Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Parker.
Hi Amanda, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
When I was ten I started drawing Disney Characters from books and movie covers. I grew up in Michigan, and in high school I had a teacher who saw my talent. One day she said “Go sit in back, by Mike – he thinks he’s the best artist in here.” After that, Mike taught me pointillism and I really loved drawing with ink. I copied everything I could. I used graphite, pen, and Prismacolor pencils to create a variety of work.
For my senior year she told me to take every class I could with her. So, I was in “yearbook” class, but she had me and a group of other artists in a 10×10 foot space working on art in the back room. We fed off each other competitively and grew as a team and individuals with critical remarks on each other’s work.
Later, I didn’t really know what to do with myself because I didn’t know I was an artist – no one really believed in anything beyond the “starving artist” title often given in the art world. Despite not believing in myself, I went to college for art. I started at a community college and dropped out after six months of calculus, chemistry, and biology courses that did not excite me. I thought I was going to be an engineer, but the only classes I mastered were AutoCAD and drafting.
I waited tables at a country club for a while until deciding to attempt gaining a graphic design degree. I went to Spring Arbor University and Jackson Community College a second time before dropping out yet again. If I just believed in myself or had a mentor, I think I would have ended up in Fine Art college where I belonged.
Years passed before I decided to Attend the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for Game Art and Design. After a few years I was a strong straight A student who dropped out with one semester left. I saved all my gen-eds for that final stretch and decided I didn’t need to try biology again. By 2010 I had spent over $100,000 on my art education, yet never obtained a degree.
I didn’t know I was an artist until many years later. I was painting and drawing on my own time and working to pay back the loans I had accumulated. College had forced me to draw 3 hours a day and made it so I could take anything from 2D on paper and put it into a full-fledged 3D animation.
I wanted to do Game Art and Design because I thought I could make the art in video games better. It turned out the art is there, but technology is what holds back great art in gaming. So, I just tried to make great art. For some reason, I painted about a hundred bad paintings to teach myself to paint. I wanted to create something beautiful and found it very challenging to paint by hand.
In 2010 I also made the biggest move in my life to Virginia. I worked odd jobs until 2016 when I met up with my former art instructor from high school. It turned out she had moved to Virginia as well, and lived right in Woodbridge! Since I was in Fairfax I met up with her and a new path began. She co-owned a gallery in Occoquan where I eventually had my art on display.
I crafted a coloring book and delved back into ink art while I was there. I gained commissions as people entered the store to browse. While I was there I transitioned from painting to finding my style. Finally, after many years I was creating abstract art that I enjoyed.
After about 6 months I wasn’t as interested in gallery life. I wanted to create art for my walls and sell online. So, I left the gallery and started selling on my website. Of course, during covid, things changed again. I started creating art on TikTok and made more of a name for myself. I switched paths several times then. I drew daily in an online live session and gained many friends, fans, and followers from that adventure.
During that time, just like in college, I was drawing daily and improving my skill. Some of my videos obtained as many as 2 million views and I created a few series like “Alien-Tech-Sci-Art Live” where I drew abstract work and used the app’s mirror effect to “see what I could find” and it was always very fun and interesting for a short video.
After that I drew names for those attending my live sessions, then I came up with my most successful video series called “The PFP Update” on TikTok. I would take children’s inappropriate or basic profile pictures and update them to look funny or more appropriate for a viewing audience. Though it was just for fun, a lot of people started buying my art and drawing me and sending me products.. It became a little too real, too scary for me. I didn’t think fame was for me, so I backed off a bit since then from posting content and creating live shows.
I turned my focus toward art lessons and have had about 20 students, 14 of which ended up selling their work. Over time, I wanted more though. I wanted art for my walls, and in creating art for myself I found my best work. One of my paintings made it into the Liquid Commonwealth show in the Muscarelle Museum of Art in 2025. Since then I’ve been creating more art, making prints, and selling them on my website. I feel my future is definitely bright as I have paintings on the horizon that are almost finished and hope one day to create my own solo exhibition.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One of the struggles I had was with my first student, Samii Dre. We met online when I and two other artists tried to get together to create an art group to inspire people called “Breakout Art.” The idea was to gather artists and show the best of the best on this website and help them with marketing, but it didn’t end up that way. One of the co-creators of the idea dropped out of planning and it fell apart.. but we already had 100 artists ready and willing to share their art with the world. When I realized how much other artists needed help, that’s what led me to TikTok and art lessons. I wanted to help others become famous or dream up whatever dream they could. One of the artists I met at that time was Samii Dre. The problem was that he lived in Nigeria and needed supplies. I tried to send him $40 once and that wasn’t helpful becuase he went on 8 hours of bus trips, walked through cities, tried to get items on a list I had given him, and ultimately could not obtain them. He explained the only pencils they had were not for shading, they were just the harder ones Derwent offered, and he could only get an eraser. Though that later proved helpful, it wasn’t enough. We had this problem for about 2 years, and then one day a miracle happened. He had a friend of his cousin travelling from Louisiana to Lagos who said he could deliver supplies if I sent them. After that, his art soared. Previously he was just using a ballpont pen to create. I sent him some paper and my old prismacolors from high school and some graphite pencils as well for true shading. He later sent me a drawing he did of me with the new supplies and his work is worthy of any museum on this planet. My favorite of his works is “Woman of 2020” which is just outstanding. A lot of people don’t know this about me and Samii, but I would critique his work as it improved behind the scenes. Today he has attended art school in Nigeria and has become a painter just like me! Over time his paintings are only getting better and I hope one day this story inspires others to share in creativity and evolve creativity together.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Today I create abstract paintings with a hard focus on evolving each work into something new. I always loved work that you could stare at forever and never see it the same way. My art offers secrets, twists and ideas that will evolve in your mind as it sits on your wall. Though I’m more known for my TikTok videos and live sessions from about 5 years ago, I create my best work today. My paintings are a culmination of 30 years of patience, struggle, triumph, and tears as I poured my soul into creative work. I think what sets me apart today is scale and design. I have a wide variety of education which I continue every day through practice. I find practice to be the best education for an artist. If you can choose a new direction, try a new format, or explore another world each day – then you absolutely should as an artist. I take my walks through nature into my work through hiking, exploring and travel just as much as learning from videos constantly. Being inspired comes naturally to me now, and the real work is simply puting in the time. That’s the value any artist can offer to their work and the world – their time. I think I’m most proud of my students and also the work that ended up in the Muscarelle Museum of Art for the Liquid Commonwealth exhibition. They had 777 entires, so being one of the few chosen was very meaningful to me.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Lori Kagle, my art teacher from high school who still practices in Virginia and taught me realism – she deserves a highlight from me. She changed my life’s projection by believing in my work at a young age. If she didn’t tell me to take art three hours a day over 20 years ago I don’t know where I would be today.
Also, my students each deserve their own credit for trusting the process and pushing through the tears to become better each day. Some of them inspire me more than they will ever know, as well as my TikTok kids and friends who know who they are – like Els, Sally, Evan, Carter, Max, Joelle, Tata, Elton, Elijah, Themi, Nathan, Puro, Tanicha, Thandi.. and that list goes on and on. I can’t name them all, but they were all very supporting in my DMs and live sessions over the years.
Pricing:
- Prints from $99+
- Beautifully Bold Coloring Book $11.99
- Originals from $3000+
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.artistaparker.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Artistaparker/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@artistaparker/
