PAUL BOOTH IN BEIJING
BY Mike McCabe

Paul, his girlfriend Sarah and manager Frank Cannava turned more than a few heads as they de-planed into the main concourse of Beijing's Capital Airport on December 16th. People froze in their tracks, smiled and stared unceremoniously at the trio who had just touched down from New York City. The wiry, dreadlocked hair and black leather motorcycle jackets definitely looked out of place. In the face of China's rapid economic growth, Beijing is quickly becoming a cosmopolitan city, but Paul and his companions gave the folks at the arrival gate a run for their money.

The leading members of the China Association of Tattoo Artists, including Association President Kisen, and Senior Director Mr. Xu Shao Hua, greeted Paul and his party with outstretched hands and wide smiles. Paul broke the ice with a warm, "Ni hao" (Hello, pronounced knee how) in perfect Chinese. Thus commenced the Association's three-day Beijing teaching seminar that Kisen and Mr. Xu Shao had worked tirelessly for several months to pull together.

Prominent tattoo artists from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong waited patiently at the St. Angels Hotel in downtown Beijing for the much-anticipated event to begin. The hotel's two-level, main hall was transformed to accommodate several dozen tattoo booths and a central stage area for Paul. A large screen backdrop had been installed to show live video of Paul while he worked. Association President Kisen explained the planning process and significance of the event: "I don't think I slept for about a month before the convention. I must have made one thousand phone calls to people all over China, telling everybody about it. The response was very strong and gradually things came together.

"For everyone involved, a sense of unity and mutual consideration was very important," continued Kisen. "Feelings of isolation exist for many artists out here on the Pacific Rim. The thought of Paul making the long trip to spend time with us seemed unlikely. We are a very long way away from Paul's home in New York City. I was a little shocked and so excited when it all started to come together. Many people who attended still can't believe it happened. This event really said a lot about the art of tattoo in China. The project crossed political and ideological borders. I think this is why many people became emotional at the closing ceremony. This is very significant for us."

Unlike most tattoo events in the West, this had been carefully organized with the purpose of teaching and spreading knowledge throughout greater China's tattoo community. For a variety of reasons, Paul's artistic and technical style is highly regarded in China. The mythological and demon-esque images that Paul explores are similar to those found in several traditional Chinese painting and pen art styles. The trademark black-and-gray shading Paul uses is also found in many Chinese art forms.

A tattoo sensibility has evolved in China around historical stories that focus on magical and mythic creatures. Tattoo artists in China enjoy using a black-and-gray style and for some time have looked to Paul's masterful technique for inspiration. For the tattoo artists attending the event, Paul prepared an in-depth, audiovisual presentation that carefully explained the procedures involved in his drawing and shading technique. The opportunity to observe closely Paul and listen to his explanations (accurately interpreted into Chinese by Dr. Yadi Tan) was a dream come true for all in attendance.

For tattoo artists in China, particularly those who live in Communist Mainland China, the flow of information from the West and Japan is sporadic and unreliable. Western tattoo magazines and their influential photographs are not available on a regular basis. Tattooers on the Mainland experience a definite feeling of disconnect from colleagues in other areas of Asia and the world. Mainland tattooers realize that they are handicapped in many respects and operate at a distinct disadvantage that limits their artistic ambitions.

During the first day of the event, Paul prepared his onstage work area as enthusiastic tattooers gathered tightly around him and watched respectfully as he worked through simple preparatory tasks. "I was a little overwhelmed at first," Paul reflected. "I have been a part of many tattoo conventions around the world but never anything like this. The tattooers here in China are amazingly respectful of this art form. This convention was set up as a series of teaching and learning seminars. Think of that. Artists here are really excited about learning the nuances of the process. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment; imagine having all of their talent and ambition but at the same time feeling out of the information loop. Tattoo people in other parts of the world have never dealt with a situation like this. We suffer from information overload, not deprivation. This is so different. Tattooing is now a completely global art; imagine the sense of limitation some artists here might feel.

"The reception I experienced in China was like nothing I have ever seen. The tattooers at this convention were so into it. I was humbled by their enthusiasm. At the closing ceremonies I noticed several people becoming emotional. Can you see that happening at one of the conventions in the USA or Europe? This says something to me. These people are respectful and thankful for all the work the China Association of Tattoo Artists did to make this happen. They are thankful that they had the opportunity to come together in this experience."

Several activities were scheduled throughout the event that involved tattooing, question and answer discussions and serious teaching seminars. After the opening ceremony, Paul gave a short welcoming presentation and then sat down to do some much-anticipated tattooing. Paul's assistant and videographer, Frank Cannava, had set up his cameras to document everything and also project a live video of Paul working. People had been chosen to receive small tattoos from Paul during the event as teaching aids. While he worked, Paul took time to step back, illustrate technical highlights and answer questions. The energy of the excited crowd at the edge of the stage was palpable.

With the video screen as a backdrop, Sarah stood at the stage edge and helped coordinate the questions from the audience. "I have been to several conventions with Paul," said Sarah. "This is the first time I have witnessed this kind of energy. The crowd at the edge of the stage was packed tightly, trying to get a better look. It looked like people were enjoying themselves but also trying to learn from what they were seeing. The sense of respect that they had about the opportunity to watch was pretty obvious. Paul, Frank and I were taken aback by what was unfolding, we kept looking at each other, recognizing that we were involved in a very special moment."

Paul had asked to include an art fusion in the convention and, on the second day, six easels were arranged in the center of the main room for invited tattooers to use. In this art fusion event, an excited crowd of onlookers gathered around the tattooers who had been asked to draw for three minutes on the provided paper and then shift to the next easel and draw again, adding to the previous tattooer's artwork. This process continued for up to 30 minutes, when the artists were asked to stop. Each compilation drawing was then signed by all the participating tattooers, including Andy Shou of Taiwan, artists from East Tattoo of Taiwan and Long John of Shanghai, among others. The crowd of onlookers enjoyed watching the process unfold as each tattooer added a personal blend of ideas, techniques and images to the drawings. Everyone in the packed-to-capacity room agreed that the results were impressive.

Paul was excited to bring art fusion to the Beijing event and was amazed with the response. "Art fusion is an exciting way to bring tattooers together," he reflected. "Each artist approaches the easel differently and makes their own unique contribution to the process. The drawings become a blending of sensibilities and aesthetics that go beyond what any single artist could create. Here at this event, everyone just fell into step really naturally. We were all very interested to see what would emerge as a part of the drawing process. I was very impressed with what we all did."

On the morning of the third day, the event moved to a different location, which had been prepared for audiovisual presentations. First, there was an in-depth visual presentation about indigenous, ethnic tattooing in China, and then Andy Shou of Fright Tattoo of Taipei, Taiwan gave an important slide presentation about the process of drawing, painting and tattooing. He summarized his presentation by saying, "I talked about the process of making images, a creative process that is called the 'Butterfly Effect.' How insignificant things like the beating of a butterfly's wings can combine and build and take on new meaning. How the repeating of patterns can develop an aesthetic strength. I talked about composition and the ratio of background patterns to foreground detail. This is important in terms of creating dynamic compositions. The visual density a composition develops can be seen as ratios from completely light to total black. Many Chinese tattooers do this in their art and Paul does this in his drawings and tattoos. I think it was important to discuss."

After a lunch break, I gave a presentation about contemporary Western tattoo artists, the global flow of information and its influences. I showed many slides of tattoo work from younger artists in America.

The highlight of the afternoon was Paul's much-anticipated live presentation and question and answer seminar. Paul had created a special in-depth PowerPoint slide presentation detailing the complicated process that his tattooing involves. Each slide illustrated the working methodology Paul has developed as an artist throughout his career. Specific grayscale shading techniques and effects were analyzed for the artists who packed the seminar room. Paul has developed a very involved technical approach to gray shading that isolates the different levels of the gray scale. As he starts a tattoo, the darkest areas and lightest highlights are locked in, which provides a lot of control over the rendering process. Layers of gray are combined to create a dramatic sense of depth. Finally, toward the completion of the tattoo, highlights of white are added to make the entire composition pop. Paul described the unique way he sets up his tattoo machines that enables him to layer his shades carefully without heating up the skin. Dr. Yadi Tan translated the flurry of questions from the audience and Paul took time to answer each accurately.

The degree of seriousness and interest among audience members was obvious. Many tattooers recorded the questions and responses with pen and paper, as if they were in school. "I was a little nervous about my presentation," Paul remembers. "There were a lot of people there and I wanted to do a good job. Judging from the questions Yadi translated, everyone really paid attention and got a lot out of the presentation. I am happy that it worked so well. The Association was so generous with their time and interest; I really wanted to contribute to everyone's knowledge about tattooing. I feel that we all learned a lot that day."

The final event to summarize the event was Paul's gift of a tattoo for Kisen. People were invited to gather near and again watch Paul work. Paul prepared Kisen's upper arm and then settled into tattooing, as he continued to answer questions from the audience. He remembers, "Both Kisen and I were excited to work on this tattoo. We had just gone through an amazing process during the convention. I remember that his skin was really receptive to the ink and everything came together perfectly. It was a really great way to bring the event to a conclusion. There was a nice connection among the people in the room as I worked on that tattoo. Sarah, Frank and I had just experienced something we would never forget. I can't thank the China Association of Tattoo Artists enough. There are not enough words."