The Darker Side of Tattoos: PAUL BOOTH

Have you ever seen an older TOOL music video? A bit dark, twisted and industrially-amazing is what you'll notice. The black walls, illuminated by red-flickering candles and the only other source of lighting found within this infamous tattoo parlour, are the three lights hanging over each of the three chairs. Welcome to the Last Rites Tattoo Theater in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen; and enter the Icon of Illicit Ink himself, Paul Booth.

Credit: Ben Leuner (photographer)

Just how much would you pay for perfection in "skinvention"? The amazing art that Paul inshrines on customers' canvases are absolutely worth their high-dollar price. At a lofty-rate of $400-an hour, Paul's waiting list is one to be amazed at. 3,500 deep and counting, Paul even turns away some of the less desirable design requests (unicorns, bunnies, and BS of that nature). 

Booth has now been tattooing for over twenty years, and in that time he has worked on multiple celebrities and rock bands, including Fred Durst, Slayer, Slipknot, Mudvayne, Pantera, The Undertaker (of WWE fame), Superjoint Ritual, Lamb of God, Adrenaline Crew.

Booth says he serves at least as many doctors and lawyers. "Going to Paul is expensive but worth it," avers Brandy Coco, a 27-year-old financial adviser from Gates Mills, Ohio, who waited just under two years to get in Booth's chair. Three visits and $3,500 later, Coco says she plans to go back again to fill in more of the Medusa-and-snakes design that covers her back, shoulders and tops of her arms. "It's the same thing as paying that much for plastic surgery: It changes your body for the rest of your life." Booth attended Catholic school through 12th grade in Boonton, N.J., where teachers scolded him for doodling images of monsters and skeletons during class. After high school he tried his hand at graphic design, but that too proved a tough fit. In 1988 he apprenticed at a tattoo studio in nearby Butler, where he inked generic roses, cartoon characters and the occasional skull. His big break came three years later at a Pittsburgh tattoo convention where artists were abuzz over a black and gray demon Booth had emblazoned on the thigh of his then girlfriend.

Soon after, Booth started his own parlor out of his house in Boonton and by 1997 had saved enough to open a studio on Manhattan's Lower East Side. At its height, Booth had six tattoo artists, including himself. After his move to Hell's Kitchen in the fall of 2007 he had a falling-out with his crew. Even with a smaller staff, down to three, Booth says Last Rites is on track to exceed $450,000 in annual revenue this year, thanks, in part, to his recently jacking up rates to $400 an hour from $250 to $300. That's more than enough to cover jaunts to tattoo conventions in Beijing, Singapore, Berlin and Cape Town, South Africa.

Booth has his eye on more than the needle. "Even though I could make a lot more money just tattooing, I have other things to do too," he says. In 2002 he started an eponymous film production company. Its first effort: a documentary about artists from around the world coming together to paint and sell their wares to raise money for art education programs. A second film takes viewers on a tour of Booth's tattoo studio. Last month he put out an album of haunting keyboard music, called Inspirational Hymns, sold at Target (nyse: TGT - news - people ) and Barnes & Noble (nyse: BKS - news - people ). His next vision: a creepy, "dark arts" bed and breakfast, preferably at an old Victorian in the woods.  via: Forbes

Let's take a look at some of the ink-man's masterpieces:

Maleficent/Jolie!

Oh yea! My favorite Disney-villainess/witch, Maleficent! Finally, in a live action movie. And just whom will be headlining as the most powerful and sinister of all Disney villains? Why none other than the plump-lipped, sad-eyed, brunette who's groin-grabbingly, transcending, Angelina Jolie. That's kinda hot, right?

So we have the leggy, South African-Beauty, Charlize Theron portraying the evil-witch in the Snow White film, Snow White & the Huntsman; also, Julia Roberts jumping on the Snow White-bandwagon and playing the witch in a more humorous version in Mirror, Mirror, and now we have Angelina donning the Maleficent robe, nice. I'm looking forward to this March 2014 (yea, 2014) live-action movie based on the classic Disney cartoon/film, Sleeping Beauty. Here's a quick blurb on the feature-film:

On May 12, 2009, it was revealed that Brad Bird was developing a live-action motion picture based on Sleeping Beauty, retold from the point of view of Maleficent with Angelina Jolie starring as Maleficent. In January 2010, it was rumored that Tim Burton was to direct the film. Reports surfaced online in May 2011 stating that Burton had left the project to focus on his other upcoming projects; Disney began to look for a replacement director, with David Yates being cited as a potential candidate due to his experience with the fantasy genre, having directed the final four Harry Potter films. Linda Woolverton, who previously collaborated with Tim Burton on Alice in Wonderland, is writing the script for the movie. Angelina Jolie has confirmed that she will play the role. Don Hahn, a producer of the movie, confirmed that Disney is developing a film about Maleficent and that it is in active development. On January 6, 2012, Disney announced that Robert Stromberg, the Academy-Award winning production designer for Avatar and Alice in Wonderland, will direct the film.

With Jolie set to play the titular role, Sharlto Copley (District 9) was recently named as the male lead for Stromberg's live action retelling of the Sleeping Beauty tale. Heat Vision also reports that Imelda Staunton and Miranda Richardson (Harry Potter) have been cast for the film, along with Kenneth Cranham (Hot Fuzz), Sam Riley (On the Road), and Lesley Manville (Another Year).

According to the Hollywood Reporter's blog article, Staunton and Manville will be playing the characters of Knotgrass and Flittle, respectively, "two of the three pixies that end up taking care of Aurora." Meanwhile Super 8 starlet Elle Fanning has long been rumored as the choice to play the aforementioned Princess, and Heat Vision's report confirms her name as officially being onboard the project. In the role of Queen Ulla, Richardson will be acting as "a Fairy Queen who is Maleficent’s aunt with a dislike of her niece." Meanwhile Cranham will play the human king who plots to conquer the fairy kingdom, and Riley will portray Diaval, "a raven who changes into human form and is Maleficent’s right hand." The source also mentions Copley’s gig in the lead of Stefan, describing his role as "the half-human, half-fairy bastard son of the human king."

The movie's official release date is set for March 14, 2014, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, and I for one can't hardly wait...by the damn-way, THAT was a good movie also, not a horror (so I won't be covering it in this blog), but good nontheless.