Today we’d like to introduce you to Parker Savage.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Hello! My name is Parker Savage, and I’m an artist/wannabe filmmaker. I have a YouTube channel with 12,300 subscribers, and I am 20 years old. I’m from a small town in Missouri, and I’ve been a creative person for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t always know where that creativity would take me. Growing up, I was always filming little videos with my brother and cousin, making stop-motion, or messing around on the computer. One of my earliest sparks came from a Graphic Design merit badge in Boy Scouts. That was probably the first time it clicked that I could make all sorts of creations, and make it my job.
Eventually, I found my outlet: YouTube. I started a channel called Parkee05 Art when I was in 7th grade, where I post animations, drawing videos, and short videos about art history. It’s been a long Journey, (I’m 20 now!) and my work is finally get a little bit of light. What began as a side project turned into something much bigger- almost 7 million lifetime views, and a community of people who appreciate art and my attempt at it.
Briefly, I had a job as a graphic designer, but I didn’t feel I was treated well. So, for the last year or so I’ve been juggling content creation with my day job at a restaurant, and a little later a second job at a radio station. But I’ve always had bigger goals, like studying Film Production and eventually working full-time as a film producer, video editor, or animator. I’m working toward that now, while continuing to build my online presence and develop my voice as an artist. My goal is to create art that’s both meaningful and fun, something that sticks with people. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with videos that go a little deeper, explore some of those negative emotions and stress that come with being a young adult today. I guess it’s like therapy in a way.
My channel’s rise started in 2024, middle of the year maybe? I had started uploading again after a bit of burnout, and people really seemed to be resonating with what I made. It wasn’t popular or anything, but the few comments I did get made me feel like I could make this thing work. So, I committed myself to drawing, animating, and experimenting with as many art-related videos as I could. I mostly made YouTube shorts that year, but My channel gained over 5 million views in 2024 alone.
Now, given some direction by the positive response to my creations on YouTube, I have decided to start college in the fall, where I will be studying film. I hope to stick to my YouTube while I study, and turn it into a platform to reach even greater heights. Thus far, I’m completely self taught though, so I still have a long way to go. But I am so excited to the future, and for the opportunity to share my work with others!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s honestly been pretty rough. Obviously, as a self-taught creative, it took me a while to get good at what I was doing. Throughout the years I was no stranger to small amounts of people making fun of me. Never anything I couldn’t handle, but people tend to discount the idea of ‘growing up to be a YouTuber’. I get it. My biggest struggle has been balancing this creative outlet/minor obsession with figuring out what I want to do for the rest of my life. I chose not to go to college immediately after high school- I wanted time to live and figure out what I wanted for myself. It ended up being a good thing, because I landed a graphic design job and learned that I needed something I could get a little more emotionally behind. So, rather than go to school for graphic design, I am going to school for film, as previously mentioned. With starting school, money has been a huge issue. It’s just me, my mom, and my twin brother, so there’s not a huge amount to go around. I’m not saying we’re poor, but I definitely don’t know how my college is getting paid for.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I make art-related content, from drawing and animating users’ requests to art history and fun facts. I have made lots of YouTube shorts, and some regular-length YouTube videos as well. The videos are usually about things that interest me- reacting to bad tattoos, breaking down the art style of an animated show, animating on a crazy medium, etc. The end goal is to make art fun and show people as much of my personality as I can. I’m still learning how to make a good long form video, but I’ve got the shorts down. Recently, I made a couple YouTube shorts, focusing on ‘deep’ song lyrics. I used live action footage, hand drawn animation, rotoscoping, and more to create a piece that highlights the music, and makes the viewer feel the emotion I am aiming for. Those two animated shorts are my favorite videos I’ve made up to this point, and together they net me almost a million views. If you want to check them out, they’re called “Fine. (animation)”, and “what’s going on??” Anyway, they showcase my emotions, and I poured my heart and hours upon hours of my time into them. I use an iPad to do my drawings/animations and a MacBook to edit my videos. My camera is just my iPhone!
(Attached photos include stills from my animations, a photo of me with art supplies as a kid, a drawing of my girlfriend, Jayelynn, and then another drawing of Jayelynn which was commissioned by her parents. It’s not quite finished, but it is getting close. Attached is also a behind the scenes photo, which is how I get reference poses when animating a character. There is also a still from an unreleased video in which I will be breaking down the art style of the Simpsons and animating myself in their style. Finally, there is also a photo of me at my desk, showing where I make my work.)
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I have watched YouTube and the film industry collide gradually for the last few years, and I can say with confidence that the first step to making it in the film world is now YouTube. We’ve seen so many people prove that they have what it takes to make great things who started on YouTube. And I want to be a part of this change.
Pricing:
- All my videos are free, but channel members can support me and receive exclusive content, right now it’s only $3.99 a month.
Contact Info:
- Youtube: https://YouTube.com/@parkee05art
