Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Duquette.
Dan, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I’ve always drawn. I used to scribble punk band and skateboard company logos all over my notebooks in school, but I’ve never taken many formal art classes. Art was a hobby, but nothing more than that. After graduating college and working in the public-school system, I finally admitted to myself that I needed to do something more creative and set my sights on becoming a tattooer. I began to paint in watercolors in a traditional tattoo style in hopes of one day being offered an apprenticeship to learn the craft of electric tattooing.
In the spring of 2015, I lost my girlfriend at the time, Missy. She was the one person who pushed me to pursue a more fulfilling and exciting vocation, as she could see my passion for art, and tattooing specifically. The first positive thing I decided to do after she died was take an art class. So, I joined an Introduction to Drawing class at the Worcester Art Museum and began to climb out of my depression and heartbreak in the wake of losing Missy. I began painting and drawing with purpose and started to come down to Scallywags Tattoo in Worcester to visit my friends and learn how to draw and paint like a tattooed, with real tattooers. And I was stoked to be able to hang out in a tattoo shop every week after work!
Shaun was kind enough to offer me an apprenticeship, and I’ve been working at Scallywags for a year and a half now, and just started tattooing in January of this year. It’s been trying, and has tested my drive and willpower countless times, but I am so happy to finally be tattooing in such a rad shop with my friends.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I make drawings and watercolor paintings, and sometimes people let me tattoo the things I draw on their bodies. I try keep an open mind, but my art falls pretty heavily in the traditional tattoo style. I get inspiration from skateboard graphics, music, and comic books, so my drawings vary in style a little bit, from all black pen and ink stippled pieces, to illustrations, to simple, bold, and bright tattoo flash.
When tattooing, I like to make my work as bold as possible, by way of thick outlines and bright colors against a lot of black. I think tattoos should stand out and be readable, so I strive for simplicity and easily recognizable images in my designs. I also think tattoos should be fun and spontaneous, so I love doing spur of the moment pieces that have little or no meaning.
What do you know now that you wished you had learned earlier?
I wish I followed my passion earlier. For me, it wasn’t fulfilling working jobs I couldn’t stand, although there was money there. If you want to get into it, make it happen, don’t make excuses. Be friendly and make connections, and it might work out. I gave up on trying to please other people, and now I have a job that I love that makes me so full of excitement and nervous energy all the time. It’s so worth it to live the lifestyle I want, even if I am broke!
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I put all of my artwork on my Instagram page (@skateandcaffeinate). I’d like to make a zine or a book in the near future collecting tattoos, photos, comics, and writing, but as of right now, all my work is on the internet or hanging on the walls of the tattoo shop I work at. If you’d like to support what I’d do, I’m tattooing at apprentice rates, I take commissions when I have the time, and I sell some original artwork. I’m accessible through social media and email, so feel free to send a message and we’ll talk!
Contact Info:
- Email: danduquettetattoo@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skateandcaffeinate/
Image Credit:
All photos by me
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