Today we’d like to introduce you to PK Mitchell.
Hi PK, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
To put it briefly, I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. But I started getting more serious around 2024 when I decided I wanted to break into the art world, sell my work, and explore my personal style. Pretty early on in that year, I found my would-be art mentor, DINKC, through one of his last “How to make a T-shirt” classes. We chopped it up afterwards, and not long after that, he was looking for an intern, so I dove in headfirst with whatever time I had after my 9-5. I began helping with shirt orders, shadowing and running events with him, picking up tips and tricks for putting my work out there, and learning his tools of the trade, so to speak. For about a year and a half, I followed him from place to place, studio to tattoo shop, gleaning whatever I could about what he knew and what parts I wanted to adopt. He was like a “big brother” in the arts, molding how I entered spaces more than my artistic style itself.
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 definitely had its bumps in the road. I battled a lot with my sense of self and with whether I could make something recognizable as mine. Starting out, whenever I did my own thing in places where my mentor was well known, most of my work would be recognized by his name because no one knew mine. He was quick to correct folks when he could and reassure me in the attributes of my work that made me distinct and that helped build me up when I stumbled.
Finding work was, and is still, difficult when you’re competing with art giants who have been in the game for far longer. DINKC always tried to lend a hand and allow me opportunities to work with him and take on clients he had that fit my style when he could.
Leaning into friends and family, networking, finding my art community, and putting myself out there outside my comfort zone have really helped me build my portfolio and create opportunities to grow. You can’t just wait for things to fall into place. I’m still working to get to a place where I’m known and sought out for what I do, but this road has made me bolder in achieving that, looking for leads and openings where I can.
The biggest struggle has been balancing my art life and my regular life. It’s almost like being Spider-Man: you go to your normal 9-5 job, work your best there, leave, then the “5-9” begins, and that’s where all the art magic happens. It’s tough balancing advancing myself as an artist/career with having a life and usual responsibilities, for sure. At the end of the day, for me, it’s all give and take. Some days you “put on the mask” and get to work like Spider-Man; others you take a load off and enjoy life as Peter Parker. You can’t always give the alter ego 100% because then you miss out on the rest of your life, and then what cup are you pouring from? It ain’t the burnout cup, that’s for sure! I’m still figuring that one out, but I’ve gotten better over the last couple of years.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I specialize in bold, comic-style, pop art graphics. Nearly everything I put my name on uses a good amount of stark, heavy, sharp line work or loud colors and compositions. I like to add some edge and eye-catching shadows to my work that I believe make the colors and negative space POP! I love to embrace little blemishes, imperfections, and gritty-looking details that feel human and tactile where I can, tastefully.
In my more recent work, I tend to include a lot of scribbles and patterned nonsense I call “Metro-glyphs” to hide words and icons related to the theme, message of the piece, or pay homage to people, places, or things that inspired me while creating it. In essence, they are my thoughts as I create. Though they’re meant to guide your eye to the less dense areas and add some visual texture, they also offer some hidden easter eggs for those willing to decode the chaos.
I’ve got to say, my proudest achievement has been my heart statue for the 2026 Parade of Hearts. I had wanted to be a part of it since its conception, and I wanted to leave a calling card like no other I’ve worked on. It showcases my metro-glyphs with plenty of goodies to find and lets me show my heart for the city that shaped my style. Graphically, it’s not the most complex thing I’ve ever drawn, but it showcases Kansas City and the places inside that house people, culture, and ideas that inspire me. It unites the two states that make it up, my brand, and the metropolitan area that inspired it under one image that stands as my visual ode to the place I call home and its facets that make it the home of my heart. Because, as the name of the piece implies, “Home is where my Heart lies” right here in the Heartland.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
To quote Michael Jackson’s song, “Off the Wall”: Just enjoy yourself. I’m still working to get where I want with my art, but something I’ve found I lost that made my art and drive suffer at one point is the sense of joy I felt in the process. Live a little, let the journey take you somewhere unplanned, mess up, start over, PLAY!
At a certain point, I got caught up in perfection, benchmarks, performing, and carrying out someone else’s standard to a tee, and I found I was drained and uninspired. I had lost sight of why I create in the first place: to make something only I can, with the mind God gave me, and to invite the others into that mind. I had dried up an oasis of creativity trying to make it a marketable commodity that didn’t suit my real goal.
To quote that song again, “There ain’t no rules, it’s up to you.” Let your art live and breathe as you do; don’t be crushed by the grind and forget why you’re grinding. Do yo thang because no one else in this world can do it like you do it. So do it loud, proud, and with your heart on display.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rivercitykidco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_rivercitykid/
