Michael Parkes (born October 12, 1944 in Sikeston, Missouri) is an American-born artist living in Spain who is best known for work in the areas of fantasy art and magic realism.

His unique style evolved in isolation, after a period in which he gave up the practice of art altogether and went to India in search of philosophical illumination,[2] a location that he and his wife continue to visit annually.

This style is realistic in principle, but often uses magical subject matter, with imagery drawn from a range of traditions including the cabalistic and the tantric.

[9] Milliner Justin Smith has said his design for the horned headpiece worn by actress Angelina Jolie in the 2014 film Maleficent was inspired in part by Michael Parkes lithographs.

[10] Parkes, who has described consciousness as a laboratory to explore the physicality of evolution, finds value in meditation and admires the 19th-century Indian philosopher, Sri Aurobindo.