American Beauty Tattoo - Sunset Beach, CA

"James Real at American Beauty Tattoo is my main tattoo artist. He truly is an artist and brings life to all his custom designs. He and Opie Ortiz own the shop and they always make me feel comfortable when I'm there. I first heard of Real from a friend in common when I'd asked for someone reputable to re-do a prison looking tattoo mistake that I did NOT get in prison. (That's what I get for asking a tweaker for a recommendation. He sent me to the Del Amo Indoor Swap Meet. Stupid me, I went!) Well, Real fixed my first fairy up in no time, so I had him draw me up anoter fairy--a custom design from a postcard. When I came in to see the design, it had become a backpiece that would cover from the bottom of my shoulder blades to my lower back. Damn, it hurts like hell getting my back worked on and that's why I haven't finished it yet. But Real has been nice enough to do other work for me including 3 nautical stars down the backs of my calves and a beautiful koi fish in traditional japanese style. (The koi is so freakin awesome, I'm going to have to get another on the other side of my calf.) I like his work so much that I brought my husband to see him. Real is working on an amazing snake half sleeve in traditional japanese style. I know Real is dedicated to his craft because he's told me when my ideas are lame and he's even gone back to school to get his AA in illustration. Another thing I like about Real is that he doesn't apologize for hurting me. He keeps it real. He tells me I should know it's going to hurt. He's tough, but not an a-hole about it."

-Amanda