An expressive painter of coastal and landscape views, he was born in Buffalo, New York, and graduated in 1885 from Hobart College where he irritated faculty members because of his ability to do caricatures. He also studied at DeVeaux school in Niagara Falls, the Royal Academy at Dresden, and from 1886-1882, had further study at the Julian and Cormon academies in Paris.

He set up a studio in New York City, but his interest was western landscape, and he became a member of the Society of Painters of the West. From 1910 to 1917, he did a series of paintings of the Grand Canyon for which he remains best known. Full of emotion and color, they have been labeled "expressive".

In 1917, he moved for the remainder of his life to Santa Barbara, California, where he specialized in coastals and landscapes. After moving from NYC to California in 1917, he settled in Santa Barbara where he remained until his death on July 7, 1956. Parshall is best known for his paintings of the Grand Canyon, most of which were done during the years 1910-17; whereas, in California he specialized in landscapes and florals.