Dan Duquette
I once heard someone say that the style a person should choose is the one they envision when they hear the word “tattoo”. What comes to mind when you think of the concept of a tattoo?
When I hear the word tattoo I think of a rose with a name or a crawling panther on a forearm. The most powerful tattoo is something simple, tough, elegant, and identifiable from across the street.
What sort of things do you do to make a tattoo as bright and bold as physically possible?
My approach is to ensure the design is readable and not too cluttered. I hand draw my line drawings with a bold marker before stenciling to make sure it won’t be too busy when tattooed. As far as colors, I know the few colors I like, and the ones that I think work well together, and use them confidently surrounded by a lot of black shading and a lot of skin breaks. The less of a plan I have for coloring a tattoo, the better it goes.
What can someone expect when they walk into Garden City tattoo on any given day?
Garden City is the best. On any day you walk in, you’ll be greeted kindly upon entry and are free to look at the hundreds of hand-painted designs covering the shop to select your tattoo, no planning required. We encourage our clients to choose from our flash, and most people leave very happy and come back often. It’s an incredibly inspiring and positive place to work.
It looks like you’ve been making some radical movie-inspired paintings lately. What other titles do you have ideas to paint?
I’ve really enjoyed doing these lately. It’s fun to apply my tattoo flash painting techniques to looser, bigger, and non-tattoo related painting projects. I just finished making a bootleg poster for Jaws’ 50th anniversary, and a big painting inspired by The Outsiders. I want to do Back to the Future and Clue this year, and I always love painting classic horror stuff too!
How long have you been skateboarding and how did you get into it?
I’ve been skating for a little over 20 years. I really got into skateboarding through Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater for Nintendo 64. I scored a copy of Flip’s Sorry video shortly thereafter. I was so into the attitudes, fashion, and music in skate videos. I also loved that I could skate alone or with friends, and that it was expressive and cathartic. Discovering skating and punk rock as a 12 year old changed me forever and definitely led me to a creative life in tattooing.
Out of all the logos on your flash sheet with the 80’s/90’s graphics on it, which would you be most inclined to get yourself?
Tough to beat Flame Boy. That was the graphic on my first skate deck. I also really like the Gonz girl head design from one of his Krooked boards. That one is closer to the style of tattoo I like to get and make.
What’s your go-to mini ramp routine?
I have a ramp I built at my parents’ house that keeps me humble. If I can get a good couple grinds and slides, it’s a good day. But just getting some good frontside scratchers is my favorite warm up on any ramp.
What’s your favorite spot in Downward’s hometown of LA?
The brick quarterpipes at the LA Mall downtown are the most frustrating and intriguing spot to me. Getting anything at that spot is satisfying and footage always looks so cool there.
How often are you able to get out and skate vs working at the shop (and being a dad) these days?
It’s tough to find the time, but I get 20 minutes here and there. I’m just happy to know I can still roll around when the time comes. Often I try to go out with purpose these days, like filming or getting a photo for this interview, so it makes it extra rewarding when I do get the opportunity.
Originally published in Issue 7 - December 2025