Jul 2, 2026 · 38 min · 11 segments
Renee Orlando knew she wanted to be a tattoo artist since she was five years old. Watching the artists at her neighbour's studio, she says it felt magical. Getting into the industry wasn't easy. It's…
Renee OrlandoGuestKelHostHow does, how does it work, like getting involved or like, is it like an apprenticeship? Is there, because like back in the day, like, was it kind of common for even females to be in the industry?
Well, it's a good question because I feel like I get asked this a lot and there just doesn't seem to be huge transparency around how to get in.
Like it feels very gatekept and almost like this, I don't know, like unobtainable thing or it's like something that you've got to sort of network your way through.
It was a very male-dominated industry and there wasn't as many females in a lot of shops.
The advice that I received from the girls that I would hang around with when I was younger was you would either go in there with a folio of drawings in person and sort of make yourself known, maybe get some tattoos when you're old enough to sort of network with artists and ask them more questions about approaching the industry and Or some studios will only take emails and you won't be able to sort of walk up into the shop.
And it is hard because people can't really find like very dedicated information on how to get into something like that.
Yeah, probably unregulated is a really good word for it.
I would imagine too, like you said, that you take like a folio of drawings if they let you come for a walk in.
But surely it's so different doing a drawing on paper compared to like committing it to someone's skin.
So like, how do you get practice in doing that?
I had a discussion with a client recently about the amount of anxiety I used to feel about the pressure of having to put something on someone's skin permanently.
I guess the transition looks like Um, for my experience, um, the tattoo artists that I worked with in the studio wanted me to draw quite often and relentlessly to sort of build up a skill set.
There used to be rumors in the industry that people would practice on like pig skin.
I think that can take place in some maybe traditional studios, not as much anymore, but yeah.
And then eventually it was either yourself and or your closest friends or family that would let you practice on them.
How does, how does it work, like getting involved or like, is it like an apprenticeship? Is there, because like back in the day, like, was it kind of common for even females to be in the industry?
Well, it's a good question because I feel like I get asked this a lot and there just doesn't seem to be huge transparency around how to get in.
Like it feels very gatekept and almost like this, I don't know, like unobtainable thing or it's like something that you've got to sort of network your way through.
It was a very male-dominated industry and there wasn't as many females in a lot of shops.
The advice that I received from the girls that I would hang around with when I was younger was you would either go in there with a folio of drawings in person and sort of make yourself known, maybe get some tattoos when you're old enough to sort of network with artists and ask them more questions about approaching the industry and Or some studios will only take emails and you won't be able to sort of walk up into the shop.
And it is hard because people can't really find like very dedicated information on how to get into something like that.
Yeah, probably unregulated is a really good word for it.
I would imagine too, like you said, that you take like a folio of drawings if they let you come for a walk in.
But surely it's so different doing a drawing on paper compared to like committing it to someone's skin.
So like, how do you get practice in doing that?
I had a discussion with a client recently about the amount of anxiety I used to feel about the pressure of having to put something on someone's skin permanently.
I guess the transition looks like Um, for my experience, um, the tattoo artists that I worked with in the studio wanted me to draw quite often and relentlessly to sort of build up a skill set.
There used to be rumors in the industry that people would practice on like pig skin.
I think that can take place in some maybe traditional studios, not as much anymore, but yeah.
And then eventually it was either yourself and or your closest friends or family that would let you practice on them.
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