Remember when your college roommate got his fraternity letters tattooed on his calf to show his loyalty?
Well…he ain’t got nothing on Gary Gootman.
The 41-year-old Boston native (and current Texas resident) has spent an estimated 700 hours in the tattoo parlor chair to turn his body into a canvas in an effort to celebrate his hometown.
“Living in Texas, I want to represent Boston. That’s where I’m from, and this is my way of showing it: putting it on my body,” Gootman told the Boston Globe. “I think it’s just from growing up here. I got to go to Red Sox games when Clemens pitched and that was a really big deal to me back then. I think also from so many people hating us so much, sometimes you just want to stick it in their face.”
Among the BeanTown imagery on Gootman’s torso tapestry…his wife Melanie in full-on Red Sox gear, the names of fan favorites Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz and, among other things, a huge back piece dedicated to the late-Ted Williams himself.
“The back piece, I’ve got almost 150 hours on it. I met with my artist and wanted to do something a little different,” Gootman added. “He knows what I was into with the sports, so he kind of came up with this. He found the picture of Ted Williams at Fenway Park and drew it up for me.”
Kind of makes you re-think the creativity and originality behind that barbed wire you got around your bicep 20 years ago, huh?
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