Mister Cartoon is an influential tattoo artist and muralist who has helped shape Latin culture in Southern California in the last two decades with unique designs. This guide lists some of his favorite spots in L.A.
Less"A Chicano owns Mercado," says Mister Cartoon. "His family used to have a traditional Mexican restaurant in the neighborhood. He took that family and traditional food concept from Mexico City and brought it into a hip and modern atmosphere. That's rare because when a place is modern and sexy, they sometimes dumb down the food. But not Mercado. Everything is very traditionally prepared with hand-made tortillas, for example. It's great to see someone raised here to get to this high level."
"Casa Vega is a real place of pride for the Latino community. It was a Latin-owned business that opened in the 50s. Back then, you could wash the dishes and sweep the place, but you couldn't own the restaurant. Mister Vega opened his restaurant on Ventura Boulevard with traditional cooking and a great atmosphere. It eventually attracted people like Marlon Brando, Quentin Tarantino, and other big Hollywood A-listers. Now, his granddaughter runs the businesses and carries on the tradition."
"I wanted to do a mural here that pulls the community together and makes them appreciate Latin culture. Cars are such a staple of our culture. My hobby and passion are vintage cars, so I love to include that in my mural work. To me, cars are innocent. The design of these vintage cars is so beautiful, so fluid. I consider them a canvas. I paint on the vehicles that ride through the city. There is also a nod to New York City with a homage to the founders of Hip-Hop. People should come see it."
"When I do a mural downtown, I don't take it lightly. I see it as an opportunity to put my style out there and show people what I have been doing since I was a teenager. This mural features one of my clowns. A clown is a staple of West coast society and culture. It represents the good times and the bad times. The mask that we put on to be tough in the street, but we take it off when we're around our family. It's the yin-yang of the West coast."
"This is a really special barbershop with a very authentic interior. The chairs feature vintage leaf gold lettering. It's done by hand, which is pretty rare. All the barber chairs are from the 1950s. They boarded up the doors during the George Floyd protests last year, and I just picked up the cans one day and did this giant clown face, a giant knuckle face."
"This was my attempt to go to college. Unfortunately, my family hadn't been to university, I didn't know how important it was. I was politely asked to leave, but they gave me a compliment before I left. The teacher told me, 'You're a good artist, kid. But you don't follow the rules, and you don't keep to deadlines; someone else wants your chair.' There were people with work ethic who were passing me up. So natural talent will only get you so far. You have to develop a work ethic."
"I like shopping here. They make clothes I want to rock and want to wear. The guys that make it love the culture and are part of the culture. They are heroes of mine. You walk in any of their stores, and you know why they're successful. It's ridiculous. So good. They pay so much attention to detail. They are a great example of common sense and a great work ethic.
"This is the location of our first artist loft. We're the first people that looked like us in those lofts. Many of them were professional photographers and architects. We didn't know. We figured that if we surround ourselves with people like that, we can become that. I just love old warehouses like that. I love restoration, not gentrification. Also, I met my wife at a party at one of those lofts. We used to kick back on the fire escape."
"We paint the holiday window at this store every year. We want to keep that tradition alive of gold leaf windows, which is an old-school tradition. We do a hand-done piece that takes a week, and then after the holiday, we scrape it off with a razor. Supreme has that high-end taste, but they also understand knucklehead skateboarders. It's a great collaboration. They maintain a hardcore street style. I love to poke a little fun at the holidays. Maybe Santa and a couple of tattoos."
"San Pedro is famous for its parks. People go to a barbeque, drive old school cars, go to football games, and have other family events. I grew up in these parks. Point Ferman was right by the water, and it was a place we could go and get away. It's like another world, but it's still LA. San Pedro is also known for old car cruising. People love taking these vintage pieces of art out to the park by the palm trees."