Carlos Cartagena was born on April 29th of 1960 from the Central American Country of Guatemala.
He migrated to the Unites States In 1981. Working in a variety of jobs in his first nine years until the age of thirty in 1990 when he first landed a job as an illustrator for a luminous sign company. A year later he advanced to painting leather jackets and custom Harley-Davidson bikes and his work was beginning to reflect "his" sexy pin–up style and sometimes erotic but always in good taste. In 95 and 96 he won 1st place at Sturgis and Laughlin for his mural created on a custom Harley-Davidson and consequently the covers of Easyriders and Hot Bike Magazines.
Carlos's illustrations have also appeared in such publications as: Hooters, Playboy, Penthouse, Mystique Magazine, and others.
In 1997 Mark Buck, the founder of Slap-On Decals, a company that manufactured, big size, high-quality, sexy pin-up decals that could be applied to surfboards, car windows, shower doors, skis, skateboards, snowboards, etc.
In 2001, thanks to Slap-On Decals advertising campaign Carlos achieved international recognition success.
Cartagena's pinups are now commissioned and licensed worldwide.