The contestant was voted Worst Tattoo of the Day and was eliminated from the competition. The contestant was put in the bottom by the Best Tattoo of the Day winner and was eliminated from the competition. The contestant was put in the bottom by the Best Tattoo of the Day winner, voted Worst Tattoo by the Human Canvas Jury and was eliminated from the competition. The contestant quit the competition. The contestant was disqualified from the competition. The contestant returned as a guest for that episode
Episodes <onlyinclude><onlyinclude>
External links Official website