Show your
best ink

Best healed tattoo

• Minimum age: the tattoo must be at least 1 year old.
• Authorship: the tattoo must have been done entirely by the artist the model represents.

Best black & grey

• The tattoo must be started and finished on Friday 4 September, during the convention.
• The work must be mainly in black and different shades of grey. Command of shading, gradients, contrast and transitions is especially valued.
• No colour is allowed. The tattoo must stay within black, grey and skin tones.

Best new artist

• Open to artists who have been tattooing skin professionally for 3 years or less.
• The tattoo must be started and finished on Friday 4 September, during the convention.

Best of Friday

• The piece must be done entirely during the convention on Friday 4 September.
• Free style — tattoos of any style or technique are accepted.

Every piece must meet the rules of its own category to be judged.

Best blackwork tattoo

• The piece must be started and finished entirely across the two days of the convention (4 and 5 September).
• The piece must be predominantly black ink, with solid black as the main element of the composition.
• No colour is allowed. Only black ink and the natural skin tone are accepted as part of the design.

Best small — under A4

• The piece must be smaller than A4.
• The tattoo must be started and finished on Saturday 5 September, during the convention.

Best asian tattoo

• The piece must be inspired by traditional Asian tattooing.
• The piece must be started and finished entirely across the two days of the convention (4 and 5 September).

Best fineline tattoo

• The piece must be done mainly with fine, delicate lines.
• Where they are part of the design, subtle and controlled shading, dotwork and gradients are valued, always keeping the character of fine line work.
• The tattoo must be started and finished on Saturday 5 September, during the convention.

Best lettering tattoo

• Letters, words, phrases, numbers or typography must be the main element, with the lettering as the focus of the tattoo.
• The tattoo must be started and finished on Saturday 5 September, during the convention.
• Different lettering styles are accepted.

Every piece must meet the rules of its own category to be judged.

Best large — A4 or bigger

• The piece must be equal to or larger than A4.
• The piece must be started and finished entirely across the three days of the convention (4, 5 and 6 September).

Best neo traditional

• The piece must clearly show the characteristics particular to the Neo Traditional style.
• The tattoo must be started and finished on Sunday 6 September, during the convention.

Best collaboration

• For tattoos done by two or more artists in collaboration, working together on the same piece.
• Every artist involved must have contributed significantly to the tattoo.
• The piece must be started and finished entirely across the three days of the convention (4, 5 and 6 September).

Best of Sunday

• The piece must be done during the convention, on Sunday 6 September.
• Free style — tattoos of any style or technique are accepted.

Best of show

• Only the first-place winners of the categories held across the whole weekend may compete.
• Tattoos of any style, technique, size or subject are accepted.

Every piece must meet the rules of its own category to be judged.