Ink Master Judges
"Ink Master" judges Chris Nunez, Dave Navarro and Oliver Peck return to Spike for the reality competition's seventh season on March 1. Spike

New year, new ink! Spike’s hit reality competition series, “Ink Master,” is gearing up for its seventh season premiere. The network announced on Tuesday that the new season will drop on March 1 at 10 p.m. EST.

Just like the past six seasons, 16 contestants will battle it out for the $100,000 grand prize, an editorial feature in “Inked” magazine and the bragging rights that come with the title of “Ink Master.” However, this year the series is also introducing a brand new twist that will shake things up for the contestants.

Eight new artists will have to prove their talent to judges Dave Navarro, Chris Nunez and Oliver Peck. However, prior to the elimination challenge, they will also have to go head-to-head with a former “Ink Master” contestant. Each week a veteran artist will be introduced to the group.

The contestants will not only have to impress the judges with their creativity and clean tattoos, but please the human canvas jury as well. Those that get tattooed will meet before eliminations to decide who has the weakest tattoo of the challenge – and send that artist to face the judges.

Meet the new artists below and find out who is getting a second chance at the “Ink Master” title in Season 7:

Alex - Ink Master
Alex Rockoff is an artist at Aces High Tattoo in West Palm Beach, Florida. You can follow him on Twitter: @alexaceshigh Spike
Anthony - Ink Master
Anthony Michaels is a tattoo artist based at Metro Tattoo in Tucson, Arizona. You can follow him on Twitter: @antmikes Spike
Ashley - Ink Master
Ashley Velazquez is a tattoo artist at Forever Custom Tattoos in New Haven, Connecticut. You can follow her on Twitter: @showoff_tattoos Spike
Christian - Ink Master
Christian Buckingham works as an artist at Revolt Tattoo in Henderson, Nevada. You can follow him on Twitter: @christiantat2 Spike
Cleen Rock One - Ink Master
Cleen Rock One is a returning artist and the Season 5 runner up. He's the owner of Chrome Gypsy Tattoo in Las Vegas. You can follow him on Twitter: @cleen_rock_one Spike
Corey - Ink Master
Corey David is a tattoo artist at City of Ink in Atlanta. You can follow him on Twitter: @whoiscoreydavis Spike
Cris - Ink Master
Cris Gherman is the owner of Fat Cats in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter: @crisgherman13 Spike
James - Ink Master
James Vaughn is the third place contestant from Season 1 of "Ink Master." He's the ownder of Tidewater Designs in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. You can follow him on Twitter: @mrjamesvaughn Spike
Jesse - Ink Master
Jesse Smith came in fifth place when he competed on "Ink Master" Season 2. He's the owner at Loose Screw Tattoo in Richmond, Virginia. You can follow him on Twitter: @jesse_smith Spike
Jime - Ink Master
Jime Litwalk is the runner up from Season 3 of "Ink Master." He's an artist at Ascension Tattoo in Orlando, Florida. You can follow him on Twitter: @jimelitwalk Spike
Matti - Ink Master
Matti Hixson came in third place when he competed on Season 4 of "Ink Master." He's an artist at Otzi Tattoo Agency in Virginia Beach, Virginia. You can follow him on Twitter: @mittihixson Spike
Megan - Ink Master
Megan Jean Morris is the owner at Painted Soul in Wallingford, Connecticut. You can follow her on Twitter: @meganjeanmorris Spike
Picasso - Ink Master
Picasso Dular is a tattoo artist at The Vatican Studios in Los Angeles. You can follow him on Twitter: @25footphantom Spike
Sarah - Ink Master
Sarah Miller was the runner up during Season 2 of "Ink Master." She's the owner at Wyld Chyld in Pittsburgh. You can follow her on Twitter: @valkyriesbard Spike
Sausage - Ink Master
Sausage is the runnner up from Season 4 of "Ink Master." He's the co-owner at Revolt Tattoo in Las Vegas. You can follow him on Twitter: @sausagekingtat Spike
St. Marq - Ink Master
St. Marq was eliminated early on in Season 6, however he proved to be a force to be reckoned with. He's the owner at New Breed in West Lafayette, Indiana. You can follow him on Twitter: @saintmarqtattoo) Spike
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