Painting Pigeoncore
- Amanda
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
An Interview with NoNoTheArtist
Sometimes the art we feature are pieces that we stumbled upon out in the wild and loved so much we reached out to the artist directly. This was the case for the cover of our Spring 2026 Issue, featuring NoNoTheArtist and his staple pigeon character.
These charming little birds are more than just a fun figure to paint for NoNo. What started out as a joke grew into a deep appreciation for an outcast species, and one that came to mean so much more to the painter. Affectionately dubbed “pigeoncore,” NoNo’s style of clean lines and intentional negative space let the narrative moment of his cute pigeon characters be the focal point. For him, these disparaged birds represent what it takes to survive after being cast aside.
He picked up art the way that most kids often do—through doodling—and was encouraged to pursue it further by his teachers. NoNo eventually met an art instructor that mentored him in painting. NoNo’s own personal style started to develop as he studied other artists he liked. He was drawn to Joan Miro, from Spain, whose geometric paintings stood out to him in their simplicity; he also admired Keith Haring, the American pop artist. NoNo appreciated Keith’s bold colors and statements.
“It was simple, but the composition was right. It stood out.” NoNo notes.
You could say the same thing about NoNo’s own style. Bold, solid backgrounds with a character or two to tell the story. NoNo keeps it simple.
“I don’t like to spend a lot of time on paintings. I try to limit myself to twenty-four hours of total paint time, work-wise. Otherwise I get nitpicky and overwhelmed. After the twenty [or so] hours I might revisit it, might paint over it. Nothing’s permanent.”
But why pigeons?
“It started as a joke,” he says, laughing. He wanted to give something to a musician he met at work, something that would remind her of her time performing here. What would remind her of Tempe, Arizona? He wanted something that wasn’t related to the university or the venue’s mascot, a peacock (because “peacocks are assholes,” NoNo explains).
That’s when he realized they did have something unique in Tempe: absolutely wretched pigeons. “One-legged, bleeding … I’ve traveled all over the world with the Marine Corps, and even in third-world countries they’re not this bad.”
The afflicted pigeon painting was a success—the musician loved it. And NoNo found his new favorite character to paint. Over time, the subject became more than that.
“I kept cleaning [the bird] up and cleaning it up and it started changing. I started paying attention to pigeons more, learning about them through podcasts, their history. At one point we relied on them for a lot. We used them for nourishment, used them to communicate with our loved ones, we fought wars with them. Companionship, they were loyal—homing pigeons always came back home.”
Learning more about pigeons changed NoNo’s understanding of them, and he slowly began to admire these misunderstood birds. When asked what pigeons mean to him now, he explains, “They’re survivors. As technology evolved and we became more abundant in resources, we dropped them like a sack of potatoes. And we left them with nothing, not even their homeland. They made do with what they had. And people make fun of their nests that they create … you see all over the internet these weak pigeon nests. You gotta sit back and think, they did what they could with what they had, and they got the job done. They’re survivors.”
He sees himself in the pigeon characters he’s created; his background absolutely influences his art today. “Throughout my life I always felt like an outsider. There was a lot of loneliness with some of my history and you could see that every time I painted a pigeon in the beginning and even into some of my watcher characters, there was always a big guy watching and the main character is by itself. So that [feeling] subconsciously went into my work.”
But as he’s evolved, so has his art. He paints with happy colors now; he adds friends to the pigeon characters. “As I evolve and I learn and grow, my art does too. And that’s what I strive for, change and evolution in my art. I’m getting better, learning to get better, putting in the work to get better.” This includes following other artists, checking out their techniques, taking classes, reading recommended books, and going back to the basics.
Creating is innate to NoNo. “I’ve always been making something. Working with my hands, building things.” His advice on creating is good advice in general: “Just go with the flow and remember nothing’s permanent. With paint you can always paint over it. Don’t be afraid to start over, no matter how much work you’ve already put in.”
If you’re in the Phoenix area, you can see his art throughout the city. He has murals downtown—off Roosevelt and in the Coronado neighborhood—as well as at Sunbar in Tempe and CASA on Mill. He also has a piece available for purchase showing April 17 through October 11 in the FOUND: RE hotel at 1100 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004 (which is where we discovered him!). If you’re not in Arizona, check him out on Instagram @NoNotheArtist, where you can see all his art and purchase any you’re interested in.
