Reality television series often provide platforms for various talented performers. While shows like ‘America’s Got Talent’ do that on a more unconcentrated scope, series like ‘Ink Master’ and ‘Project Runway’ are more specific in their competition. ‘Ink Master’ is a reality television series that is basically a competition between tattoo artists.

Following a common reality TV show format, ‘Ink Master’ depicts various tattoo artists from all over the country being challenged in tattooing and other, related skills. One or more contestants get eliminated each episode till a final winner is declared and awarded a prize of $100,000.

However, the show often experiments with its format, adding a few tweaks to the basic premise in several seasons. For instance, the show’s twelfth season was titled ‘Ink Master: Battle of the Sexes’ and featured a competition between female and male artists. Moreover, in the latest season, the contestants are divided into four teams as per the region of the country that they come from. It is titled ‘Ink Master: Turf War.

Ink Master Filming Locations

Many of you might be wondering where the show, ‘Ink Master’ is filmed. Like most reality shows that are about competitions, ‘Ink Master’ is mainly set in an indoors set-up. Each contestant is given a designated workplace and a large part of each episode depicts them in action, performing the required tasks. Moreover, the judges assess the contestants’ work indoors too.

New Jersey, USA

According to local sources, most of the filming for ‘Ink Master’ takes place at Ironbound Film and TV Studios at Newark in New Jersey, United States. Sprawling over 47,500 square feet, Irounbound Studios is a large facility dedicated solely for television, motion picture and digital media productions.

A few minutes at the beginning of the first episode of the thirteenth season of ‘Ink Master’ was shot in front of the Statue of Liberty which is (obviously) at New York. The contestants are then taken to the Ironbound Studios set which is just eleven miles away. You can take a look at the following video. It is the first ten minutes of the first episode of the thirteenth season of the show, ‘Ink Master: Turf War’ and you can get an idea of the indoor set that I described above.

As you can see, the set has an old tattoo shop aesthetic with brick walls that give a sort of rustic feel to the atmosphere. Moreover, each team has their own section to work in with all the necessary equipment.

Las Vegas, USA

While most of ‘Ink Master’ is filmed at Ironbound Studios in Newark, it often features a different location for its finale. For instance, the finale of the twelfth season was filmed at Pearl Theatre in Palms Casino Resort at Las Vegas. It was taped in front of a live audience. Moreover, this was also the place where the finale for the show’s eleventh season, ‘Ink Master: Grudge Match’ had been filmed. The events invited the public to watch the show’s final by offering tickets for purchase.