Local Tattoo Artist Makes it to 'Ink Master' Finale

• Tattoo Artist from Plainfield Competes on 'Ink Master'

He'll face off against Walter “Sausage” Frank of Las Vegas and Matti Hixson of West Virginia in the final battle.

"I'm definitely nervous," Marshall said last week. "I'm confident — it's just the anticipation of not knowing. I can't wait to show everyone my tattoo."

Marshall spent 35 hours — split up into five seven-hour sessions — working on his "human canvas" to create the tattoo masterpiece that will be judged in the finale.

"It's an open canvas, meaning we can do whatever we want," Marshall said, adding that human canvas Lacey gave him free reign with the design.

"She pretty much let me do my thing," Marshall said. "She sat through every grueling session — she has full faith in me."

He said the tattoo, which will be unveiled for the first time on the finale, was the longest, hardest piece of his career.

"It's the best tattoo I've ever done," Marshall said. "I think it's a beautiful piece."

Marshall said the show's been a learning experience for him.

"It's always funny to see [the show] after editing," he said. "You never know what they're going to use," Marshall said, noting that on the highly competitive show, "I'm very aggressive."

"There's a lot of mixed opinions about me, my artwork and my personality on the show," he said.

The show started with 17 contestants living together and vying for the grand prize of $100,000 and title of "Ink Master."

"We're at each other's throats — living with each other, as soon as we got into it and started competing, it got personal," Marshall said.

Now, with just three contestants left, "It's such a close race," he said. "We all have our strong points." Marshall said the fierce competition has pushed him to grow as an artist.

Unlike previous weeks on the reality show competition, the artists won't get to see each other's work until the judges do.

"It's killing us because nobody knows what the others did," Marshall said said. "All I can do is worry about what I'm doing."

Marshall said he's confident he'll take home the top prize with his final tattoo.

While the details of the design are hush-hush, "I can say it's the best tattoo I've ever done," he said. "It's definitely a winning piece."

Even so, he wasn't willing to county his chickens before they hatch, saying he hasn't made specific plans for the $100,000 prize money.

"I'll definitely invest it in furthering my career," he said. "[I'll] just continue to work — it'll give me a fresh start. I'm kind of just going with the flow."

If he wins, Marshall will also get an editorial feature in INKED magazine.

The live finale is at 9 p.m. Tuesday on Spike TV.

You can check Marshall out on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.