View source for David Parkins

{{short description|British cartoonist and illustrator }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}} {{use British English |date=July 2012}}
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| birth_place   = [[Brighton]], England
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'''David Alan Parkins''' (born 2 November 1955)<ref>The US Library of Congress cites "BL AL" (British Library Author List?). [https://lccn.loc.gov/n85101696 LCCN: n85-101696]. Retrieved 2018-05-24.</ref> is a British cartoonist and illustrator who has worked for [[D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd|D.C. Thomson]], publisher of ''[[The Beano]]'' and ''[[The Dandy]]''. Now based in [[Canada]], he illustrates children's picture books.<ref name="kerr">{{cite web|author=Tony Ingram |url=http://www.brokenfrontier.com/lowdown/p/detail/euan-kerr-the-big-boss-of-beanotown |title=Euan Kerr – The Big Boss of Beanotown |publisher=[[Broken Frontier]] |date=19 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111217140732/http://www.brokenfrontier.com/lowdown/p/detail/euan-kerr-the-big-boss-of-beanotown |archive-date=17 December 2011}}</ref>

Parkins was born in [[Brighton]], but moved to [[Grantham]], [[Lincolnshire]] at the age of five. He didn't take up art until [[sixth form]], when he also began drawing caricatures of his teachers.<ref name="walker">{{cite web|url = http://www.walker.co.uk/contributors/David-Parkins-1650.aspx|title = David Parkins|publisher = [[Walker Books]]}}</ref> He studied Wildlife Illustration at [[Dyfed College of Art]]<ref name="random">{{cite web|url = http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/catalog/author.pperl?authorid=45361|title = David Parkins|publisher = [[Random House]]}}</ref> for a year, before switching to [[graphic design]] at [[Lincoln College of Art]], specialising in [[illustration]].<ref name="walker" /> Graduating in 1979,<ref name="random" /> he became a freelance illustrator, working on postcards, school textbooks, newspapers and magazines as well as comics.<ref name="walker" />

Parkins' first work for ''The Beano'' was on "[[Billy Whizz]]" in 1989. He quickly made his mark on the strip and the character, and made several changes, the most notable of these being the introduction of Billy's new lightning bolt tracksuit in May 1992.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}

In 1990, he started to draw "[[Fred's Bed]]" in ''[[The Beezer]]'' as understudy to [[Tom Paterson]], although in practice Parkins drew the vast majority of strips. He drew the strip until it was forced to end when the comic folded. In 1993, he stopped drawing Billy Whizz, but [[Trevor Metcalfe]] and [[Vic Neill]] had been drawing a number of the strips for some time. By this point he was drawing "[[Desperate Dan]]" for the Dandy,{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} along with a revival of another Beano strip, "[[The Three Bears (comic strip)|The Three Bears]]". Parkins' version of the latter strip was later cited by former Beano editor [[Euan Kerr]] as one of his personal favourites.<ref name="kerr" />

After the Beano's 60th birthday celebrations in 1998, Parkins took over the comic's long-running character "[[Dennis the Menace (UK)|Dennis the Menace]]". His first Dennis strips featured the story arc which introduced Bea, Dennis' younger sister.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://images.scholastic.co.uk/assets/a/af/5d/lt791162davidparkins-inp-4-118883.pdf|title = David Parkins|publisher = [[Scholastic Corporation|Scholastic]]}}</ref> He drew Dennis on a regular basis until 2003, but his workload meant that a number of stories were also drawn by [[Nigel Parkinson]] and later [[Jimmy Hansen]] in this time. Parkins' time on Dennis encompassed the character's 50th birthday celebrations in 2001, and to mark the occasion he drew a special one-off Dennis strip explaining how he got his famous red and black striped jumper.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}

David Parkins was also the artist of [[Desperate Dan]] for The Digital Dandy in 2013.

Parkins has also illustrated two of [[Richard Platt (writer)|Richard Platt]]'s books in the [[Pirate Diary]] series.<ref>{{cite book|last= Platt|first= Richard|author-link= Richard Platt (writer)|title= Egyptian Diary|url= http://www.walker.co.uk/Egyptian-Diary-9781406330625.aspx|access-date= 8 July 2012|year= 2011|publisher= [[Walker Books]]|location= London|isbn= 978-1-40632547-8|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120729231836/http://www.walker.co.uk/Egyptian-Diary-9781406330625.aspx|archive-date= 29 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last= Platt|first= Richard|author-link= Richard Platt (writer)|title= Roman Diary|url= http://www.walker.co.uk/Roman-Diary-9781406325478.aspx|access-date= 8 July 2012|year= 2011|publisher= [[Walker Books]]|location= London|isbn= 978-1-40632547-8|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120722102708/http://www.walker.co.uk/Roman-Diary-9781406325478.aspx|archive-date= 22 July 2012}}</ref>

He has illustrated over fifty children's books, including titles by [[Dick King-Smith]],<ref name="random" /> [[Julie Markes]], [[Laura Leuck]] and [[Martin Waddell]].<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/25816/David_Parkins/index.aspx|title = David Parkins|publisher = [[HarperCollins]]}}</ref> He has drawn cartoons for ''[[The Guardian]]'', ''[[The Observer]]'', ''[[The Sunday Times]]'', the ''[[Times Higher Education Supplement]]'', ''[[The Economist]]'', the ''[[Literary Review of Canada]]'', and ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''. In 2006, after his fiftieth birthday, he emigrated to [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]. In 2013, he became an occasional editorial cartoonist for ''[[The Globe and Mail]]''.<ref>{{cite web|author = Guy Badeaux|title = David Parkins in the Globe & Mail |url = http://bado-badosblog.blogspot.ca/2013/03/david-parkins-in-globe-mail.html|date = 18 March 2013|access-date = 10 April 2013|author-link = Guy Badeaux }}</ref>

David Parkins is also the illustrator of ''That Cat Can't Stay''<ref>{{cite web|title=That Cat Can't Stay|url=http://flashlightpress.com/That_Cat_Cant_Stay.html|website=Flashlight Press|access-date=4 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141125005710/http://flashlightpress.com/That_Cat_Cant_Stay.html|archive-date=25 November 2014}}</ref> and ''I Always, ALWAYS Get My Way'',<ref>{{cite web|title=I Always, ALWAYS Get My Way|url=http://flashlightpress.com/I_Always_ALWAYS_Get_My_Way.html|website=Flashlight Press|access-date=4 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112081632/http://www.flashlightpress.com/I_Always_ALWAYS_Get_My_Way.html|archive-date=12 January 2016}}</ref> both written by [[Thad Krasnesky]] and published by Flashlight Press.<ref>{{cite web|title=Flashlight Press|url=http://flashlightpress.com/index.html|website=Flashlight Press|access-date=4 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151023055159/http://www.flashlightpress.com/index.html|archive-date=23 October 2015}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Portal |Cartoons |Comics |Children's literature }}
* {{official website}}
* {{isfdb name|98033}}
* {{LCAuth|n85101696|Davis Parkins|54|ue}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Dandy}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkins, David}}
[[Category:British comics artists]]
[[Category:British children's book illustrators]]
[[Category:British editorial cartoonists]]
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:The Dandy people]]
[[Category:The Beano people]]
[[Category:Dennis the Menace and Gnasher]]