An interview with Daniel the Gardener about his ongoing love affair with painting and tattooing.

an interview by Caroline Progner Abrahao

The Argentinian painter and tattoo artist Daniel the Gardener bounces between his dedication to painting and tattooing. We have had a talk with him about his ongoing love affair with these two forms of visual expression - the thought processes where they resemble each other and the ones where they differ.

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1. Daniel, you were a painter for a long time, then had some years almost exclusively dedicated to tattoo and have now for a while started painting with more dedication again. Could you describe your ongoing love affair with these two forms of visual expression, in which thought processes they resemble each other and where do they differ and how do you experience each of the practices?

Drawing and painting has been part of my life ever since I can remember. Although I’ve been collecting tattoos since young age, it was only in my late 20’s where I started tattooing. I had a professional career as a painter before this. After almost 11 years of tattooing, getting back to painting gave me great insight in both practices. It also make me appreciate tattooing more than I could imagine.

Here are some things I’ve recently noticed :
The biggest difference to me lies in the time space both painting and tattooing exist. When I'm tattooing, there's a schedule, a strategy around how I'm going to create that image, and a human being as the surface where I'm working. When painting, although there is always some kind of plan, everything can be more flexible, and, of course, there's more space for trial and error. Each medium has its own pros and cons. I love both, and over the past years of painting and tattooing, I can see how they influence each other, which is a great thing I'm experiencing right now.

2. Where are the limitations of each?

When designing on a human body, I am literally working on a virtually infinite 3D surface—the image can keep on extending throughout the body over and over. When painting on a canvas, I'm working on a 2-D surface with very clear edges.

When painting on a canvas, I can take more risks, knowing that ultimately I can start all over again. When drawing on a human, I will look for compositions that will give me certainty, even if I'll challenge them after. So you see, the approach is quite different.

Most of what happens when drawing on people is about them and their story, and how I can serve to interpret the botanical narratives that will define the look and aesthetic of their tattoo. I love having the chance to co-create and work around such stories. The skin, which serves as a canvas, also has its own story, which exists before and beyond the tattoo as well. It ages, which introduces a change over time and has to be considered already when creating the design.

When painting on a textile surface, it feels more to me that it comes to life over the process of painting. After a few days, it feels different; it has its own space, time, and place in the world.

Although painting on stretched canvases feels to me as if I am more in control, I like to let the image take its own course and let unexpected things happen.
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I really enjoy both practices, which, although often bouncing ideas off each other, exist in very different universes.

3. when along the way did you discover botany as your favourite object of study?

I've always been fascinated by plants. Growing up in a flat in Buenos Aires city center, plants were the closest I felt to nature at home. Watching them grow always gave me a sense of perspective.

Although my paintings prior to tattooing always had floral elements, it was only after a few years into tattooing that I decided I was going to focus on botany.

There's a timeless element to it that reassures me among the infinite options of things one could tattoo on a body. I also collect botanical tattoos myself, which made the whole decision even more organic.

4. You design your works freehand and work mainly without stencils. how does this process work for you?

Although I was very excited about learning the craft of tattooing and was happy with my technical progress, tattooing didn't "click" for me until I started freehanding my designs almost 5 years later. I attribute my drawing skills to all those years of drawing on large-scale canvases prior to getting into tattooing. It was only when I created a composition using the rules of drawing and painting directly on the skin that I started to really enjoy the process.

For years, I would only end up with a lot of blue stencil on my face, trying to figure out the right size for my compositions on a computer. I didn't enjoy it at all. I didn't start to freehand until I reached a certain technical quality in my tattoos that allowed me to explore this with confidence.

I could write an essay about all the things I love about freehanding, but here are a few:
Freehanding allows me to work in the most organic and fluid way, interpreting body morphology in real time, co-creating with the person who will carry this piece.
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I love having the chance to listen to what my customers want and then draw something for them. That is very different from drawing at home and then meeting the person who will receive the design. There's something unique that happens when sharing that common present, which creates the piece the way it looks because it's done in that way.

​5. Some of your work I really love is flowers and plants from specific places of the world to which your client has a deeply felt connection to. How to you face a project, lets say if I come to you and ask for a Northern Italy inspired piece? (like what are the phases of the project, do you in some moment draw and paint those flowers? digitally? by hand? do you then incorporate those flowers, if you specifically liked them into other new pieces or are all pieces locally limited faunas?)

My practice at the moment is site-specific, which means almost everyone I tattoo brings images, books, or plants from a specific place dear to them to use as inspiration.

I like to start by learning the story behind the plant selection, which is often linked to a specific location and the memories around it. I also like to know why they want to carry these plants on their body and if there is any significance behind the part of the body they want to get tattooed. Often, when assessing the tattoo concept just by referring to images of plants in my portfolio, all this vital information might get lost or forgotten.

We then spend time studying the plants and flowers we will incorporate into this piece, as well as looking for references in my portfolio.

I like to find a balance between the elements that are significant and those which will elevate the overall aesthetic of the piece. I often add elements, textures, and patterns that just feel right and complement the idea.
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Finally, after assessing the placement, I'll draw the piece, which, in the case of a big project, can take several hours. Afterward, we will outline the piece and continue shading or adding more elements in future sessions, depending on the piece's size.

6. Did this creative and professional interest in botany somehow affect your relation with the plant world in daily life?

Of course, ever since dedicating my tattoo practice to plants, I've been consciously devoting more of my time to learning about them. Since my work isn't aiming for scientific accuracy, I'm constantly developing new techniques and ideas on how to visually interpret them.

Over the last few years, and greatly influenced by living in England, I've also been researching the history of Western botany and its entanglement with both colonialism and slavery around the world. In particular, I've been exploring the romanticization of the tropics in America.
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Because of my clients, I also learn about all sorts of site-specific flora from around the world, which keeps things very entertaining.

7. What also strikes me in your technique is the perfect blend of outlined and diffuse elements. It creates lightness and play with the body and skin, integrates into the surface while creating depth and a 3d effect. Tell me more about the investigation process behind it.

To create different consistencies and attribute character to the various plants combined in my compositions, I'm constantly exploring new methods of representation. Since my pieces are created solely in black and shades of grey, I approach my creative process through the application and juxtaposition of different styles and techniques.
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My work only flourished when I decided to let go of any attachment to conventional botanical representation.

8. Also you mentioned before the difference with the aging of the work being so individual and apparent in the tattoo art, could you explain me a bit your thoughts on skin as an aging medium for art and how this implicates your design and your craft in general?

As a tattoo artist, I see skin as an essential part of how my tattoos are designed and applied. Everything from composition, contrast, saturation, and type of needles to machines of choice affects the skin as an organic surface. Because of this, every aspect of how an idea will hold on this medium over the years should be taken into consideration.

With the growth of the tattoo industry and the constant development of new techniques, much work has been created that, in my opinion, won't withstand the passage of time. (And that's okay, as long as the person receiving it is aware of it.) It would be arrogant to assure that my tattoos will look great in 30 or 40 years. However, I want to believe that every consideration I make toward that goal will impact the shifting and morphing reality of the tattoos I create over the decades.
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Of course, one in a thousand people might be lucky enough to have their tattoos withstand the passage of time, statistically speaking. As for the rest: lines will bleed, color will fade, and tiny details will blend or disappear.

9. what is the thing that you want to develop more in the future in your tattoos? what type of tattoo do you want to realise? or what type of client suggestion you fancy at the moment?

At the moment, I'm particularly interested in storytelling and exploring my clients' relationships with their chosen plants. This enriches my perspective on people's bonds with plants and helps me assess how to visually represent their stories.

In terms of my aesthetic development, I like to see where the work takes me and let myself be guided by new ideas and interesting things I discover during sessions, gradually shifting the look of my pieces.
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Placement-wise, it's more of a seasonal thing. I enjoy projects that can be completed in 2 to 5 sessions the most, as this gives me time to get to know my clients better and avoids taking a year to finish.

10. in your painting practice: what are you working on? which technique or medium are you using and why?​

I'm currently painting mainly site-specific flora with oils on linen, which I dye with various plant tinctures. After years of working with living organic matter as a tattoo artist, I found it challenging to approach a stretched canvas, which has no trace or mark from its passage through time. I'm also interested in creating a relationship between the surface I paint on and the plants I forage, aiming for something that exists beyond mere pictorial representation. When observing nature, I see an entanglement of forces engaging with each other. Through this layering and dyeing process, I'm exploring that narrative.

​11. Tell me something that you discovered you love about painting what you didnt appreciate before your learned tattooing?

I love the space and time that painting offers, and having the chance to explore without fear of making big mistakes. Knowing that I can ultimately start again from scratch is, in comparison to tattooing, a very liberating experience. I'm also using many colors in painting that I don't use in my black-and-grey tattoos. It's very interesting to explore moods and atmospheres through color palettes.


12. Explain the projects or expositions your are planning second half of 2024 or 2025. (or also where you will be where maybe there is the possibility to get tattooed from you)

I'm currently part of the Sarabande Foundation, where I'm in a one-year residency focusing on painting and developing new projects. By the end of July, we will have a group show where I'll be presenting some of my new paintings.

Since last year, I've also been offering botanical drawing workshops designed to challenge perceptions and approaches to representing plants. These workshops have developed from my research into indigenous tribes with animistic perspectives, exploring visual representation beyond traditional European botanical methods. A few more workshops will be held in London this year.
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Currently, my bookings in London are fully committed, but I hope to be traveling by the end of the year.

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This article about Daniel The Gardener takes part of the 40th magazine, ARTICULATE | Anthropocene. Read, download or order your print version of the full publication below.