During her time studying in Los Angeles, Jasmine DeGroat fell in love with the overwhelming glamour of the city. Her most recent tattoo reflects that charm.

The senior television, radio and film major, originally from East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, interned for VH1 during her time on the West Coast.

At the time, DeGroat had three tattoos, the first of which she got when she was 16, and was ready to commit to a new piece.

“I had this picture of Marilyn Monroe hanging in my room, and when I came home from Los Angeles, I took the idea to this tattoo artist,” she explained.

She received her tattoo from a very new parlor called E.B. Tattoo, named after Eddie Bonacore. The shop did not even have a resident piercer at that point.

Having already gotten work done on her left rib, she wanted to balance her ink out and get this piece on the right side of her ribs, above her waist.

DeGroat remembers finding an image of someone’s tattoo of Monroe online, but Bonacore was able to transform the idea into something more realistic.

He actually based the tattoo off of one of Russell Young’s Andy Warhol-inspired Monroe pieces, extracting only the eyes, nose, and mouth to create a precise and subtle portrait.

The result is quite striking, mixing the boldness of the icon’s features with the softness of gray inks and wispy black outlines.

The piece signifies the journey DeGroat will begin when she moves to Los Angeles next year, immersing herself in the atmosphere of “Hollywood and television and the film industry.”

Said DeGroat: “I’m not really obsessed with her, so I love how it’s not really her. I like how it’s the idea of her.”

Published on February 3, 2014 at 10:16 pm