Jacob Klapperich was 25 years old, depressed and directionless.
His entire identity, at least in his teenage years to his mid 20s, was based on a love of playing in bands. In fact, it’s what brought him from Fond Du Lac, where he grew up, to Appleton, and then eventually to Milwaukee. But as the tours became longer, the grind started to wear on Klapperich. He noticed that his friends who would go on these seemingly great world tours would still come home and deliver pizza for a living.
“There’s a magic to it, but it clicked for me that this wasn’t it anymore,” Klapperich says. “That was horrifying.”
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He started to take medication and go to therapy. It helped him focus, but what truly changed his outlook for the better was a psychedelic mushroom trip.
“I remember everything pivoted after that,” Klapperich says. “I was just thinking about life and everything … it just clicked super heavy that you can be whatever you want to be. It really was at that moment that I realized that anything I truly want to do, no matter how bizarre or far off it is, I can do it.”
He had a new dream: To become a tattoo artist. But there was a problem – Klapperich wasn’t very good at drawing.
That didn’t stop him from trying. Between working a flooring job with his family during the day and bouncing at a bar at night, he would relentlessly draw. “I would go to Brewed Cafe (rest in peace) and Rochambo, and sit there for seven hours just trying to figure it out,” Klapperich says.
The most difficult part of it, for Klapperich, was figuring out what to draw. But in the world of traditional tattooing, there are designs that have been used repeatedly since the beginning of the art. So Klapperich bought some books focusing on that and began redrawing the designs within. “Within the boundaries of traditional tattooing, it was all laid out for me,” he says.
It took three years of hard work before Klapperich started an apprenticeship. His early tattoos stuck to the traditional style – bold lines and classic designs – and his first tattoo was a skull and hammer on his best friend’s calf.
“It’s very wonky and weird looking but it’s in there,” Klapperich says and laughs.
Since then, Klapperich has worked at Akara Arts and has traveled all over the country to tattoo at conventions and in shops. He briefly co-owned his own shop called Yesterday’s Rose alongside Milwaukee tattooer John Tierney. That shop closed when Tierney found a larger space in Walker’s Point, naming it Emerald Eye Tattoo. The shop opened in 2023 and Klapperich has worked there since the beginning.
While his style relied heavily on the traditions of early tattooing in the beginning, Klapperich has since developed a style of his own. While he can certainly still nail a traditional tattoo, his tattoo work blends traditional ideas with amorphous tribal ornaments. For example, a swooping swan might be accompanied by bold, black swirling flames.
Many of his recent drawings do not resemble real life objects – they are simply shapes to help decorate your skin, as if Klapperich is stripping tattooing down to its core. It’s an interesting juxtaposition to his start as an artist, where the boundaries of traditional tattooing helped formulate his designs. But that’s not to say that Klapperich won’t do traditional tattoos – he continues to create some of the most vibrant yet delicate rose tattoos in the city.
These days, Klapperich has been churning out massive back pieces. On his Instagram page, he consistently posts large scale tribal designs that would potentially cover entire limbs and torsos – designs that are up for grabs and that he would love to do. He continues to travel and tattoo, noting that he loves experiencing new shops.
“Tattoo shops are weird little ecosystems,” Klapperich says. “They’re filled with bizarre people and when you dip in and out of them you see that they’re all totally different.”
Tattooing has not only provided Klapperich with an identity that he thought might have been lost, it has also given him a way to connect with people and share kindness. Getting tattooed is an experience, and for Klapperich, it’s one that shouldn’t be remembered just for the permanent body ornament.
“You can give someone the most beautiful tattoos, but if you’re a jerk to them, they’ll remember that forever,” Klapperich says. “The real power to tattooing is trying to instill some positivity and giving someone an experience that will last forever – even if it’s just basic human kindness – instead of just a cool tattoo.”
