Mister Cartoon’s (Juxtapoz #70) imagery extends far beyond ink on skin. In a new collaboration between Cartoon and Metro PCS, the famed artist and tattoo master has been able to share his distinct talent with the masses in a US tour of his work with Metro PCS. From Texas to New York, Cartoon has been showing off his mad skills.

Hear about it from the man himself:

After having a talk with my wife about why I would not be there for my 4-year-old daughters birthday, I arrived At LAX airport feeling awful but knew that I had to go to work in order to feed and support my family. My wife understood and I flew to NYC and then Dallas as part of a press tour for my new cell phone with MetroPCS, “Sanctioned by Mister Cartoon.”

I was fresh off the plane with my airbrush, paint and a pair of my Livestrong AF1s. The first day we went straight to the heart of Harlem, to do a in store, to meet kids in the local community and to sign customer posters that I designed for the trip. We were promoting a corporate collaboration so it was important for me to do graffiti in the city that it was born in.

My background is in graffiti and as a kid I spent a lot of my youth vandalizing and destroying everything I could with spray paint - this was different yet it felt the same. Standing on the corner of 125th and Lennox bombing a temporary wooden wall I could feel people bumping into me and tapping on my shoulder to ask questions. I felt like I was 16 years old getting up to impress my comrades and any homie that walked in front of my wall. The humidity was killing me but this new European spray paint is like driving a Cadillac compared to growing up with Krylon and Rustoleum paint.

Painting in the street is important to me because it keeps me grounded and keeps my can control steady. I traveled into the heart of Manhattan for day two to do a second mural this time I sprayed New York. I somehow felt that I would disrespect the city being a Cali kid doing NY bombing style letters, so I went with the baseball script. It ended up coming out cool. The colors were not my first choice, but thanks to my homies for coming through with paint!

The second half of the trip I traveled down south to Texas. I had the honor of attending the Dallas Mayor's Back to School Fair. 50,000 kids and their parents waited in line and attended the 13th annual Mayor’s Back to School Fair. I shipped out my Airbrush kit and I did a demonstration for the Kids. When I was a teenager I was airbrushing t-shirts at cars shows to try and make some money. It’s important that I let the kids know that this dyeing art is how I started my first business and became a clothing designer. Airbrushing is still a big part of what I do, I am always doing murals on my rides and applying the techniques I learned in airbrushing to tattooing, drawing and other art forms. An hour demonstration can inspire a kid and give him the tools to become a fashion designer. The theme of the canvas was for the kids so I airbrushed 2 kids in the corner of the canvas.

The final leg of the tour was in a in-store in a neighborhood North Dallas, the homies from the local clubs bought out there rides and that served has inspiration for my final canvas. I airbrushed some traditional west coast icons that never go out of fashion low riding and women. Staying true to my art has made me a humble individual I never forget the old days of airbrushing and graffiti so I am always ready to hit a canvas or show the youngsters how to airbrush and to promote these lost arts. -Mister Cartoon
 

Mister Cartoon showed 'em what's up in New York City:

Then made his way up towards Harlem:

Cartoon also hit up Texas on his Metro PCS tour. First off was the Dallas store:

Then he moved on to the Dallas fair:

More on Mister Cartoon's Metro PCS collaboration at www.metropcs.com/announcements/phones/mistercartoon

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