Rhythm Reinvented

Owen Paulls considers himself an artist — full stop. Whether it’s canvas and paint, ink and skin, or the drums, he’s making art. Though he still plays in his free time, about 10 years ago he traded his drumsticks for a tattoo machine and began a new career in tattoo artistry.

He equates his style of black-and-gray realism to sculpting, where each session, each layer, reveals more of the artwork’s narrative. “I love world-building. I love universe-creating,” says Paulls, who is currently based in Seattle. “Even though it sounds slightly spiritual, I really believe that my vision for stuff doesn’t just come organically from a brain. It’s literally like a little peek into a separate universe, and all I’m trying to do is replicate that as best I can in my design work.”

The Pivot

Paulls has played a musical instrument almost his entire life, and he credits his mother, a choir teacher, for that. As a kid, Paulls played trumpet but wanted to play the drums, so his mother made him a deal: If he could handle playing both instruments at the same time, she would have proof that he was seriously committed to playing the drums. He was, so he did.

At 19, Paulls auditioned to drum for The Exposed, a punk-rock band based in his hometown of Portsmouth, England. In addition to his talent, Paulls was the only person to learn all of the band’s material, including extra songs. He got the part, and with The Exposed, Paulls traveled the world playing the drums, eventually opening for bands they admired.

“My favorite part was knowing that we were respected enough that we ended up opening for nearly every single one of our heroes at some point along the journey,” Paulls says. “You can never take those experiences away.”

What began as simply filling an empty spot in a local band morphed into Paulls contributing to the sound, brand, and image of The Exposed — a transformation from “local lads jamming” to a professional band with a label and booking agent.

When things started to slow down with The Exposed, Paulls had the opportunity to assess whether he wanted to continue the life he’d been leading or fully commit to something new. He chose something new, although it wasn’t entirely new to him. As a teenager and a 20-something, Paulls designed his own tattoos, and though he would never recommend others to do so, he created stencils for a local tattoo artist to use.

Paulls’ bandmates asked him to illustrate ideas for their tattoos, and he was designing the band’s merchandise, including patches and shirts. Eventually, he told his bandmates that he’d tattoo them for free if they purchased the equipment.

“I don’t know how to describe the feeling of illustrating vessels for a living, but there’s something weirdly cosmic in that (it’s just) such a unique experience,” Paulls shares. “The fact that this person is walking around with your art forever is awesome. I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

Paulls also enjoys watching his clients’ lives progress over time. In the first session, the client may share what they do for a living and where they want to go. In subsequent sessions — months or years later — Paulls sees how they’ve come one step closer to those goals. “Getting to watch (people) thrive, those are my most enjoyable sessions,” Paulls says. “Somehow, they’re improving each session, and their character is just shining through. It’s amazing.”

Building the Business

When Paulls turned to tattooing full-time, he took the same mentality The Exposed used to become successful and applied it to tattooing. “As fun as it is to create and as joyous as it was to write music together, (the band) was a business at the end of the day,” he explains. “If you want to turn that into your main job and your main passion, you have to look at it as in, ‘I’ve created a product. How do we market this product and go very business-savvy mentality with it?’”

He fulfilled an apprenticeship, then he dedicated one year to learning from his “heroes.” He booked guest spots with artists around the world and reserved one day each time to observe and learn directly from the artists he admires.

“If I have a goal of how I want to be known in the world, it’s purely as an artist, as a creative, and I think that’s the difference between a tattooer and a tattoo artist” -Owen Paulls

“If there’s anybody with more experience than me, the only thing I want to do is sit and listen to their advice, and I can choose to take it or not,” he says. “But anybody (who’s) gotten to where I want to go, I want to reverse engineer their game plan and apply it to my own life as quickly as possible.”

Despite his current specialty, Paulls dabbled in color tattoos early in his career. When he came to the United States, he was advised to stick with the black and gray. It was his signature — no one else was creating like he was. Paulls also realized he couldn’t tell clients he was giving them a lifelong product when the color would fade over time.

To remain true to what he was advertising, he had to sell a reliable product. He stuck with monochrome, and now he’s known for his ultra-realism, black and gray tattoos. Photos and glances of his work fool the brain into thinking you’re looking at a painting versus artwork on someone’s body.

“I would prefer people to mention my name in just an all-around artist circle, rather than limit me to one profession,” he explains. “If I have a goal of how I want to be known in the world, it’s purely as an artist, as a creative, and I think that’s the difference between a tattooer and a tattoo artist.”

Years ago, Paulls attended a convention in Las Vegas and watched Massachusetts tattoo artist Timmy B doodle on the tablecloth. Once Timmy B left, Paulls cut out the drawing. Eventually, Timmy B signed the drawing and Paulls framed it.

“The fact that this guy cares so little about how immensely talented he is showed me (that) people are underestimating a lot of us, and I want to be what he is. I want to take into my life this devil-may-care attitude of not taking things too seriously, but having talent underneath and allowing people to underestimate me and using that to my benefit.”