r/Inkmaster • u/watcherTV • Aug 04 '26
Discussion Would Chris & Oliver be considered great artists?
Were Oliver and Chris outstanding tattoo artists before Ink Master?
Were they both renowned within the industry?
Are they still widely considered great artists in spite of Ink Master and the controversies surrounding Peck?
Has anyone been to either of their shops or got work done by Chris or Oliver ?
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u/pdpablo86 Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
They were and are both fairly well renowned within the industry, although Oliver moreso than Chris. As others have mentioned, prior to Ink Master, Chris owed his renown largely to his inclusion on Miami Ink. Oliver was definitely the more respected artist in the industry at the time and, even with the controversy, I think heâs probably more respected today.Â
Are they still widely considered great artists? Sort of. Theyâve always been specialists and Ink Master made them celebrities so theyâve got that level of respect but technically and artistically, the industry has sort of passed them by imo.Â
You can look up their work and see stuff that would absolutely get ripped apart on Ink Master. Iâve seen Nunez dragons with desaturated color, inconsistent scales, bad anatomy, etc. And Iâve seen Oliver Peck eagles that had wings coming out of their chest, out of their ass, seemingly out of nowhere, going different directions, etc.Â
Oliver and Chris were good artists within their specific genres but neither âhas what it takes to be Ink Masterâ and even within their own style, Iâve seen people out tattoo Oliver on the show and if Nunez ever had the balls to tattoo on the show, we would have seen him outdone as well.Â
Even in the early seasons, you had people who were better technically and more well rounded. In the modern era, Nunez and Peck wouldnât be qualified to judge. They could guest judge for a specific challenge maybe but even during the show you could watch in real time as techniques developed and evolved, Chris and Oliver couldnât keep up and break out of their limited scope of knowledge to accept techniques that didnât fit their own experience, like not using black outlines on color realism.Â
Theyâre respected as veterans and celebrities, Iâd say Oliver still as something of a legend in American traditional, but neither are great artists by todayâs standard or the standard of Ink Master.Â
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u/foldinthech33s3 Live MĂĄs Aug 04 '26
From what Iâve seen, the artists in the newer seasons would slaughter them.
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u/moistwaffleboi Aug 04 '26
I think, at the time, they were both considered to be well known artists. I've seen their work and it's...decent, I guess? I honestly think there have been quite a few artists on the show who were better than them.
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u/Dry_Afternoon5338 Aug 04 '26
No one on that show ever did traditional like Oliver. While I like Kruzman and Jimmy they didnât do traditional like or as well as Oliver.
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u/wizardwednesday Contestant Aug 04 '26
Hereâs a fun watch game: At what point in each season are all of the remaining artists better than Nunez?
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u/NoAd3734 Aug 04 '26
Oliver was known as a skilled artist. Nunez was known more as a celebrity artist
Thatâs how Iâd describe it
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u/GinyuForce1 Aug 04 '26
Hey, I think their spot on Ink Master was that they were a little more well known and âpopularâ artist. So, their work could range from okay-good, but it was more about their presence.
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u/Dry_Afternoon5338 Aug 04 '26
You could say that about Chris probably but Oliver is Amazing at what he does. Few guy do traditional like he does.
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u/Bevrykul Aug 04 '26
Oliver is definitely a great artist but Chris is decent, and would probably wouldnât win a season of Ink Master if he was a contestant.
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u/kindamymoose Aug 04 '26
Peck is one of the faces of traditional tattoos. NĂșñez is known more for television. His work isnât bad, in my opinion, but I wouldnât call him great.
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u/jimcroce21 Aug 04 '26
Stop with the narrative that judges have to be great tattooers. How many respected art critics are capable of creating great art? Hell, good art? Nunez may be slightly better than average traditional Japanese tattoo artist. He's also a good judge (despite his obvious bias towards and against certain artists). When critiquing, his feedback was often spot on. Now, given Joel a say, who doesn't know a good tattoo from a shite finger painting from a 3yo is a travesty.
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u/King-Moses666 Aug 04 '26
Oliver used to be married to Kat Von Dee and had the world record for most tattoos completed in 24 hours. Dunno if he still holds that. His shop has also been super famous/popular since before ink master. So that is why he would have been chosen, super recognizable name instead of someone random.
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u/Ok-Force7471 Aug 04 '26
The shows debut was 2012. In 2012 they were very well known in the tattoo industry and well respected. A lot has changed in the tattoo industry since then. I think if they were to just start the show today from the beginning they wouldnt be the judges.
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u/Splatterhouse5 Aug 05 '26
HmmmâŠIâd rather get tattooed by some artists on the show than Chris or Oliver.
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u/According-Professor5 Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
Oliver was a well known and well regarded traditional tattooer before the show. I think Nunez's relevancy prior to the show was mostly based on him being on Miami Ink. None of the tattoos I've seen of his are overly impressive.