Illustrator and cartoonist David Parkins, originally from the UK and now based in Canada, has had a long career creating editorial illustrations, political cartoons and satirical comics for some of Britain and Canada’s top publications. In addition he has illustrated a number of children’s books.
In the introduction to his website, Parkins points out that he is about to break the advice often given to illustrators when presenting their work (online or otherwise) to focus on a particular style, lest art directors become confused by their inability to compartmentalize an artist with multiple styles.
Much to our delight, Parkins proceeds to display a wonderful variety of rendering styles — from cartoony to realistic to retro — and editorial approaches, from charmingly innocent to bitingly acid.
Choose from his portfolio sections and drill down through the categories into individual publications or types of illustration.
In all of them, Parkins displays an obvious enthusiasm for drawing and graphically communicating a strong point of view, whirling his pen and watercolor through layers of politics and society, on out into the unfettered whimsey of children’s books.
