AN: The show has paintings in the back of Kara's loft that isn't shown off. It's obvious she can paint real well by the paintings we can see in her loft. If she can paint, she can tattoo. In this, it's based off of the show Ink Master. It may be a crappy show to most, but I like it. It shows off the skills a tattoo artist should have and all the technical details that goes into a tattoo, skills that no one thinks about. I changed some names and details but the concept is still the same. Kara is an alien, but there's no powers just brains and thoughts that one can only dream of, perspectives that one can't really fake.
~Immortalshark
*Kara's POV*
Hello readers, my name is Kara Zor-El Danvers and I'm a Kryptonian. Well, that's what my friends and family call me at least. My clients know me as the Union Jack. I know I know, it's a weird name. However, its because of what I do for a living, tattooing. I hail from Midvale, a city in Oregon. I am twenty five years old and I love doing artsy things. Drawing, painting, carving, you name it. I started drawing when I was young, around five. My mother, Alura, took me to see an art show where people displayed their artwork for everyone to know and soon my love of art bloomed.
I did research and looked up at all the different styles of art and decided to dabble in all of them. Some I didn't like as much as others, such as haircutting. It wasn't until I arrived on Earth that I learned about tattoos. Alex, my amazing older sister, let me practice by using paints on her arms. I found it was a great outlet for my thoughts and I used the scenes from Krypton and incorporated it into my drawings.
I loved doing tattoos and thanks to my knowledge in math and science, I came up with a better system for tattooing needles. The lines were smoother and most of the time the patient didn't really feel the pressure. I always kept my needles as sterile as possible for a clean look.
Alex, Maggie (her girlfriend), Winn, Lucy and I opened up a tattoo shop after we graduated from school. We all loved drawing and we all loved tattoos.
Today, I was the only one in the shop and I had just finished with a client and was getting him settled with the salve that prevented infection and allowed the tattoo to heal. The bell tinkled and a nicely dressed guy came in.
"Hello, how may I help you?" I asked.
The guy took his hat off, "Are you Kara Danvers?" he asked.
"Yes. I am." I said.
"Wonderful. Well, I am here to offer you a spot in a show called Ink Masters." he said.
I gasped, no freaking way! I loved that show. I watched season one and have brushed up on my fundamental skills just because I looked at my own work and started working on stuff that I found lacking.
"Are you serious?" I said.
He smiled, "Yes. It takes place in a month. We begin filming in one month in New York City. The show will pay for your flight out of course, so that's taken care of if you accept. The competition involves fifteen other competitors. Week by week you'll be tested. The prize is a hundred grand."
I grinned, "I accept."
"Perfect, if you'll give me your contact information that would be lovely. You'll be notified on what to bring." he said.
"Of course." I said and gave him my number and email.
"Thank you." he said and he walked out.
As soon as he walked out I squealed in anticipation. My client smiled at me.
"Congratulations there Ms. I love your work and I hope you'll do well." he said.
"Thank you. Do come by when it's healed so we can add it to our wall and I can add it to my portfolio." I said.
"Will do." he said and walked out.
I closed shop and just drew for the rest of the day. Timing myself on some of my styles, some that I haven't done in a year or so, color, lines etc.
*Alex's POV*
I was wondering where Kara was since it was six o'clock in the evening and she hasn't even come out. I went to the shop and found her drawing a bunch of things.
"Kara." I said.
Kara looked up, glanced at the time, and gasped, "Hi Alex. Sorry, I lost track of time. I got offered one of the biggest offers I could get!"
I watched as her entire being lit up in excitement, I looked at her amused, "And what would that offer be?"
She jumped up and down in happiness, "I just got offered a position in Ink Masters. I'll be competing for the title of Ink Master in a month's time."
Holy shis, that is crazy!
"That's amazing Kar! I can't believe it." I said.
She smiled and so over the next month, she prepped for quite possibly the most important tattoos of her life. I bear her very first tattoo on a human after her apprenticeship. Then came the day she was flying out and we all wished her luck.
*Kara's POV*
Today was the very first day of the second season. I brought with me the necessary items that the guy had emailed me about; my portfolio and my machine. Of course, clothes and other items. The first stop wasn't the loft, it was a different place, a butcher shop. I was one of the first people there and soon more people showed up.
I have to bring my A-game. Stick with what I do best. I got to know the names of the other challengers. Al, Tommy, Bill, Jack, Lisa, Jackson, Sheila, Heather, Joshua, Shana, JT, Key, Jerry, Kelly, and Shauna. The door to the building opened and out walked a big name, David Navaro.
"What's up guys?" he said.
There was some mutterings from the others.
"Today, we're here in New York City's meatpacking district." he explained why we are here. "All of you claim to be the best, so here's your chance to prove it. Over the next eight weeks you'll live and work together, competing in gruelling sessions designed to test the most essential skills that you must possess to be a master tattooist. In the end, one of you will be earning a hundred thousand dollars, a feature in Ink Magazine, and claim the title of Ink Master."
Everyone began clapping in appreciation.
"Before we begin,let's meet the judges who will be deciding your fate." David said.
He introduced Oliver Peck, Chris Nunez, and himself. Oh boy is this going to be interesting. I'm up against some pretty decent artists, and going to be judged by some very very well known names of the business? Well then...bring it on.
"We'll start with the flash challenge, which is a short skills test, where the winner will gain an advantage going into the elimination tattoo. You'll want any advantage you can get." he said.
A couple of the other guys were shaking their heads in disbelief. We have been here for only a few minutes and we're already being thrown into a challenge. Great.
"This week, we're establishing a baseline of your skills by testing your raw talent. It's something that can't be learned or faked. You either have it or you don't. To test your raw talent, you must create a tattoo of a skull. It's up to you to use the common skull to show off your style." he said. "You've got ninety minutes to complete this tattoo. So pick up your machines, grab a coat, and follow me to meet your clients."
We all grabbed a cost and our machines, and followed him into the place. We were tattooing pig skin. Yas...something I can do. We got set up and already I was planning out my skull. I've done plenty of skulls in the past, it's not my favorite to do, but I can do it. I decided to use blacks, reds, and blues, using my knowledge of the skull in Ghost Rider as my design. I outlined what I wanted to do in a pen and started shading first. That's what I've always done, shade first, then outlines.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a couple people struggling a little. It was cold, but that shouldn't really be a problem. I heard the judges going around talking with the others and I listened in to their conversation.
"So what are you doing here?" Chis said as he came over to me.
I didn't let that bother me as I explained what I was going with to him, "I am going with what I know of the skull from Ghost Rider."
I heard a hum and he walked away. I kept up what I'm doing and at ten minutes to go, all I had left was outlining. So that's what I did. I kept plugging away at what I was doing, didn't panic when it was thirty seconds left because I knew I could do a lot in thirty seconds. Right at five seconds, I was done.
"Time's up machine's down." David announced.
I took a breath, put my machine down, and stepped back. I looked at what I did and I was proud. I watched as the judges went around one by one. Then they came around to me.
"So you went sorta big on this one." Oliver said.
"I did, I found that I liked the design from Ghost Rider and decided to use that skull. I incorporated the eyes that the souls he judged into the skull's eyes and the fire in the back. I debated on whether or not to have the fire transition from blue to red and orange but decided to stick with the orange scheme." I said.
"I like the depth you show in the shading and how you used the lighting from the fire surrounding as a light source. Nice work." David said.
"Have you done skulls before?" Chris asked.
"I have, they just aren't my favorites. I'll do them, but I'd prefer not to." I said.
He nodded and they all walked off. I observed the rest of the other competitors and tagged the ones that I thought would be good challenges, Shana and Tommy. There were a couple others that were good, but some I felt were just kinda generic. Soon the judges came back to announce the winner of the flash challenge.
"For this challenge, we had you tattoo skulls on these dead pigs. We're looking for that visionary quality that shows raw talent. The person that we feel did the best was Joshua's." David said.
We all clapped.
"You showed raw talent, good lines, and showed your style." Oliver said.
"Kara, yours was beautifully done, but we felt like you kinda just copied a design that someone else can do. However, the shading and the color blend was very very well done." Chris said, "The rest of you who didn't shine, needs to step up their game."
"As the winner of the flash challenge, you will be given the first choice in this weeks elimination challenge tattoo. Once you see what it is, you'll know why it's such a huge advantage. So head home, get settled, next time, someone's packing." David said.
I nodded and cleaned up my area. I grabbed my stuff and followed the rest out to the van that would take us to the place we will be staying in for the duration of the competition. It was a nice place, nice and open. The kitchen was nice, dining room could hold all of us comfortably, it was cool.
I didn't come here to make friends, I came here to learn and grow from this experience. Any critiques thrown at me and my work just makes me that much of a better tattoo artist cause then I know what I need to work on. So I kinda ignored most of the stuff the others were saying. Al was just a big talker, trying to rile everyone else up, but I wasn't gonna let that happen to me. Once we were settled, we got a tour of the shop. I liked my little shop, it was set up with some of my artwork. I set my machine the way I liked it, clean.
The next day, the judges explained what the challenge was, cover ups.
"This week, the canvases all have one thing in common, a tattoo they regret." David said.
The canvases were revealed and each one of them I could do. I've done cover ups before. Joshua, who won the flash challenge, got to pick his canvas. He went for the easiest one, the smallest tattoo to cover up. I was honestly hoping for the military tattoo.
Once Josh picked his dude, the other canvases picked up skulls with our names on it and read them off one by one. I got the one I was looking for, the military tattoo.
"You have the rest of the afternoon to talk with your canvases and come up with a design. You'll have six hours to complete your tattoo." David said. "Good luck."
I went over to my dude and introduced myself.
"Good afternoon sir, how are you today." I said.
"Doing well. How about you?" he said.
"Pretty well. What are you looking at doing?" I asked.
"Well, I'm looking at something that shows what I fought for. Like the statue of Liberty." he said.
"What branch did you serve in?" I asked.
"Army. I joined up in 1981 and retired in 2003." he said.
"Alright perfect." I said as I wrote down the years in the top corner of the page. "May I trace an outline of your tattoo, just so that I can see how I'm going to do this."
He nodded and I took the piece of paper and traced that tattoo and where it was placed. Then I started doing a rough sketch of what I was thinking of doing.
I showed him the sketch of what I was thinking of, "What do you think of this?"
"That looks wonderful. Is it possible to add in the motto for the Army in a banner somewhere or something that represents the Army?" he asked.
"I can add in Airborne. If you'd like, right up here being pulled by an airplane. What year would you say would be your most important year? I'd like to do a roman numeral down at the bottom representing that year." I said.
"That sounds amazing. If I had to say, I'd take my first year, 1981. It was the year that changed my life." he said.
I smiled at him at his choices. "Perfect."
Once time was up, I headed back to the loft to start on my true sketch. I ignored most of the others who were talking. Al was talking trash to the others, trying to rile them up. I didn't even hear him since I put my earbuds in.
*Tommy's POV*
I knew that Kara and Shana were my biggest competitors. Kara seemed young to be in this competition but props to her. I worked on my design and glanced up every now and then to see her doing her own sketch. She was a bit of a quiet type but she didn't rise up to the trash talk that Al was throwing around.
I could see a little bit of her drawing and knew that I had to step up my game or I was screwed. She was seriously talented and I was surprised that she didn't win the flash challenge. It was a great design and idea. I knew that everyone else had to step up to the plate and give it their all.
*Kara's POV*
I looked at my sketch and sharpened the edges with pen. I made sure the roman numeral was correct and everything was spelled correctly. I made sure the lines were straight and the plane was small but enough to distinguish that it was a plane. I made sure that there was an ear and the book and torch were detailed. I knew that I could do it in six hours.
I closed my book and went to bed. The next day and it was on. After a great breakfast, we headed down to the shop to meet our canvases.
"The judges will be looking for highly imaginative art, that turns bad work into something great. Something to be proud of. Canvases come on in." David said.
The canvases come in and line right up.
"Canvases get with your artists. Artists, you'll have six hours to complete your tattoo, and your time starts...now." David said.
And just like that we were off. I made the right decision by drawing out my design last night and tracing that tattoo. Now all I had to do was transfer it to the transfer paper and then to the skin. I cleaned the area and sterilized the tips of my needles. I started with a thin outline of black so that I knew where everything is. Once that was done, I started on the shading. I started with the statue and used the skin breaks where there was supposed to be light. Once again, I used the torch as a light source. About three hours in and the tattoo was coming along quite nicely. I found that doing the black last made it so much easier than going back over with color. Once the color was done with two hours remaining, I moved onto the fliers. I used his natural skin tone to make the fliers look real and it took about thirty minutes. Finally, I moved on to the black. I thickened the outlines, blacked in the plane, and then the letters. I could hear one of the other clients yelling in discomfort.
"I don't know what that guy's doing, but the process shouldn't hurt." I said.
"It should sting just a little, but not as much as whatever's going on in there." my client said.
"How are you doing anyway. Feeling good?" I said.
"Wonderful. You're doing great kid." he said.
"Thank you. Would you like some water?" I asked.
"Sure. I'll take some water." he said.
"Awesome. I'll be right back." I said.
I stepped out to go get the water.
*Military Vet's POV*
Man, that kid knows what she's doing. She's got a good handle on customer service during the whole thing. I like that she's taking her time and checking in every now and then. I don't know what she does, but this is one of the most painless tattoos I've gotten. I still feel the sting of the needle every now and then, but not much.
This kid has an aura around her that makes it hard not to like her. I watched her as she went through her process. She had sterilized her needles before she used them. She started with a thin outline at first so I didn't know what she was thinking. As time went on, I realized what she was doing and I actually liked it. The color looked well done and then she started going over the thin black lines and making them darker. As she thickened up the outlines, the picture popped. I couldn't even see the old tattoo. She's also got a steady hand, the lines didn't look shaky at all to me, and the plane was perfect.
I heard someone else start yelling in pain and I knew it shouldn't hurt that much.
"I don't know what that guy's doing, but the process shouldn't hurt that much." she said.
"It should sting a little, but not to the point of yelling." I agreed.
"How are you feeling anyway. Feeling good?" she asked as she continued doing her lines.
"Wonderful. You're doing great kid." I said.
She grinned up at me "Thank you, would you like some water?" she asked.
"Sure, that'd be nice." I told her.
"Great. I'll be right back." she said as she placed her needle down and went off to get water.
Then the judges came in.
"Dang, now that is impressive." Oliver said.
"I love what she's got going on here. She's got a nice handle on the line work and shading." Chris said.
"Ah, hello sirs." the kid said as she came back in with a cup of water that she handed to me.
"So what do you have going on here?" David asked.
"Well, he wanted something that represented what he fought for and so I thought the Statue of Liberty. I asked him what years he served and the branch he was in so I could incorporate that somehow into the tattoo." Kara said.
"Nice. I like what you've got going on with the shading and all." Chris said.
"Thank you. It's almost done too." Kara said.
The judges looked at it once more and then walked out. Kara picked up her machine again and started up, finishing it off.
"There you go. All done. Now all I need to do is put the salve on ya and you're good to go." she said, just as time was called.
"That's great." I said.
The stuff she put on my arm made it feel much better. I stood up to look at it in the mirror and I loved it.
"I love it. It's a great tattoo." I said as I looked at it.
"Thank you." she said.
We got the pictures of it and she was off. I thanked her for doing this and she thanked me for letting her. I walked out of there with a smile on my face.
*Kara's POV*
It was time for the judging. I stood there and listened to the critiques of the other tattoos. Jerry was up first.
"Welcome artists. Jerry, you're up first." David said.
Jerry walked right to the center.
"Your assignment today was to fix the crooked angel wings. It's tough to comment cause clearly it's unfinished." David said.
"She had a very tough time from the very beginning." Oliver said.
"It would have been awesome in the end, but we didn't get there." Jerry said.
"It might have been a lot better if she was in a comfortable position." Oliver said.
"I didn't really consider that too much just because of the difficulty you come across when tattooing the middle of the back." Jerry said.
"Plenty of back pieces have been done laying down." Oliver said. "You didn't really get enough in to show me what the end product was going to be so we're going to have to go by what we have to judge."
In my head I'm like, she should have been laying down in the first place. Joshua was up next.
"You had first pick. How do you think it went today?" David said.
"Great. I got a good advantage from winning the flash challenge. I felt like I executed the tattoo the way I needed to." Joshua said.
"You hammered out a big, bright tattoo, but I would have liked to see more raw talent if you had gone for a tougher piece. I would like to see you push yourself and see more styles from you." Chris said.
"You had a very easy ride. You had something that was super easy to cover. You didn't really wow us with the challenge." Oliver said.
One by one the rest got called up. I listened and looked at their tattoos and could see the flaws. Finally, I was up.
"Kara, you're up." David said.
I walked up to the center and my piece was shown on the screen.
"This is an outstanding tattoo. The shading is right the color blends nicely. I am loving how the torch seems real. The plane looks like it's really pulling a flag. The lines are very nice, and the letters are great. The detail is outstanding." Chris said.
"Thank you." I said.
"This is what a great tattoo looks like. I would like to see a background in the future." Oliver said.
I nodded.
"Great work today, head up to the loft. For one of you, it's going to be the last time. Someone's lack of raw talent will be sent home." David said.
All of us headed back to the Brownstone and that's when it began. They started complaining about the time constraints. I didn't participate because I knew I did well. I will take what criticism I got and run with it. I also took what the others had problems at and I'm going to brush up on that as well. They complained that they did the job, they did what it was supposed to do, the time constraints, the difficulty, etc. Yes the goal was to cover it up, but not to cover it up with another crappy tattoo.
*Chris's POV*
The other two judges and I were going through the tattoos of the day and commented on what was lacking on each one.
"Alright guys. Who do you think showed the most raw talent and who's just raw?" David said.
So it begins. JT couldn't outline his tattoo and it looked crappy. Jerry had a tough time with the client, but he should have laid her down.
"So, JT is on thin ice, Jerry is on thin ice, Heather is also on thin ice." David said.
We went through each one. Then we got to Kara's.
"What about Kara's?" David asked.
Oliver whistled, "That kid has some serious talent. Her blending looks amazing. The way she made the torch look like it was real and a light source is outstanding. The detail in the crown looked like the lights were still on. The plane, looked like it was flying."
"That kid can do lines. The one thing I would like to have seen was a background, but in this case, the background wasn't needed." I said.
"She also made sure that the client was comfortable. That was nice to see. It's pretty clear who's outta here." David said, "Wanna go get them?"
"Sure." Oliver said.
While he was gone I thought about how well done Kara's work is. That kid is amazing at what she does. I can tell she'll go far in the world.
Then Oliver was back with the top two and the bottom two.
*Kara's POV*
The door to the loft opened up and everyone quieted down. Oliver walked in.
"The judges want to see JT, Jerry, Kara, and Tommy. See you all in the shop." Oliver said.
I got up and followed the others down.
"Here's the deal. In this group of four, there's a bottom two, and a top two." David said. "Kara and Tommy, why do you think you're up here."
"Hopefully to commend us for our efforts and not getting eliminated yet." Tommy said.
"Good news, you two are in the top two" David said, "Kara, the judges feel like you did the best work."
"Thank you." I said.
"You took the ideas of the client and took off." Chris said, "Great job."
JT and Jerry were at the bottom. JT messed up and his line work was shoddy. Then came Jerry. The two were given the opportunity to tell the judges why they think they should stay. JT wants another chance to prove himself, being graceful with the criticism. Then came Jerry.
"I think I should stay because I just haven't had an opportunity to show what I can do yet. I would have had that opportunity if my client had sat for the whole tattoo." Jerry said.
"As soon as she showed any signs of discomfort, you should have taken her out of that uncomfortable position she was in in that chair." Oliver said.
"I disagree." Jerry said.
I looked at Tommy and we both just thought wow, he really did that.
"You're kidding." Chris said.
"No." Jerry said. "Had I laid her down, I would have been working in awkward positions anyways."
"That's what tattooers do. You have to work around it. We are all sitting hunched over because we've been tattooing for twenty years." Chris said.
"I would rather get eliminated knowing I took the responsible route instead of just trying to get it done. I kept her in the best position to do it better." Jerry said.
"As a judge, I highly disagree." Chris said.
Man, then it came down to who was getting sent home. JT was sent home.
"Well Jerry, we know you had a rough day. The shading you got in there is great. She was moving around a lot. So you didn't really get the chance to show us what you can do." Oliver said.
"Skin of your teeth dude. Skin of your teeth." David said.
He nodded and we all walked out.
"Damn, he got away with that?" I leaned over to Tommy.
"I don't know how." Tommy said.
When we got back to the loft it was crazy. Then Al started talking trash. It was nuts. He talks trash but he can't take it. I got up and headed to my room. I called Alex to let her know what was going on and she was happy. We talked about what was happening over in Midvale and anything really. I shut my phone, and got ready for the next round next week.
AN: So what did y'all think? I was watching the two seasons of Ink Master that are on Netflix and this idea popped into my head. Should I continue it? Should I not? Either way, this was fun to write. ~Immortalshark