Since its inception, Ink Master has showcased beautiful tattoos from industry up-and-comers and veterans alike. Those tattoos that rise above the rest are true works of art. With each new season of the series, the demands and expectations the judges place on the artists grow. Season 9 is particularly memorable because of its theme, "Shop Wars."

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Artists form teams that represent their tattoo shop, so a bad tattoo not only reflects poorly on them, but also on their entire business and brand. This team format heightens the stakes, creating an additional level of rivalry, competition, and even controversy that inspired some of the best tattoos in the show's history.

Unkindness Art's Engineer Tattoo: Episode 7

This tattoo was in the running for tattoo of the day during the ingenuity challenge, but lost to Old Town Ink. Nonetheless, this tattoo is one of the best examples of playful New School colors and design. It was also a head tattoo, which often goes wrong because of the pain it causes the canvases and the difficulty of the area to tattoo.

Unkindness Art exceeds where most fail, using the shape of the head to create a clever design. The placement around the ear gives the tattoo a dynamic sense of movement not commonly found in other tattoos.

Golden Skull Tattoo's Clown Riding A Chicken: Episode 13

The clown riding the rubber chicken is one of the most surreal tattoos to occur in the history of Ink Master. The combination of a clown and a rubber chicken is charming in how baffling it is. Only a team led by Cleen Rock One could produce such an off the wall tattoo.

The judges praised the artists for how the tattoo's placement contributes to its believability— an odd description considering the absurdity of the image. It may be ugly to some, but weird tattoos deserve recognition for taking risks and being creative.

Unkindness Art's Cherub: Episode 4

The elimination challenge in this episode was for each team to tattoo mirroring images that look like the same artist did them. The senior member of Unkindness Art, Erin Chance, didn't give her teammate Jarred Querubin a chance to match her exceeding talent with this piece.

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Her touch for detail can be seen in the linework of the angel wings and the softness of the tattoo's shading. It is one of the most beautiful black and grey tattoos from the season, earning universal praise from the judges and tattoo of the day.

Basilica Tattoo's Freehand Female Face: Episode 11

A veteran of the tattoo industry and the show, Christian Buckingham of Basilica Tattoo produces one of the season's most beautiful tattoos while still maintaining his dark, macabre style. The tattoo's soft shading complements the feminine subject matter, and the breathability and flow of the hair also add to the tattoo's beauty.

Done in his signature black and grey, the black eyes and tears of the tattoo give it a touch of darkness that establish it as one of the most memorable faces from the season.

Old Town Ink's Japanese Dragon: Finale

A massive size piece and a bold color palette of blue, yellow, and red is what makes this tattoo stand out. Often the legibility of Japanese dragon tattoos is difficult, but Old Town Ink didn't get lost in the details. They leverage the bright saturated colors and coverage of the tattoo to give it the readability so many other comparable tattoos lack.

The expert judges Oliver Pecker and Chris Núñez may have given DJ and Bubba a hard time about anatomical issues, but Dave Navarro set the record straight when he said, "I think it's a killer job!"

Unkindness Art's Demon Girl: Episode 13

This tattooing duo may not have edged their way to the finale, but they had the most imaginative designs until they were finally eliminated. The creepiest of their designs was this demon girl. Use of black, red and purple forms a color palette that creates a demonic underworld look.

The substitution of the hand for a raven claw, the stalagmite protruding from the demon's shoulder, and the raven wing that functions as a headdress, combine for a nightmarish elegance that won tattoo of the day.

Old Town Ink's Black and Grey Face: Finale

There are some great black and grey pieces from season 9, but the finale piece that Old Town Tattoo presents reigns as the best. It was one of the largest 35 hour finale pieces, impressing the judges who said they admire the scope of the tattoo. A balance of negative space in the forehead, cheeks and chin with heavy black in the eyes, lips and nose gives the image a boldness that makes it recognizable at a distance.

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Aware that they would need more than a beautiful face to become ink masters, DJ Tambe and Bubba made the wise choice of adding ornate filigree around the tattoo to demonstrate detail and image placement.

Unkindness Art's Deer Girl: Episode 15

An anthropomorphic design, Erin Chance's deer girl incorporates a balanced amount of elements from both humans and deer. There is great attention to detail in the nose, ears and color of the skin that evoke the look of a deer. A halo of three leaping deer above the main figure's head received a big applause from the judges.

Not only was this a clever detail to clarify the concept of the tattoo, but hard to do because of the small size of the deer. Below the halo tumbles bright purple hair that gives the tattoo the look of a fantasy character.

Black Cobra Tattoo's Mandala: Finale

A runner up in the season 9 finale, Black Cobra Tattoo's Katie McGowan produced the nicest live tattoo of the finale, and one of the best of the season. The alluring color palette and heavy saturation make this tattoo look like a sticker. Mandala tattoos also require a crazy amount of line work.

Coupled with the weight of the event, this tattoo could have gone terribly wrong, but Katie was able to show her resolve. Fans voted Katie's mandala as the best live tattoo of the finale, advancing Black Cobra forward so they could showcase their 35 hour tattoo.

Old Town Ink's Snake: Episode 15

Hailed by Chris Núñez as the best snake in the history of Ink Master, this scythe-brandishing snake was the decisive factor in the cutthroat face-off between Old Town Ink and Unkindness Art, securing Old Town the last spot in the finale.

The anatomy of the snake is technically sound, which notoriously goes wrong on other lesser tattoos. A blood-red, black, and yellow snake wrapped around a scythe was going to be hard to beat. Representative of the edgy competitive spirit that has popularized the show, this tattoo is as striking as it is aggressive.

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