Airbrush~CARLOS CARTAGENA~MISCHIEVOUS BIKINI~Pin Up~MOP

  About the artist: Carlos Cartagena

In 1990, landed his first job as an illustrator for a Southern California luminous sign company.  It was good practice and he perfected many skills there.  But soon it was time to advance...he would divide his time between freelance work, painting requests on leather jackets and a custom Harley Davidson bikes.  Although by this time his work was gaining national recognition for his murals on the backs of leather jackets, now he was reaching a wealthier U.S. audience through his work on the tanks and fenders of Harley Davidson motorcycles.  And his work was beginning to reflect "his" style - sexy, sometimes erotic, but always in good taste.  In 95 and 96 he won 1st places at Sturgis and Laughlin for his mural created in a custom Harley-Davidson.
In 1997 a designer and life-long surfer Mark Buck and founder of Slap-on Art Decals®. Came up with the idea for decals that could be applied to surfboards, car windows, shower doors, skis, skateboards, snowboards...anything with a smooth surface that would look better with a gorgeous image of a sexy woman applied to it.  Cartagena was commissioned for a series of pin-ups for the first release of decals.
Advertising went in every magazine from Abercrombie & Fitch to , , and endless other publications.  Cartagena was an instant success, fans of his work gobbling up the decals and writing   letters and notes to him from around the globe.  He had finally reached the international audience.  Slap-on was a HUGE SUCCESS and the floodgates opened for anyone looking for the hallmark of pin-up artists.  Carlos Cartagena had achieved his dream of international recognition and success and is sought out worldwide for his work.