28 Days of Pico — Day 28: Dog Beach
Day 28.
This is Dog Beach.
Twenty-eight days ago I introduced you to Pico. Today I give you this.
Every dog on this beach is hand-drawn. The surfers, the swimmers, the chess players, the poodle under the umbrella, the Doberman who clearly owns this stretch of sand, the dachshund — yes, that dachshund — still digging her hole in the lower right. The biplane. The lifeguard stand. The fire hydrant, which is there for obvious reasons.
I drew this in the style of P.D. Eastman because there is no other style for Dog Beach. Go, Dog. Go. Big dogs, little dogs. Red dogs, blue dogs. Dogs on waves. Dogs playing cards. Dogs tanning on towels, which I did not think dogs did until I went to Dog Beach and watched them do it.
Dog Beach is one of the oldest off-leash beaches in the country. It sits at the north end of Ocean Beach, right where the San Diego River meets the Pacific. On any given morning it is the happiest place in San Diego. Possibly in California. I have never seen a bad day at Dog Beach. I am not sure one has ever occurred.
Pico knows this beach. He knows every dog on it. He would tell you he is their mascot, which the dogs have neither confirmed nor denied.
This image will be a 30″x10″ print. It will be one of the most San Diego things I have ever made. I am proud of every single dog in it.
That is twenty-eight days. Twenty-eight illustrations, characters, stories, and moments from the world of Pico the Parrot. Thank you for following along. Thank you for backing the campaign. Thank you for caring about a loud green bird from Ocean Beach who is very certain he matters.
He does.
— Stooge
28 Days of Pico — Day 27: Face Plant
This is the final scene of Pico the Parrot # 4, The Battle with William Tangletoy. In Scene 1 he is drinking water peacefully, but his tail knocks the parrot toy and causes it to ring. Scene 2 Pico regards the toy with discontent…annoyance. In scene 3 he attacks the toy to teach it a lesson. In scene 4 his attacks have reached a furious pitch, only for Scene 5 — Face Plant. Pico inexplicably fell head first off the perch. This is based on a true story.
28 Days of Pico — Day 26: Skater Josh as a Parrot
Today’s contribution is a commission for a friend. He wanted me to draw Skater Josh as a parrot, perhaps pico’s cousin. Who is Skater Josh? An O.B. Legend. Kind of a bad boy who skateboards everywhere he goes in O.B. Pico generally travels by backpack. My initial problem was drawing Pico carrying a skateboard and wearing a tee-shirt is that pico is a bird. He neither rides skateboards nor wears tee-shirts. So, I needed an anthropomorphic avatar of Pico. This drawing is what I came up with. This guy represents O.B., San Diego, and Parrot Republic just like Pico.
28 Days of Pico — Day 25: Pico vs. William Dangletoy
Today’s frame comes from “The Battle of William Dangletoy” which is going to be frame 6 of 7 of Pico the Parrot #4. Who do you think comes out on top in frame 7?
28 Days of Pico — Day 24: The Sleeping Pad Incident
The other day, Ella and I were chilling in the van. I was cooking on the two-burner stove and she was sitting on the bench seat. Pico flew over to the shelf where he got interested in a rolled-up sleeping pad. It’s soft foam and it must’ve seemed very enticing to the little green guy. I said to Ella “Pico’s up there with your foam pad. Next thing you know he’s tearing into it and boy was he making quick work of it. So I said, “Boy! He’s making quick work of that thing.” She jumps up there and takes it from him, saying “No Pico, that’s not yours.” She looks at me and said “Of course, you do nothing.” Stirring the pasta I said, “I’m narrating!”
28 Days of Pico — Day 23: Pico and the Surfers
Today I give you a look back at Pico’s illustrative origins. This was the second complete drawing of Pico that I made. Obviously I’ve made tremendous strides! This was my first scene associating Pico with OB. I still like Newport Ave and the pier in the background. Also, Pico’s yellow mop is already developed.
28 Days of Pico — Day 22: The Parrot Hour
Day 22.
This one is called The Parrot Hour.
It’s a single frame — the first frame of a comic strip. The setup for a punchline.
I drew this today while parrot-sitting Pico. Ella is away at work. He’d been in and out of his cage all day, which sounds harmless enough until you realize that parrots are incredibly destructive creatures by nature. Every time you let them out, they will seek something to eat or destroy in an attempt to occupy their minds. You keep many things around for him to destroy, but he eventually runs out of things. And patience.
This time of day is called Parrot-30.
The parrot is about to begin his most important oration of the day. He is going to say every word and phrase he can think of or remember — including any new ones still in development — in an attempt to offset boredom.
This is not a drill. It is an imminent warning.
— Stooge
28 Days of Pico — Day 21: Dog Beach
Day 21.
This is a dachshund digging in the sand.
She has nothing to do with Pico’s story. She is not lost in Coronado. She does not encounter dragons or crows or hotel doormen. She is simply a dachshund, at the beach, doing what dachshunds do.
She belongs in the book anyway.
Here is the thing about Ocean Beach: you cannot tell the story of OB without Dog Beach. It is not a feature of the neighborhood — it is a fact of it. One of the first off-leash beaches in the country, and the dogs who use it do not take the privilege lightly. Every size, every breed, every level of dignity. Some fetch. Some swim. Some dig holes that have no apparent purpose and no planned end.
This one digs.
I am building a full Dog Beach scene — many dogs, many breeds, all drawn in the style of P.D. Eastman. Go, Dog. Go. Big dogs, little dogs, red dogs, blue dogs. If you grew up reading that book, you know the energy: loose, joyful, a little absurd. That is Dog Beach. That is exactly Dog Beach.
The dachshund came first. I could not help it. She is so earnest about that hole.
The finished image will be one of the most San Diego things in the entire book. There is no separating Dog Beach from OB, and there is no separating OB from Pico.
More dogs coming.
The Kickstarter is live through July 5th. Nine days left.
Back the campaign on Kickstarter →
Come back tomorrow for Day 22.
— Stooge
28 Days of Pico — Day 20: Pico the Parrot #2
Day 20.
This is Pico the Parrot #2 — the first crossover.
If you saw PtP #1, you know the format: four panels, hand-drawn, mostly journalism. Pico sees a banana. Ella says no. Stooge suffers. The whole universe started there.
Strip #2 is where it gets complicated.
This is the one where we learn that Stooge writes his own comic strip — Dolma and Hummus — about two dachshunds. A strip within a strip. And in this strip, we see him at work on it, which means we now have characters watching their creator create other characters, which is exactly the kind of thing Stooge would do and then refuse to explain.
But the real story here is the argument.
Stooge has long maintained — with absolute confidence and zero supporting documentation — that there is a breed called the Tyrolean Mountain Dachshund. He will tell you about it. He will describe it. He will speak about it as though it is the most obvious fact in the world.
Ella does not believe this breed exists.
She has said so.
She has said so many times.
And now, in PtP #2, Dolma has entered the argument. From inside the comic strip that Stooge is drawing. One of his own characters is contesting him. This is what happens when you create dachshunds with opinions — eventually they use those opinions against you.
The Tyrolean Mountain Dachshund remains unverified. Stooge remains undeterred.
The Kickstarter is live through July 5th. Ten days left.
Back the campaign on Kickstarter →
Come back tomorrow for Day 21.
— Stooge
28 Days of Pico — Day 19: I Have Never Heard of Pico
Day 19.
This one is from the book.
After the dragon incident — after the fire that wasn’t fire and the feathers that definitely fell — Pico landed in a tree. He thought he was safe. He was not.
Two crows were already there.
“Did you see that?” I said.
The crows looked at me.
“See what?” said one crow.
“The dragon!” I said. “The fire! The feathers! The narrow escape!”
The crows looked at each other.
Then they laughed.
“Caw! Caw! Caw!”
The crows did not believe him. Of course they didn’t. Nobody ever believes the parrot. That is one of the rules of being Pico — you are always telling the truth, and nobody ever buys it.
Then it got worse.
“You are a very silly bird,” said one crow.
“I am not silly,” I said. “I am Pico.”
The crows moved closer.
“I know all the birds around here,” said the first crow. “I have never heard of Pico.”
“Neither have I,” said the second.
That is the line that gets me. I have never heard of Pico.
He is so sure of who he is. He introduces himself like it should settle everything. And the crows — who own this tree, who own this whole neighborhood — have no idea who he is. He does not matter here. He is nobody.
It is the first time in the book that Pico’s confidence hits a wall. Not the dragon — he handled that with speed. But this? Two birds who look at him and see nothing worth knowing? That is harder to fly away from.
He flies away anyway. The crows chase him. And when they finally give up, the library is gone, the dragon is gone, and Pico is lost.
The adventure starts here.
The Kickstarter is live through July 5th. Eleven days left.
Back the campaign on Kickstarter →
Come back tomorrow for Day 20.
— Stooge