Dustin Parker, Graphic Designer

Growing up, aspiring artist Dustin Parker started creating characters and scenes based off of the comic books, video games and Saturday morning cartoons that he loved. He hoped to turn that youthful passion into a career as an animator or comic book artist. But his drawings soon turned into paintings after discovering the vast world of “fine art” in high school. He found himself enamored by painters like Francis Bacon and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Now, nearly two decades into his professional art career, his work is a vibrant blend of both worlds.

Dustin graduated from Friends University with a studio art degree in 2004. Beyond advanced artistic techniques, professors gave the emerging artist a host of practical skills that helped him properly document and present his work, curate an exhibition, build a website, design promotional materials and arrange a portfolio. They helped him see the value of self-promotion, presentation and networking.

Having a firm handle on these practical skills has allowed Dustin to focus on the art. “Art has metastasized into every aspect of my life,” he says. “I earn my living creating art and the majority of my free time is spent creating art, looking at art, interacting with art, studying art, reading about art, talking about art, writing about art or advocating for the arts.” His career has been defined by his willingness to make his own opportunities.

His Friends fine arts education favored boldness and taking risks. Those attributes have led him well, resulting in some incredibly unique freelance projects. In some of his career highlights he has collaborated with Local Roasters, creating his own coffee blend and logo; he created promotional posters for one of his favorite authors; he collaborated on a sports and pop-culture blog; and had a portrait of President Barack Obama featured in a book by Hal Elliott Wert (Hope: A Collection of Obama Posters and Prints).

In addition to his full-time work as a graphic designer and illustrator, he has participated in 16 solo exhibitions, 7 two-person exhibitions, 88 group exhibitions, and administers a Facebook group called Wichita Art Scenes that connects Wichita artists and event organizers. His current creative focus is his MONSTER MANIA series, inspired by Ben Cooper Halloween costumes, Garbage Pail Kids trading cards, and 80s films and comic books. He hopes to collect those drawings into a published art book in the near future.

Check out Dustin Parker’s graphic work at www.dustinparker.com.