Mister Cartoon is back with an art-inspired collaboration with Diesel for its upcoming men’s cologne, “Only The Brave – Tattoo edition.” Directed by friend and collaborator Estevan Oriol, Cartoon explains: “We feel this video piece gives the viewer an inside look at my life, my world in L.A. From shots of where I grew up in the harbor area, to my car collection, to my graff brother RISK here is a slice of the real L.A.” Working with such an international brand, it was imperative that the portrayal of the culture was kept to Cartoon’s standard and that nothing was lost in translation. Diesel Only the Brave Tattoo is currently on shelves in Europe and is set to hit stateside sometime in 2013.

Cultural icon, legendary tattoo artist, custom car collector and SA Studios Global co-founder, Mister Cartoon, unveiled his SANCTIOND signature brand of premium car care products at a wildly successful event in Los Angeles. Guests were greeted with a lineup of classic pinstriped lowriders and awe-inspiring new customized whips. Garage doors were open exposing the legendary tucked away tattoo shop and the award-winning car showroom. Next door, a giant warehouse played host to car hopping contests, music and drinks all night long. Mister Cartoon’s SANCTIOND is a growing collection of 15 products – including car wash, waxes, polishes, spray detailers, interior cleaners and conditioners, and a trio of innovative tire shines. Developed to exceed the stringent expectations of automotive painters and collectors, each product is a work of art in its own right, merging hand-drawn package design with cutting edge product formulation.

Photography: SANCTIOND

This latest episode of Vans’s OffTheWall.TV catches up with Mister Cartoon as he chats about his recent work for MOCA’s “Art in the Streets” exhibition. Amongst other things, Cartoon chats about his transition from being a graffiti kid to refining his craft and “beautifying” his artwork which spans across various mediums. Enjoy!

In the second part of the Tokyo Tattoo Tour series, we follow LA-based tattoo artist Mister Cartoon as he discusses the many ways in which he finds the city to be similar to his own hometown (loyalty and family are among the two traits both have in common). Although some might assume he gets commissioned for countless geisha and dragon tattoos, Mister Cartoon explains that the Japanese customer actually wants an authentic piece of the West Coast lifestyle, requesting LA-style body art in the form of block lettering, script, portrait styles and pin-up girls. Watch the video to see footage from Mister Cartoon’s Tokyo adventure.

A reception party for SA Studios Global E3 was recently thrown at Gram and Papas in Los Angeles. In addition to food and live music, the event also featured pieces from several local artists including Mister Cartoon, David Choe, Patrick Martinez and Estevan Oriol. Scroll down to see more photos from the event.

Gram and Papas
227 E. 9th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
United States

Photography: Brandon Shigeta for Hypebeast

Los Angeles-based tattoo artist Mister Cartoon (born Mark Machado) has become famous over the years for his many designs that range from sign painting and graffiti, to automobile murals and magazine illustrations. A master of the ink and needle, his client list includes a wide variety of celebrities like Dr. Dre, Travis Barker, 50 Cent, Eminem, Justin Timberlake and Beyonce. For its “Art in the Streets” exhibition, the MOCA has chosen to display several pieces that are comprehensive of his work like a tagged hood and an airbrushed ice cream truck.

Photography: Brandon Shigeta

Two living legends in their own respective domains come together in this video showcasing Mister Cartoon and Cope2. Known just as much for his street art as his tattooing prowess, Mister Cartoon puts the ink to Cope2 in some of Cartoon’s iconic work which has elicited a huge following beyond just Chicano culture. The film was shot and edited by EWOK.

To compliment the recent Vans OTW Asia Launch Party in Shanghai coverage, we present to you a video of the events as well as short candid responses from the Vans OTW Advocates. To help promote the lifestyle-driven Vans OTW cause, a group of Advocates were chosen and include Mister Cartoon, Eric Elms, Dimitri Coste and The Blackouts. With an eclectic background to each entity, they have each helped drive the diffusion label’s agenda thanks to their strong creative work. The party and event took place at Kin. The multi-faceted creative space is comprised of a DJ school, a retailer and a cafe which will undoubtedly serve as a convergent point for all things creative in the bustling Chinese city.

Director: Chris Read

For the fall 2010 season, Vans launched an all new range of footwear titled OTW. A derivative of the original slogan “Off The Wall”, the collection was created in hopes of pushing a distinct lifestyle agenda. While the design of the footwear embodied a certain design language which has been a notable part of Vans’ footwear heritage over the years, it was essentially the dawning of a new collection with its own philosophy. Known predominately for its high performing footwear design over the last few decades, the OTW range and its lifestyle position was able to shed some of the performance elements of footwear execution in exchange for pure lifestyle design. This effectively combined itself with the creativity that many Vans wearers over the years have come to associate and recognize. The inaugural range brought on four creative entities to compliment the notion of fusing footwear with a strong creative foundation. The four Advocates include graffiti and tattoo artist Mister Cartoon, graphic designer and all-around creative Eric Elms, the beer thumbing photographer/art director duo of Atiba & Ako Jefferson who form the DJ group The Blackouts and photographer and gearhead Dimitri Coste.

To kick things off, Vans OTW debuted the collection including the forthcoming 2010 holiday season at Shanghai’s multi-faceted space, Kin. The event was marked by a strong local showing of local personalities who represent a burgeoning local Shanghainese street culture community.

Interview: Eugene Kan
Photography: Tobias Kiegler

David Choe and Mister Cartoon were recently commissioned to create art works based on the upcoming film, Machete. Detailing his inspirations and meetings with the famed Danny Trejo, a video follows both David Choe and Danny through the whole creative process to arrive at the two finished work which combines several elements of the movie and most notably Trejo’s iconic face. Seen after the jump are some other visuals including Mister Cartoon’s work and a video directed by Estevan Oriol as it follows Danny Trejo into his old neighborhood.