Santana Album Art and Artists

I have really come to appreciate the depth and vision of the artwork that Carlos Santana chooses for his album covers. This blog post is dedicated to the visual artists and painters who have created truly memorable Santana art.

I begin with the Santana album by Fillmore West poster artist Lee Conklin, my favorite album cover of all 37 Santana album covers.

I was further blown away by the art of Mati Klarwein whose art became the cover for the second Santana album, Abraxas.

We then jump ahead in time to my favorite of all the visual artists, Michael Rios who has designed five Santana album covers, but is best known for the art for Supernatural.

I am very taken with the artwork by Rudy Gutierrez that became the cover for Shaman.

The cover art of Shape Shifter was created by famed Comanche artist Rance Hood.  Rance Hood is one of the few Native American artists who still paints in the manner which echoes the traditional Indian culture and spirituality of the past.  His themes are mystical, spiritual, developing his work through the customs and religious practices which were passed down to him.