13 Latino Weed-Inspired Illustrators Who Will Blow Your Mind

By Javier Hasse and Hernán Panessi

At first glance, these works already look special. You can quickly spot that unique touch, that it factor. Take a deep breath: that familiar herbal smell spirals off the canvas, perfuming the air around us.

Trippy drawings, dreamlike maps, colors that represent ideas that go beyond imagination; psychedelic fantasy and weed-friendly heritage merge in these illustrations.

Below is a list of Latin American pencil and brush artists who, in their work - explicitly - and in the makeup of their being - implicitly - stand out for their 420-friendly essence. The compass points directly to Mexico, Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina, places that emanate color, talent, audacity, rhythm, and substance.

Chavo Escrotito (Gran Buenos Aires, Argentina)

At some point during the pandemic, Octavio "Chavo" Saraintaris put his desire to study stand-up comedy on hold and poured all that bottled-up creativity onto the intimacy of paper.

"That idiot Superman will see how Batman CAN fly!", COURTESY

Today, a little over three years after starting with Chavo Escrotito, his artistic alter ego who explores stoned, absurd, and flighty jokes, Saraintaris has become one of the most outstanding graphic humorists in Argentina.

In his creative process, spontaneity weighs heavily. That's why any silly thing that comes to mind ends up in his mobile phone’s notepad and then becomes a drawing destined for social media.

"The Invention of Farting", COURTESY

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During this very active time, Chavo has published three fanzines; all of them curiously connected to the bathroom. It is, let's say, the Bathroom Trilogy, "my Lord of the Rings," he said in an interview.

Their names? “A trip to the bathroom,” “A return to the bathroom,” and “A life in the bathroom.”

Gonza Varas (Mendoza, Argentina)

Mondo Porro, COURTESY

As the leader of the Motochorros gang, a former member of the Bazofia artist collective, and the founder of Mabel Editorial, a South American and countercultural counterpart to Marvel Comics, Gonza Varas has an extraordinary talent.

With an alien-like drawing style, an “herbal” scent and unlimited energy, Varas creates illustrations for brands, designs flyers, draws album covers, and also promotes other colleagues. He has already edited works by well known artists Rip Gordon and Robosepu, among others.

Varas also published the illustration book “Mondo Porro” [Planet Weed] recently, with a foreword written by Ariel Winograd, the director of blockbuster films such as “The Heist of the Century,” “Permitidos,” and “Vino para Robar.”

Silustra (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Silustra, COURTESY

Silvana “Silustra” Casuccio was born in Buenos Aires but now lives in Barcelona. She is an artist, illustrator, muralist, designer and teacher. And she really likes to smoke marijuana.

In fact, she said in an interview, many of her images “arose from a personal love for cannabis, but then ended up in big exhibits and even in cannabis clubs in Barcelona.”

What’s more, Silustra has worked with several cannabis collectives over the years. “But regardless of the fact that I draw many things that reference the herb and that it is very clear that I am a consumer, for me it is recreational and not creative. I use the spaces of being stoned to think, rest my mind, get inspired, but then I sit down to draw with eighty mates. I hardly ever draw smoked. I smoke to relax and hang myself after working a thousand hours on the computer, but in general I work with my mask on,” she explained.

Lula Del Craneo, COURTESY

Lula Del Craneo (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

A plastic and visual artist, Lula del Craneo has been shining as a VJ at various underground parties (and others...) where she always brings a dose of cosmic animation.

Originally from Lomas de Zamora, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Lula usually meddles artistically in cannabis themes: marijuana is one of her inspirations. She animated videos for Kumbia Queers, her style respects the Pachamama (Mother Earth) and embraces shamanic psychedelia.

Andonella (Mexico City, Mexico)

Andonella, INSTRAGRAM: @ANDONELLA

What Andonella does is just great. Funny and graceful, she plays with psychedelic cartoons that expand into her pop universe.

“I draw, illustrate, puppies, and something else,” Andonella says about herself on her Instagram profile. And among memes of “SpongeBob,” “Adventure Time” cartoons, and references to the LGBTQ+ Pride, she has fun with “Pepe the Frog” jokes and mundane stuff about family.

Juanma La Volpe (Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Multifaceted, entrepreneurial, and versatile, Juanma La Volpe is one of the top names to follow, not only for his dark yet eclectic illustrations, but also because of the cultural movement he’s often stirring up.

Juan Manuel Gonzalez La Volpe

COURTESY

Juanma used to host “Fan,” a well-known radio show on youth culture, organize the multimedia cycle Muere Monstruo Muere (where they premiered films and served as a platform for various Argentine video games), and is now one of the heads of Legión Nueva Era, one of the most impressive wrestling shows in South America.

In addition to publishing fanzines and inhabiting the margins of independent culture, Juanma works designing video games for the Hidden People Club.

Bosquetro (Santiago, Chile)

Bosquetero, INSTAGRAM: @BOSQUETRO

Inspired by feminism, astrology, tropical colors, and the experience of magical forests, Ignacia Ossandón, or Bosquetro's, work blends dreamlike landscapes with surreal impressions. Although subtle, her illustrations have an unmistakable psychedelic component.

Whether on sheets, prints, t-shirts, or digital designs, Bosquetro creates new worlds where the celestial and terrestrial merge, where the stars and spirits mix, and where the physical and the dreamlike intertwine.

Bosquetro was born and raised in Chile but now lives in Barcelona, Spain.

Cristian Moreira (Treinta y Tres, Uruguay)

One of Cristian's Moreira's characters, COURTESY

From the Southern republic of Uruguay, illustrator Cristian Moreira stands out for his good vibes, social sensitivity, and well-known newspaper caricatures.

In his cosmos are soccer, politics, and various nerdy things, all tinted with cannabis culture. Cristian Moreira, also known as Mi Loco, redesigns, remixes, reinvents, parodies, and emulates popular characters, giving them his unique touch — which is often cannabis-infused.

Julián Mono (Mar del Plata, Argentina)

Page 9 of the comic "Bazooka Boy.'s Gang", COURTESY

The Argentine Atlantic Coast is a fertile territory for 420-friendly creators.

Whether it's the waves, the sea salt, the cool melting pot that is a beach town with almost 600,000 inhabitants, or perhaps because good marijuana has always been easy to find in Mar del Plata, Julián Mono stands out in the local scene with toxic works such as “Muere Turista Muere” [Die Tourist Die] or “Bestias Alteradas” [Altered Beasts], comics with an underground style and a very, very cannabis-friendly flair.

Check out the full “Bazooka Boy’s Gang” comic on Instragram.

Plastiboy (Mendoza, Argentina)

Gonzalo Lanzilotta is known artistically as "Pili" or "Plastiboy." With his drawings made with ink or digital brushstrokes, he stands out as one of the most interesting illustrators in the Latin American landscape.

JoJo's Cannabi Adventure, COURTESY

A regular collaborator at big media outlets in both Spanish and English, and an overt stoner, Plastiboy was one of the editors of Bazofia, a comic anthology that brought together some of the best authors in the region.

Mumm-Ra's Immortality Secret, COURTESY

These days, Plastiboy is one of the signatures behind “Fútbol Mostro,” a fanzine that recovers mythical, unusual, and minimal stories from global soccer. Plastiboy is interested in alternative culture, B-class films, North American comics, and is a self-proclaimed fan of Diego Armando Maradona, one of the greatest idols in the history of soccer.

Tommy Chong

COURTESY

Cata Pastorino (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Cata Pastorino, COURTESY

Feminine sensibility sprouts in every pixel of Cata Pastorino’s art. A very young Argentine artist, illustrator and designer, Cata stands out among the most prominent under-25 names on the Latin scene.

Chaotic shapes, pastel colors and superimposed textures are intermingled achieving a unique style, reminiscent of psychedelics but even more so –much more- of a trip between the niave and the pop universe.

A cartoon molecule and an anime one persist here: you can see the tricks of an artist that is equal parts sweet and cool.

Mauro C. Vargas (Bariloche, Argentina)

Mauro C. Vargas, COURTESY

Born in the Patagonia region, in Bariloche, Mauro C. Vargas is the owner of an unparalleled talent, a unique stroke and an undeniably high profile. That's why the Argentine league was too small for him, and for some time now he has been showing off his talent in the American “big leagues.”

While working for the American mainstream, Vargas drew none other than the comic book adaptation of “Ash vs. The Army of Darkness,” from the universe of “The Evil Dead.”

Poli el Poli (Mar del Plata, Argentina)

Green waves, winds of change.

Mar del Plata-native Poli el Poli is one of the key people responsible for the new, cannabis-friendly identity of the Argentine Atlantic Coast. Owner of a unique style, Poli draws buds and sea lions, two of his "main characters."

Poli el Poli, COURTESY

Meanwhile, his creations decorate his city in the form of urban art, murals, graffiti or illustrations.

Stay tuned for more info on cool Latinx artists to follow.

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This article was originally published on Forbes and appears here with permission.