Ink Master season 9 spotlight: Meet April Nicole and Dane Smith of Artistic Skin Design

Are April Nicole and Dane Smith of Artistic Skin Design darkhorse contenders to win Ink Master season 9? There’s something about their personality and spirit that is rather infectious and in a competition as stressful as Ink Master, that’s something that can carry you pretty far in the game.. They’re not hyper-aggressive, and they haven’t been doing this for that long compared to the other artists competing. Nonetheless, there’s something inherently likable about these two and their motivations for being on the show this year.

In addition to seeing our take on April and Dane as a team this year, be sure to also check out the attached video!

The story – These two work together in Indianapolis, a place that apparently has a burgeoning tattoo scene with most of it emphasizing creativity and new ways to push the art form further. While we certainly get the sense that they want to win, they’re also very interested in bettering the lives of those around them. For April in particular, she talks about her family getting a chance to see her on the show. They seem to be very interested in the experience of being on the show.

Their strengths – They’re probably going to excel in more of the bright, colorful tattoos featured this season. Their attitude is best described as “quirky,” and the more creative the challenge this season, the better off they will probably be thanks to their tendency to go somewhat outside the box. They should be fairly malleable to what the task is and with all the twists that this show throws at it’s artists, that is going to be a huge benefit to them.

Weaknesses – They don’t have the experience in the industry of some of the other teams, and they may need to prove that they have the killer instinct. Are they going to be willing to give a bad tattoo to an ally because they view them as a serious threat to win the competition? These two don’t have the typical demeanor of the people the judges tend to favor in this competition.

Early prediction – They may be targets in the early going depending on what the given challenge is. However, if they can make it several weeks in, April and Dane’s creativity could push them fairly far. One of the things that may help them the most is that they come across as incredibly friendly, and people who other artists may not want to see go out the door.

How do you think that April and Dane are going to fare on Ink Master season 9? Share in the comments!

Meanwhile, head over here to get some other news when it comes to Ink Master right now, including other contestant spotlights. (Photo: Spike.)