Growing up in Lisbon, illustrator Pedro Gomes devoured Cartoon Network's supremely weird lineup of original shows during the channel’s golden era in the '90s. Even as a child, his distorted drawings echoed the surrealistic strangeness of cult classic cartoons like Dexter’s Laboratory, horror-comedy Courage the Cowardly Dog, and the wobble-handed Ed, Edd n Eddy. These peculiar, often unsettling shows left a lasting impression on Pedro, sparking a lifelong obsession with comics, zines, and graphic novels. Now living in New York and working as a freelance illustrator, Pedro creates work deeply indebted to the bizarre storylines and quirky animation styles of his favorite childhood cartoons.
“The style of [my] early drawings, which I had forgotten, made sense to me, given what I was consuming at the time,” says Pedro, recalling a particularly “grotesque” drawing of Mick Jagger he’d made as a child. “With time, depictions of emotion in my characters have become more nuanced, but I still enjoy magnifying them to accent anger, awe, sexual desire, awkwardness, or whatever else I’m recurrently drawn to depict.”
Pedro often portrays the people in his work as hapless individuals unexpectedly thrust into absurd, even otherworldly situations. In Day Off, his self-published graphic novel, a wealthy man steps outside his “luxurious bubble” and into the heart of the city where he lives. As the day progresses, the man experiences a series of increasingly surreal events that culminate in a full-blown psychedelic trip. “[Day Off] deals with the insulation of the rich in very big cities and their paradoxical relationship with these places, living in the heart of vibrant metropolitan areas, yet shielded from everything that makes these exciting places to live,” says Pedro in an interview with It’s Nice That.
As someone who’s lived in Lisbon, London, and New York, Pedro has firsthand experience with the perks and pratfalls of big cities. “I moved to New York in February, some Februaries ago, having never seen snow falling,” he says. “My first days in the city were spent walking outside, experiencing snow, and many other firsts. Even traffic lights caught my eye back then… I find New York to be a great catalyst for creativity despite its many distractions and how taxing it feels at times.” Similarly, visiting Istanbul with his girlfriend inspired Pedro to create an illustration while the experience was fresh in his mind. “What compelled me to create that piece was the excitement of experiencing something novel with someone I love,” he says. “A diary entry, in a way. I’m a sucker for nostalgia, so these documents are important to me, and I take great enjoyment from revisiting them, as I do from looking at old photographs.”
Scroll through to read our interview with Pedro Gomes, then head to our February 2025 exhibition, Pantone 2025: Mocha Mousse, to see his submission, "Longing.”
In Today’s Q+Art Interview…
Pedro Gomes shares his bare-bones morning routine, how he develops a story for his illustrations, and why he wants to have dinner with Henry Darger.
How do you like to start your day?
Pedro Gomes: With coffee on an empty stomach.
What’s something you keep in your studio that would surprise us?
PG: A small statue of Lenin next to a small statue of the Virgin Mary.
Can you discuss your creative process when developing a story? How do you approach the transition from writing to storyboarding?
PG: I keep sketchbooks and pieces of paper with one-liners, lists, drawings, and short paragraphs. At some point, it all comes together, and the story starts taking shape.
If you could have dinner with any artist, living or dead, who would it be?
PG: I’d love to share a meal with Henry Darger since so little is known about him.
If you were a fictional character, who would you be?
PG: Sponge Bob Square Pants.
What was the last good film you saw?
PG: Sean Baker's Prince of Broadway.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
PG: My indecisiveness, though I can't be sure.
What advice would you give to emerging artists?
PG: Imagine Sisyphus happy.
Pedro Gomes: Website | Instagram
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. All photos published with permission of Pedro Gomes.