Melons, silicone, skin: What does it take to be an apprentice tattooist?

Well, just like a butcher or baker, a chippy or sparky, mechanic or metal-worker, first, they have to slog it out as an apprentice for two to three years.

Currently, there are three apprentice tattoo artists working at Unify Private Studio, and they are all well on their way to earning the title of Ink Master.

Sketa Fitzsimon, Alex Drinan and Chloe Lynch have all been working at the studio for several months, and according to Mr Fitzsimon, a tattoo apprenticeship begins like most others.

"Basically you just start off hanging around and cleaning and prepping and sort of getting bits of information here and there and tips, and being shown certain things," he said.

"Then you start practising."

This practice can include tattooing almost anything they can get their hands on, especially melons, silicone and synthetic skins.

And then they work their way up to tattooing clients.

But, that's not before a rigorous licensing process, which even includes having your fingerprints taken to prove a lack of criminal history.

Despite having to undertake a significant training period to enter the realm of tattooing, all three apprentices agreed that it was very much worth it.

And that's all because tattooing is something they have always been interested in.

For Mr Fitzsimon, he made his start in the industry after several years working in a factory.

For Ms Drinan, her interest in tattooing all stemmed from her talent for creating and her connections to people in the industry.

These people supplied her with tattooing tools and several strategies to get into the game.

"I already had a lot of those tools under my belt from just playing around with the equipment and being around people in the industry," she said.

For Ms Lynch, she decided to get into the gig because of her omnipresent artistic flair.

"I decided to get into tattooing because I've always been interested in it and I've always had that sort of artistic side," she said.

"I was the kid that used to draw on themselves in class, so I thought I may as well make it permanent."

It's this passion for drawing that Ms Lynch said was her ticket to her tattooing apprenticeship, and was her greatest advice for those looking for a career in the industry.

"Draw, build up a solid portfolio and just keep drawing. If you want to get into it and want to be serious about it, you have to have a lot of different styles behind you," she said.

"The more styles you have behind you, the easier you will find it to progress into tattooing, and then the easier you will find it to build up your portfolio to take to a studio."

The artists are all available for bookings, which can be made by walk-ins, or by phoning Unify Private Studio.

All three artists currently specialise in dark, illustrative designs, but are looking to build their skill sets in different styles as they progress through their apprenticeships.