I loved both Darnell and Karly, but I felt strongly that Darnell had a superior back piece, and I liked his work better overall. Anyhow, congratulations to Karly. Darnell is extremely talented for only being 24 years old...he has a bright future.
shareDarnell got robbed!
shareI'm so sad. The final challenge sealed it, Darnell was the rightful winner. His tattoo was FANTASTIC!! Hers was great, his was amazing. And he always dealt with adversity and passed with flying colors throughout the competition. Bah! But I'm happy for her.. *grumbles*
shareBoth were good tattoos, but I don't necessarily think Darnell got robbed. His tattoo was freaking awesome. Those colors were sick, but the thing is; the background of his piece was the best part. When you look at it, you don't even notice the tree, the kid in the tree or the buddha, you immediately go to the background. With Karly's, her focal point was the buck & it was right in your face. And I also think they judged beyond just the back piece & judged based on overall as well. I think either could have won, so I think Karly's win is deserved. Either would have been.
"What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?"
I think Darnell should have won, but Karly is a solid talent so it's not a complete robbery. I think they should have given the artists more time to work on their piece for the finale. Darnell is going to grow into an amazing artist, the kid is young and has only been tattooing for 3 years.
shareI wouldn't want either of those tattoos
shareIt was close but I did prefer Karly's (confessing to a bias, I do heart harts). I had an issue with Darnell's tree and its placement considering that it was the first thing his skin mentioned. Karly's could be perfected with a couple of more hours to punch up parts. Darnell's could not.
shareI though Karly's was better designed.
shareI agree with the judge's decision.
The artistic composition of Karly's piece was better than Darnell's and in places Darnell's execution was lacking. The kid on the tree was not well done. It blended in and it just didn't have a good face. The Buddha wasn't connected either. What I felt was three unrelated parts - the tree with shadowy kid, the buddha/exercise ball he was sitting on and the planet scene.
I also think that they were considering the entire body of work of Karly and Darnell including their earlier pieces. I liked a lot of Darnell's work but at the end of the day Karly's earlier work averaged better. As they said, Karly was strong from the gate and Darnell gained strength.
Alayna just wasn't in the same league as either of them. She was competent but was far more limited.