Ink Master crowns first female winner

On Tuesday, Ink Master crowned its first female winner in the show’s eight-season history.

During the season 8 finale on Spike, Ryan Ashley was named the “Ink Master” and earned a cash prize of $100,000, a feature article in tattoo publication Inked, a brand new Dodge Charger, and a guest spot at Oliver Peck’s Elm Street Tattoo.

Ink Master brought together 30 tattoo artists from around the country to battle it out in weekly challenges that focused on differents tattoo styles and techniques. In the finale, Ashley, who owns her own tattoo parlor in Kingston, Pa., was one of three finalists given 24 hours to complete a chest-piece tattoo.

Fans voted for which artists would make it into the top two, before the judges — Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro and renowned tattoo artists Chris Núñez (Hand Crafted Tattoo) and Oliver Peck (Elm Street Tattoo) — reviewed the artwork of the finalists and chose a winner.

“In terms of just being an overall dynamic piece that just has that wild factor, I’m going with Ryan,” Navarro said as he declared Ashley as the winner.

Watch the clip from the finale below.