How to Become a Part of the Tattoo Industry in Fort Collins
Fort Collins is known to have so many great artists in the tattoo industry, and we also have those that want to become tattoo artists in the future. Erick Erickson is one of these great artists. He works at Tribal Rites and absolutely loves his job there. Erickson is originally from Seattle. He grew up there and started his tattooing career. His wife and him decided to move to Colorado because Seattle is too rainy, big, and expensive for them. And now, 13 years later they are still here living the dream.
Erick loves to tattoo American Traditional tattoos, fancy scripts and detailed designs that flow well with the body. He’s been tattooing for 16 years and wanted to be a Punk Rock drummer before he became a tattoo artist.
I asked him a couple of questions about the tattoo industry and how to really become a part of it, both as a customer and an artist. Here’s Erick’s thoughts on this.
Rose: A lot of the times, people that want to become tattoo artists don’t really know how, so my first question for you is what are the steps that these individuals can take in order to be where you are today?
Erick: Generally, you do an apprenticeship at a shop. That means you learn at a tattoo shop from someone that’s been doing it for years. But the first step, to me, is to draw. You really have to draw a lot and really want to produce art. Tattooing isn’t just grabbing a machine and going at it — it’s more than that, it’s art and you have to make sure that your art looks good. Before you even look for an apprenticeship, you have to draw a lot, because they are going to want to see some of your art. You need to draw before you need to learn to tattoo.
Rose: So, it seems like there is a complicated process to this. What was your personal process of becoming a tattoo artist?
Erick: I apprenticed at a tattoo shop in Seattle called Emerald City Tattoo. How it worked for me is I started getting tattoos there and I got to know the staff pretty well and the owners loved me. After a while I know of expressed my interest in wanting to learn to tattoo. One of the owners asked to see some of my art work and they liked it so they took me in. Getting tattooed from someone you would like to learn from is a really good step to getting into this business.
Rose: What really made you want to be in this field?
Erick: Well, I’ve always had love for art I just didn’t know how to make it a career until I finally decided that tattooing would definitely be something that I do, so I kind of moved on from there and eventually got where I am today.
Rose: If someone approached you and asked you how to become a tattoo artist, what would your advice to them be?
Erick: Draw, draw, draw. That’s it. If you have foundation for drawing then it’s that much easier to get an apprenticeship and go places in the tattoo industry. Another thing is, I went to college for a couple of years for graphic design and that definitely helped me with the foundation of how to create art.
Rose: What kind of tattoos do you work with, and what do customers like to get? Is there a lot of the same requests or are each of them unique?
Erick: There’s all kinds of stuff that I get to tattoo. The only limit to a tattoo is your imagination — of course there is a limit on how you get to tattoo these things, but generally its up to the customer.
Rose: For someone who wants to get a tattoo for the first time, what would you recommend for them to do?
Erick: Go to several different tattoo shops, look at individual artists, not just the location, look at portfolios in their shops and online, and definitely make sure you want the tattoo for the rest of your life. It’s what I did with my first tattoo.
Rose: What was the first tattoo you got?
Erick: It was actually a tribal band around my ankle.
Rose: Out of how many?
Erick: I’m not actually sure, they are actually just trying to blend into one. I wish I counted.
Rose: I actually have 3. None of them too excessive.
Erick: Tattoos can be small and simple or big and excessive, as long as they mean something to you, then they are equal in my eyes.
