How the Columbo Parody Dog Head Greeting Cards Came to Be

How the Columbo Parody Dog Head Greeting Cards Came to Be: 

 

It was around New Years 2024 when Kevin said I needed a hobby besides the pandemic.

I said, "no I do not." 

 

He said, "yes you do." 

I said "okay, I will paint."

He kindly got an art kit and set up a small easel in a room downstairs. 

 

Mostly as a way to flip off AI art I started painting with acrylics.

 

I painted my "pandemic friends." 

 

I painted some psychedelic stars that have been in my head since 1988.

 

 

 

For a big challenge, I moved onto trying to paint some favorite Columbo scenes. 

The first one turned out okay. 

 

 

I thought I could share these paintings in greeting card form with other Columbo fans. 

I ordered 10 cards as a test from the most eco-friendly card maker I could find in the USA, and as they were being made, I painted 11 more of my favorite scenes. 

 

For example, John Cassavetes playing the Maestro as he's about to be hauled off to jail, shaking Peter Falk playing Columbo's hand:

I looked up whether painting scenes from TV or movies is copyright infringement. 

Sad trombone, yes it is. Fuckers!

I drafted a letter to the heirs of Columbo creators Link and Levinson seeking a license to sell these paintings as cards.

 

I realized NBC Universal Comcast is the evil overlord who owns the copyrights and having dealt with their overzealous IP lawyers for years who deactivate entirely legitimate (due to the First Sale Doctrine) vintage Etsy listings, I felt that a license would be unattainable/overly onerous, so I pivoted to DOG HEADS.

 

Putting dog heads on the bodies takes the paintings to the parody/satire level, which resolves any copyright issues. 

 

So I just photoshopped photos of some dogs I know and love onto the bodies.

 

 

My artist friend Jess Pfohl from Jess! Messin' who is Into This Stuff in a big way told me to paint the dog heads for consistency. 

 

So I painted 22 dog heads to match the characters/vibe of the actors in the paintings.

 

 

And that is how we ended up with 12 scenes from 70s Columbo with parody painted dog heads!

Cards available today from skippyhaha Etsy!

 

Four cards out today, four more next Wednesday March 6th, and the final four cards will be out the following Wednesday March 13th. 

Dogs. 

PS - IF YOU WOULD LIKE A CARD WITH PAINTINGS WITH THE HUMAN HEADS, sent via USPS with a forever letter stamp with NO TRACKING, I had a tiny run of those printed - please message or email me