Del Parson was raised in Rexburg, Idaho where his father was an art professor at Ricks College and his mother taught second grade. His father often took his nine children on painting excursion campouts. He found his father’s love of art to be contagious, as did two of his brothers, who became artists as well. Del began painting in college and found that he had a natural ability and keen interest in it. After earning his MFA from Brigham Young University, Parson became a free-lance artist in 1975. He illustrated for LDS Church magazines from time to time and found a great deal of enjoyment in it.