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The Wall Street Journal boldly states that a book is judged by its cover in 3 seconds or less. Your wisest marketing move is to invest in a great cover that makes people notice, value, and desire your book. Putting your book out there with bad cover art is like tossing the proverbial needle in a haystack...
Your cover art is not the place to cut corners. I do my very best to make sure that your book stands out in today's competitive marketplace.
All kinds of Book Covers, Illustrations, Calendars, Poster Art, Ads, Candles, DVDs, CDs & Greeting Card Art.
"Some of David's more prestigious clients have included the University of Texas, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England, The Australian Mint, The National Geographic Society, Paramount Studios, Universal Studios, PBS TV, The History Channel, Enslow Educational Publishers, Adobe Photoshop, Auto FX, Tree-Free Greeting, Verizon wireless, Apple IPOD, Doubleday (Random House), Harlequin Top Historical Romances, and the History Book of the Month Club, as well as appearing in periodical publications like Popular Photography, and the Wall Street Journal just to name a few."
Howard David Johnson works in a wide variety of media * Oil paintings * Acrylic Paintings * Prismacolor Paintings * Drawings * Chalk & Oil Pastel Paintings * Photography * and last but not least: Digital Artistry & Mixed Media * Because of the use of photography in everything he does, even Johnson's all-oil paintings can be termed mixed media.*
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Gates of Fire by Stephen Pressfield (Danish Cover) |
Thank you for your interest in my illustrative services. I am open to a wide variety of projects and am easy to deal with. I can work in almost any media and I work very fast. My Realistic Commercial Art services are available for a wide variety of assignments at competitive prices. I usually deliver art on CD-Rom Disks ready to take to the printers. these digital masters are in TIFF 300 dpi pc and Mac formatted. Also are 72 dpi JPEG internet formatted images for e-mail and web site. I prefer to sell licenses to print my work to selling originals or the rights, but I will always do it for a premium rate. I am always willing to discuss different terms of doing business than my normal practice. My prices for the unlimited lifetime licenses are a substantially more cost effective way for you to do business with me, as is choosing digital media. |
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normal prices for projects are based on time and expenses, just like any contractor. Clear communication about project goals,
budgets and vision always make a formula for successful commercial art projects.
For licensing my art commercially, my minimum is $150. USD for a one time use. Many of my pictures like Ares, god of war, madness and death shown here were not done for book covers but with today's digital media, I can quickly and easily adapt them, adding more room at the top for titles and chopping space along the edges for analog printing. I also like to add font or text suggestions. In the old days this would have been impossible, now I don't even charge extra. Examples are shown below how to format covers to fit my classical designs without altering them... |
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Who is American Illustrator Howard David Johnson?
All these pieces of realistic art and the text are legally copyrighted and were registered with the U.S. Library of Congress Office of Copyright by the author, Howard David Johnson All rights reserved worldwide. Permission for many academic or non-commercial uses is freely and legally available by simply contacting the author via e-mail or visiting www.howarddavidjohnson.com/permission.htm
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Custom Illustration and Gorgeous Quality High Resolution Printing Masters With Publishing Licenses! for Commercial use in Books Cards Posters Magazines CDs DVDs Videos & more are available at reasonable rates. COMMERCIAL SIZE 300 DPI PRINTING MASTER FILES ARE AVAILABLE FOR ALL HIS PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS AND MONTAGES - EXTRA SPACE FOR BOOK COVER SIZE AND FORMATTING AVAILABLE E-MAIL FOR COURTEOUS & SPEEDY SERVICE info@howarddavidjohnson.com |
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All paintings, pictures, & text (c) 2010 Howard David Johnson All Rights Reserved
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ON SALE NOW from BRANDYWINE PRESS!
These beautifully printed 11" x 8.5" 64 page hardcover and trade paperback versions feature 48 full page interior plates in full color starting at only $14.99 USD. Less than the price of a single poster! Featuring Realistic Mythological and Fairy Art created in a style inspired by Classic Illustrators by American Artist & Photographer Howard David Johnson. Click on the covers to order the books from Lulu.com ALSO: Click on the CREDIT CARD logo below to VISIT POD PUBLISHING FOR BEAUTIFUL POSTER SIZE REPRINTS
AND A VARIETY OF PAYMENT OPTIONS, SIZES, PAPERS, AND PRICES
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Click on the Icons to visit the thematic galleries of examples of his artwork
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| King Arthur | Fantasy Art | Religions of the World | Angel Art | Fairy Paintings |
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| Home Page | Pin up Art Gallery |
Fairy Wallpapers | More Fantasy Art | Frauen Mit Blumen | Book Cover Art |
info@howarddavidjohnson.com
Your business, letters, & links are always welcome.
If you'd like to know more about how he usually handles commissions CLICK HERE
Commercial Art/Illustration Featuring Realistic Paintings, Photo Realistic Drawings and Digital Art |
Thank You For Visiting The Commercial Art page of Howard David Johnson...
ALL HALLOWS EVE is a Prismacolor Painting & SLEEPING BEAUTY is an Oil Painting, Howard David Johnson works in a wide variety of combined media * Oil paintings * Acrylic Paintings * Prismacolor Paintings * Drawings * Chalk & Oil Pastel Paintings * Photography * and last but certainly not least: Digital Artistry & Mixed Media *
There is a school of thought that seems to think that a caveman’s beating on a hollow log with a stick is automatically superior to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony performed by the world’s finest symphony orchestra because less technology is involved. I do not subscribe to this kind of thinking. Personally I LOVE computers! First of all, there’s the freedom from fear! The undo button is empowering and liberating! More importantly, publishing customers can't afford to pay me for old-fashioned traditional methods like oil on canvas. I can do them, and do them well, but no one but millionaire art collectors can afford to pay even poverty level hourly rates for all that time. The masters often took a year for a single painting. With digital media I can create pieces that look very nice for very nice prices and with blazing speed. The publishing industry is not noted for its patience. In the early days of my art career, mailing traditional media originals was scary at best, but now they can be scanned and shipped without risk. Also in my early days adding canvas space to a work in progress was as impossible as growing a second head... but now it is so easy I usually don't even charge extra to adapt them if its just skies or landscapes! Re-dos and revisions were financially catastrophic! No wonder the starving artist became a stereotype! Before the internet, I struggled to find customers in Austin Texas, now nearly every nation on Earth has visited my website! This was beyond my wildest imaginings as a boy. What an amazing era we live in! I love it!!!
~ Howard David Johnson
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"Those who are enamored of practice without science are like a pilot who goes into a ship without rudder or compass and never has any certainty where he is going. Practice should always be based upon a sound knowledge of theory, of which perspective is the guide and gateway, and without it nothing can be done well in any kind of painting."
| Howard David Johnson is a contemporary visual artist and photographer with a background in the natural sciences and history. He works in a wide variety of media ranging from traditional oils, pastels and others to cutting edge digital media. He loves mixing media. This site features examples of his Realistic Art, including illustration, photography, experimentalism, and fine art. |
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The various galleries linked to by the icons above show many examples of His Realistic Art, and are grouped by theme rather than media. There are also sample illustrations from his upcoming books on Celtic Myth and Legend and World Myth & Legend. Since boyhood he has passionately copied the old masters. To create his work, he usually starts with a thematic concept followed by a rough realistic pencil sketch, then followed by his photography, often traveling to find suitable scenes and locations and then working in his Photography studio with live models from his sketches. He then assembles a variety of elements which are realistic and original. As a boy he dedicated his life to art in 1960. From 1965- 1999 he used xeroxes and tracings to make his preliminary photo montages. This is patterned after the manner used by Maxfield Parrish and other 19th century notables. Beginning with a tracing, he then draws or paints from these complex original Computer Photo Montages. Many of these are on display on this web and slated for future completion in a variety of realistic traditional art media. As this happens, the finished work is substituted in the exhibit. Recently he shot hundreds of aerial photos of clouds at marvelous angles and perspectives and also looking down on the mighty mountains, rivers, and deserts of the American west while flying from Texas to Oregon and back for dynamic source material for realistic flying scenes in upcoming paintings , drawings, and pictures. |
His favourite medium for realistic art is colored pencil because of the high speed and low expense, and people began expressing difficulty in telling his colored pencil drawing from photographs in the early 1980's. In the last 35 plus years he has also mastered Oils, Pastels, Acrylics, Watercolors, Inks, Scratchboard, Gouache, Photography, and the highly controversial digital media ( Art Numérica ) . As a commercial illustrator Johnson has not only used the computer to create art but has been involved in the development of computer imaging software. Working in a realistic style inspired by classic illustrators HDJ is deeply rooted and grounded in the Greco-Roman artistic tradition, Feeling that with realistic art, the human form is the ultimate arena for artistic expression. His lifelong dream came true when his Traditional Realistic Art was exhibited in the British Museum in London England in 1996. His mixed media has also been displayed in numerous other ones since such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Having achieved international acclaim as a traditional visual artist he discovered digital media ( Art Numérica ) in 1999. Because of his passion for realistic art and photography he elected to embrace it and joyfully be a part of this historic era in the visual arts as a 21st century realistic visual artist. Since 1972 when he began his career as a scientific illustrator for the University of Texas he has earned his living illustrating all kinds of books, magazines, CD covers, and all sorts of games, greeting cards, calendars, portraits, murals and the like with his contemporary realistic art... HDJ's Realistic Art has appeared in every major bookstore chain and fantasy gaming shop in The United States and has been used in educational texts and magazines all over the world. This site features realistic paintings & pictures for the twenty-first Century including some oil paintings, as well as lots of other exciting media such as colored pencil drawings, pastel paintings, acrylic paintings, gouache paintings, watercolor paintings, and pencil drawings, and also featuring studio, field, & aerial photography, digital painting and photo-montage and all these media mixed in an assortment of experimental combinations...Working in a wide variety of media to create his realistic art he offers his customers a host of payment and product options. He delivers the rights to these custom made copyright free illustrations and old fashioned customer service when he does work-for-hire. HDJ's creations take their inspiration from the realistic paintings of the old masters. From Romeo and Juliet came West Side Story. Our shared cultural heritage, great works of art, literature, music and drama, cinema, folk tales and fairy tales are all drawn upon again and again by the creators of new works. These works in the public domain are both a catalyst and a wellspring for creativity and innovation. Where would Walt Disney be without the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, or Victor Hugo? Where would Aaron Copeland have been without American folk music? Thomas Nast's Santa Claus without traditional images of Father Christmas? Picasso without African art? Public domain appropriators, one and all. He accepts select commissions to paint custom oil paintings with down payments starting at only one thousand dollars. He grants permission for most educational purposes simply for the asking. To use his existing realistic art works outside the classroom he offers low cost license offers starting around $100.00. Use the e-mail links above or below to contact him...
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Your letters are welcome: Please direct your mail to the appropriate box...
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Thank you for visiting the commercial art page of Howard David Johnson...
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Bonus Section:
Personal Opinion Essays on Realistic Art yesterday and today by the artist.
In addition to his mastery of traditional media, Howard David Johnson now combines drawing, painting, photography, and digital media with more than thirty years of experience in these fields to create his Realistic Art Numérica in 21st century paintings and pictures. Did you know the Greek word "Photography" means "Painting with Light"? Today with the advent of computers it truly lives up to it's name. Due to developments in Art and Technology, a broader definition of painting is needed than that which is found in common usage. Announcing Art Numérica -an exciting merger of traditional visual art and cutting edge technology... a new art form for the twenty- first century... Art Numérica is not limited to realistic art but also offers limitless horizons for everything from cartoons to abstractions. It is the most dramatic development in the visual arts since the Renaissance. In the words of Al Jolson in the movie world's first talking picture" You ain't seen nothin' yet!"
The Rebirth of Realism
Thoughts on realistic art yesterday and today by the artist
Art History has entered a new era with the birth of Art Numérica, or digital art media in the 21st century. Artists never stop exploring with mediums. Artists have been developing techniques, experimenting with different tools since at least twenty- five thousand years ago, when the first artist picked up a charred stick and scratched a picture out on the wall of his cave. You'd think everything would have been tried by now, but it hasn't. Exploring new mediums this very day is just as exciting, just as full of freshness and newness as it ever was.
Photography, Drawing, Painting and Art Numérica combined |
The creation of Realistic art has been the goal of most artists since the dawn of civilization. Realistic art was the pride of ancient Greece. The world's greatest museums are full of realistic art. Realistic art WAS art until the advent of the abstract expressionist movement in the twentieth century. The coming of the camera in the nineteenth century changed realistic art forever. Suddenly, realistic art was not the only way to create realism in portraits and historical records. The work of the realistic artist was suddenly made into an expensive luxury. The political power of the realistic artist was broken and they were no longer an indispensable member of society. Hostility to the creators of realistic art goes back to ancient times and the jealousy of advisers to the Pharaohs and others who were not able to spend as much time with their rulers as their portraitists. Although with the aid of photographs, realistic art achieved levels of excellence undreamed of, the realistic art movement of the late nineteenth century was short. |
| None of these people earning their living creating realistic art could compete with the speed and low cost of photographic portraiture. Determined to survive, great realistic artists like Pablo Picasso ingeniously turned inward and began to explore things that could not be photographed in a new school of art, abstract expressionism. The day of the fine art superstars had arrived. It was now largely just a hobby to abstract and realistic artists alike. Illustration, because of advances in printing technology enabled an elite few to earn a living with their realistic art. These illustrators working in realistic art media were condemned and ridiculed in much the same way Europe's great symphonic composers were condemned for working in motion pictures after fleeing the nazis during World War Two. The rift between realistic and abstract art grew wider and wider. The universities and key media usually sided with the abstract camp and derided anyone working in any realistic art media declaring boldly that realistic art was not "real" art. Immortal giants of realistic art such as Maxfield Parrish were mistreated their entire lives. They were accused of selling out for creating beautiful pieces of realistic fine art to earn a living. The attitude that the true artist must suffer and starve and die in poverty became a rule. There were the Abstract art superstars, the professional realistic illustrators, and the hobbyists who, although cut off from gainful employment and social influence still recognized their artistic gifts as a calling rather than a profession. | |
Early abstract art masters proved themselves as realistic artists before delving into realms of the intangible. They had to do this at that time to prove themselves because of the challenges they faced from the establishment for going against the status quo. In the latter part of the 20th century, realistic artists like HDJ were challenged to do abstract art to prove themselves as shown in the example above (Deirdre of the sorrows). Later realistic art training was abandoned in most schools and things like splattering paint in fits of rage were deemed more than enough. By the end of the 20th century something as destructive and ridiculous as nailing a pack of cigarettes to a shoe was considered fine art but not realistic paintings. Fashions in art have often been as silly as fashions in ladies hats. As the century drew to a close, many people had had enough. The realistic revolt was at hand. The rebirth of realism was fueled by the advent of the digital era. Now, for the first time in almost two centuries, an artist or illustrator could earn a decent living again with his realistic art. This is historic. Realistic art is not going to go away, especially now that photography has truly merged with traditional realistic visual art. Photography comes from the Greek words meaning "painting with light". Now with the advent of digital media the capability of realistic art has become almost limitless, truly, "painting with light". The merger of all the world's art forms to realize the potential of motion pictures has come now to still realistic art media. This website for example, combines music, prose, poetry, photography and traditional realistic art media to create an experience beyond merely looking at realistic paintings.
The twenty- first century is already seeing a new renaissance in the arts because of the world wide web. There has never been anything like it. Abstract art, computer art, photographic art, and realistic art are continuing to be separate schools of art but are also blending to create exciting new horizons. Although Digital art does offer completely new horizons to the artist in the 21st century it does not mean the end of our time honored art traditions. Instead, it offers additional ways to keep these traditions and schools of thought fresh and alive. ~ HDJ
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"THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME..." (A Brief essay dealing with attitudes toward Traditional Realistic Paintings, Pastels, Colored Pencils and Art Numérique ) |
"Painting, in art, the action of laying colour on a surface, or the representation of objects by this means. Considered one of the fine arts"
~Encyclopaedia Britannica.
"Painting. noun. 1.) The act or employment of laying on colors or paints. 2.) The art of forming figures or objects in colors on canvas or any other surface, or the art of representing to the eye by means of figures and colors any object; the work of an illustrator or painter. 3.) A picture; a likeness or resemblance in shape or colors. 4.) Colors laid on. 5.) Delineation that raises a vivid image in the mind; as in word painting.
~ Webster's Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language
 Pastel, Acrylics, and Colored Pencils combined |
Snobbism in the arts is nothing new. Some people will tell you that oils are the only valid medium for realistic paintings. That Colored Pencil, Digital, and other Realistic Painting and Drawing Media are not valid for "real" art. Young artists, Don't let them bother you. Their forerunners used to condemn Pastels before they gained acceptance and called them "crayons" when Johann Alexander Thiele (1685-1752) invented them. Mercilessly disrespectful art critics of the time could not stop the Experimentalists no matter how viscously they attacked and derided them. "Crayon-painting" as it was called in England was practiced early on by persecuted pioneers in Switzerland and many other nations. What a debt we owe to these master artists who refused to knuckle under to the pressure of those short-sighted critics during those historic and experimental times. It took until 1870 with the founding of the "Societe` Des Pastellistes" in France that respect came at last to these heroic & immortal visual artists. |
In England the liberation of the Pastellists from slight regard and undeserved disrespect came with the first exhibition of "The Pastel Society" at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1880. Pastel Painters like Mary Cassat and others from America and other nations forever silenced the snobs with their masterworks and gained recognition at long last for Thiele's invention as a valid art medium. I am persuaded that history will repeat itself. Like Pastels, I believe these wonderful new colored pencils and even Digital Realistic Art Media will one day receive the recognition they deserve as powerful mediums of artistic expression just as pastel paintings did. What is your definition of art? Have you thought about it? Mine is: "anything that makes you feel or think." Consider dancing... it can be a little skip in the step or rise to the level of the incomparable Russian Ballet. Did you know that just the materials alone for a single oil painting cost up to a thousand dollars these days? Even paying the artist less than minimum wage no one but the super rich can afford them anymore. Something's got to give. Realistic paintings in oil have been highly prized for centuries and the appeal and following of realistic art is undiminished to this day. Oil paintings featuring Abstract Art and Realistic Art are generally the most treasured form of all the visual art media and with good reason. But snobbish art critics favoring abstract art have declared that realistic paintings, or illustrations are not art for a century. With so many representationalist paintings by so many immortal master artists hanging in the Louvre, the Hermitage, and the British Museum and others I think the disrespect for realistic illustrators that dominated the 20th century is academically ridiculous as well as vain and intolerant, insisting theirs is the only valid opinion. What is your definition of Art? I believe almost any form of human expression can be raised to the level of "high art" especially visual art and Realistic illustration... |
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The detail reveals Realistic art and abstract art combined |
By my own definition of art, which is: "anything that makes you feel or think" most abstract paintings are not "real art" to me personally, because abstract paintings usually neither make me feel or think, usually focusing obsessively on technique and avoiding any coherent content. I usually draw a complete blank mentally and emotionally when I look at them. In 1979 the Houston Metropolitan Museum of Art displayed a triptych of 3 giant paintings they paid fifty thousand dollars for- three blank white canvasses entitled "untitled". Then there was "The incredible new artistic Genius "with an I.Q. of 62 ...Congo the chimpanzee with his gala New York art exhibition...an elaborate prank played on the Snobbish American Art critics about a generation ago by research scientists in the field of primatology. Imagine how upset they were when he created one of his "ingenious masterpieces" right before their eyes. ( My Source for this is the Time Life Science Library volume entitled "The Primates". ) |
Art education has been almost completely removed from American Schools as a result of generations of this kind of fabulous nonsense contributing to America's cultural illiteracy crisis. Now, the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, and other notables are being removed from school libraries. After generations of this, most American college graduates today cannot name even one living visual artist, abstract or realistic. There is no way that mandating more math, requiring more reading, or scheduling more science will replace what we have lost as a culture. What is your definition of Art? ~HDJ
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| Note: Abstract Paintings by Congo the Chimpanzee outsold Warhol and Renoir by over 25,000 dollars in June 2005 at a London art auction. Born in 1954, Congo created more than 400 drawings and paintings between the ages of two and four. He died in 1964 of tuberculosis. | |
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My Friends from around the world thus far :
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England, Canada, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Germany, France, Monaco, Andorra, Italy, The Vatican City State, Greece, Macedonia, Cyprus, Turkey, Belgium, Denmark, The Faroe Islands, Greenland, Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Croatia, The Czech Republic, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Slovakia, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, Austria, Romania, Spain, The Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Malta, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Netherlands, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Sweden, Portugal, Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Gibraltar, Israel, Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Algeria, Niger, Saudi Arabia, Oman, The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Liberia, The Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, Angola, Ghana, The Ivory Coast, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Nigeria, Namibia, Uganda, Kenya, Eritrea, Tanzania, Botswana, Malawi, Senegal, Djibouti, Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa, Viet Nam, Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia, Mauritius, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan, Nuie, New Zealand, Fiji, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, American Samoa, Australia, Micronesia, Polynesia, Papua New Guinea, The Heard and McDonald Islands, The Philippines, Guam, Palau, Cocos Island, The Kingdom of Tonga, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalem, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Chagos Islands, The Republic of Maldives, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Indonesia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Peru, Aruba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Suriname, Guyana, Aruba, The Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Virgin Islands, The Netherlands Antilles, Panama, Saint Vincent & Grenadines, Grenada, Ecuador, Belize, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Bermuda, Cuba, Jamaica, Dominica, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands, Anguilla, The Bahamas, Honduras, Mexico, and my home, The Great Free State of Texas... [USA] |
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All kinds of Covers, Illustrations, Calendars, Poster Art, Ads, & Greeting Card Art. Thanks again for visiting the Commercial Art page of Howard David Johnson...
All these images & text are legally copyrighted & were registered with the U.S. Library of Congress Office of Copyright by the author, Howard David Johnson All rights reserved worldwide. Permission for many legal non-commercial uses is freely available by simply contacting the author or visiting www.howarddavidjohnson.com/permission.htm
