Today we’d like to introduce you to Erika White.
Erika, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Hello! My name is Erika and I’m an artist at Apocalypse Tattoo Co! I’ve been tattooing for about nine years, and every day I’m finding out where tattooing is leading me. All through my life, art and drawing always clicked with me and made me feel like I could have something that was mine. I wanted to tattoo since late middle school and always daydreamed about what it would be like. I would get in trouble for sketching in class and always drew sharpie ‘tattoos’ on my arms. Sometimes I’d draw stuff on people for lunch money.
As a kid I felt badass walking around school with lots of tats. (I’m not too cool to admit it.) I made it my goal to seek out an apprenticeship and was accepted at ABT Tattoo in McDonough, GA, right out of high school. I was taking college classes at the time, working a part-time job taking care of kids to make some money, and working on my apprenticeship. I felt I was in way over my head, and I knew tattooing was where I wanted to be, so I dropped the classes and dedicated everything I had to tattooing. Sorry, Mom!
Anytime I wasn’t with the kids, I’d be at the shop learning and working. It was pretty weird going between those two extremely different environments every day. When my apprenticeship started picking up, I stopped my job, only focused on starting to tattoo and learned from there. I am always grateful for being given a start at ABT.
Fast forward to now, and recently I joined the amazing crew at Apocalypse! After doing guest spots with them for a while, I made the transition to their shop. They’re such good people who are so close-knit and caring! It really opened my eyes and made me feel like I was on the right track. I’m super excited to be there!
Has it been a smooth road?
I won’t say it was easy. I got lucky in the sense of being able to find a place to start out that was right for me at the time. But there is a HUGE learning curve when it comes to tattooing. Not everybody makes it. Every tattooer faces things initially that shape who they are and how they tattoo later on. Everyone has obstacles, some you deal with from others and your environment, some you make yourself.
It took me a long time to feel comfortable with what I was doing. Starting out, it was very nerve-wracking and I was dealing with a lot of anxiety. Looking at my work, I’d ask myself if I would still be happy with it if the tattoo were on me. A lot of times, it discouraged me, but thinking like that really kept me trying to be better than the last tattoo. I still haven’t figured it out, and I feel that people should never assume they’ve figured everything out. There is always room for growth and learning. Don’t become your own roadblock.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Apocalypse Tattoo Co story. Tell us more about your art.
I feel that the style of my tattoos can fluctuate a little based on what a client asks of me. I really don’t have a “style” that I specialize in as much as a niche of tattooing that I like. If I had to make a comparison, my work looks like my own version of Neotraditional tattooing. Tattoos are ever-evolving, so I use that category as an umbrella term. I’ve always loved creating faces and animals, so that’s usually my go-to for drawing new designs. I can have fun tattooing anything, but you ask me for a creepy looking lady with a rat or something? My day is made!
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
That’s a really big question. Tattooing and the tattoo industry is always changing. I don’t know what the trends will be in ten years. I have no idea what the industry will be like. But I hope that as tattooers, we all strive to make it the best community it can be. Bring acceptance, humility, and supportiveness. We’re all out here to tattoo, and tattooing is such a fulfilling and meaningful thing.
Pricing:
- $150 an hour
Contact Info:
- Address: 3115 Piedmont Road Northeast a201-202, Atlanta, GA 30305
- Website: www.apocalypsetattooco.com
- Phone: (404) 842-0505
- Email: whitewolfink@yahoo.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/whitewolfink
- Facebook: Facebook.com/whitewolfink
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