I would always draw. My mother worked third shift at a Pepperidge Farm and she would bring home these long pieces of paper that they would blot the breads on after they came out of the oven.

And she would say, “Tony, make me a picture.”

And because I loved comics, I would draw the picture kind of sequentially. All my characters were some variation of birds.

By the time I got finished drawing the picture, she’d say, “Now, write me the story.” 

Listen to Tony Fitzpatrick tell stories about the birds that inspired his Secret Birds drawings in this multimedia feature.