‘Ink Master’ season 4, episode 3 preview: Coney Island, sideshows and twin tattooing

We’ve seen some pretty intense flash challenges this season on “Ink Master” with the craziness that was the convention style tattooing  and last week with the completely unnecessary “Fear Factor” challenge where artists not only had to photograph and tattoo a tarantula or a scorpion, but they also had to handle it. Are we in for a whole season of flash challenges that are more geared towards rattling the contestants then showing off great artwork?

Sticking with the hardcore/edgy theme the show has going on this season, next week’s flash challenge seems to be in the same vein. The artists are taken back to Coney Island (known for it’s side shows, hot dogs and the scariest roller coaster on the planet) where they are going to be tested on consistency (making sure lines are even, same width, shading… everything has to look the same). This is not the first time “Ink Master has taken the artists to the Coney Island side show, in fact last season Kyle Dunbar was one of the artists that had to tattoo on eyelids at this same location last season.

The catch this week is that not only will they be tattooing identical twins, but they will be doing so in groups of three with one person designing the piece and the other two artists inking the piece (mirrored images – each twin gets the same design). Things get even more intense when they realize that there is only one set of twins acting as the human canvases and that they will be in groups of five and all tattooing at the same time.

Besides consistency, the teams are being tested on communication as some pairs working on the same tattoo design (but on different twins) were taking elements out of the design, not comparing color saturation and in one case leaving a section not colored in at all.

Are you excited for next week’s episode of “Ink Master”? Who do you think are the front runners to win this season?