Re-post: Here's to You Joe DiMaggio...

In a re-posting sort of mood and, with pitchers and catchers reporting soon, here's a piece from February 2009:

Living in New York City, a metropolis known for its die-hard sports fans, it is not unusual to see tattoos honoring and celebrating the rich athletic tradition that exists here.

On Friday, during my lunch hour, I spotted a New York City Fire Department truck parked at the corner of 40th Street and 7th Avenue. Standing along side it was Johnny, one of New York's bravest, enjoying the warm weather, in shorts, and baring this incredible leg tattoo:


This is, of course, Marilyn Monroe, but with a twist. She is sporting the New York Yankees   jersey of one of the franchise's greatest players, Joe DiMaggio, to whom she was married for less than a year.

Johnny is a huge Yankee fan, and also loves Marilyn Monroe, one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, and among the most popular celebrities tattooed. I have featured Marilyn tattoos previously here and here.

The image is based on a lithograph that Johnny purchased at a FanFest in 1996. After having it tattooed on his right calf, he felt something was missing.

He contacted the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, and purchased an archival photograph of the original Yankee Stadium, circa 1923. This was then used as the source material to create the recognizable backdrop for Marilyn.


Johnny has a ton of tattoos, approximately 15 pieces in all. This one, along with others he has, was created by Cort Bengston at Cort's Royal Ink Tattoo Studio in Patchogue, New York.

Thanks to Johnny for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2009, 2013 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Kate Shares Some Amazing Portraits by Tommy Montoya

Sometimes I hang on to the great tattoo photos for a rainy day.

Well, it's not rainy today, but I thought I'd release these portraits from Kate, who I was fortunate enough to meet in Penn Station back in May.  Kate credited the work to the phenomenal Tommy Montoya (one of the artists from N.Y. Ink) out of Inkslingers L.A.

That's John Dillinger, Marilyn Monroe on the outside of Kate's left arm, and on the inside:

Billie Holliday and James Dean.

Thanks to Kate for sharing these amazing portraits by one of the best in the business!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Anthony's Phenomenal Marilyn Monroe Portrait

 Without question, Marilyn Monroe has appeared more on Tattoosday than any other celebrity, living or dead. You'd think I'd get tired of seeing her in ink, but I never do. Probably because there are artists out there doing this:

This portrait is on the left leg of Anthony, a photographer I met on Penn Plaza a couple weeks ago. The work is based on this famous photograph:

Anthony credited the artist as Horacio Martinez, at Golden Eagle Tattoo in Santa Barbara, California. The detail in the piece is really spectacular:

When I asked why he chose to ink the legendary actress on his leg, he said, "I was in photo school at the time and we were doing a lot of Hollywood glamor stuff and it was just kind of, on a whim. Why not?"

The piece is two years old and took only three and a half hours for Horacio to complete.

To see all the Marilyn Monroe work that has appeared on Tattoosday, click here. You can also see Anthony's work as a photographer on Tumblr here, or you can visit his website here.

Thanks to Anthony for sharing this incredible tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.