Parks started drawing cat versions of people since about age 11 or 12. Around 12, she loved The Phantom of the Opera and had a running gag about The Phantom of the Cats. Eventually, she drew the characters as cats. A few years later, Parks became obsessed with the British television seriesDoctor Who. Around 2008, Parks began drawing more realistic Doctor Who cats. Parks has a Bachelor's degree in Illustration from the California College of Arts and a graduate degree in scientific illustration from the UC Santa Cruz. Previously, Parks drew wildlife like big cats, birds, dinosaurs, fruit bats, insects, and plants. Her work can be found via iPhone apps for the National Park Service. Parks would regularly attend conventions as C2E2, San Diego Comic-Con, and WonderCon. Parks' art is drawn and painted digitally via Paint Tool SAI and Photoshop. Parks creates her art digitally with a Cintiqgraphics tablet via Photoshop. Her fan art career took off with a table at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con where she had Doctor Mew buttons and posters as well as when Doctor Mew went viral. Parks became famous due to Doctor Mew. Later, Parks created other fan art pieces as The Catvengers. Doctor Mew represented her most prominent work until Star Trek Cats in 2017. In March 2018, Star Trek Cats was followed-up with Star Trek: The Next Generation Cats. Parks also has a Patreon account.
Works
Books
Comics
Senior Editor Steve Wacker found Jenny Parks at her booth at San Diego Comic-Con and approached her to do animal variant covers for Marvel and she said "Absolutely!" Parks has done animal variant covers for issues Iron Man #23, The Superior Spider-Man #27, Thor: God of Thunder #19, and Wolverine and the X-Men #1. In May 13, 2013, Tumblr user sparkysmachine dressed their cat Sir Didymus to match the Thor: God of Thunder #19 animal variant cover. The "mini-Mjolnir and shoulder-thingies" were printed on their PrintrBot Jr. 3D printer. In October 29, 2014, to celebrate National Cat Day, Marvel Comics reposted Parks's animal variant covers on their Facebook page.
Fan art
Parks's notable works include Doctor Mew, The Catvengers, and Star Trek Cats. Others have included Batman, Deadpool, Dexter, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Hannibal, Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, The Hunger Games, The Lord of the Rings, Sherlock, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Stranger Things, Superman, Supernatural, The Walking Dead, and Wonder Woman. Commissions have included John Hodgman and Gates McFadden as a Doctor Beverly Crusher cat. In 2014, Parks presented a gouache painting of Captain America at the Cat Art Show in Los Angeles, California.
Reception
Newsaramas Chris Arrant called Jenny Parks a "noted cat painter." Visual Newss Jessica Czeck said Doctor Mew made Jenny Parks "internet famous." Bleeding Cools Rich Johnston pointed out Parks was CatConLA's "ne of the most sought-after artists." Catsters Phillip Mlyner noted she was "a cat illustrator par excellence." Petslady.coms Laurie Kay Olson deigned her work "delightful, entertaining, and more than just a little bit, well, catty." In October 2015, Outlaw Kritters staff selected Parks as the featured artist of the week. Reviewing Star Trek Cats in a thirty year retrospective, GeekDads Jules Sherred referred to her as "a great illustrator."
