Brandywine School of Illustrative Art 

Foundations for Art - Student's Best Questions and Answers

 

As I warned everyone, my website server statistics informed me in May that  thousands of people were suddenly stealing the lessons, the numbers of unpaid students has continued to grow and this is just not fair to paying students, so the Passwords & URLs changed July 31, 2005. New ones will not be issued to existing students, sorry, it is the only way security can be restored. My private e-mail address for students will remain the same and I welcome your letters and new artwork. Back-up your CD now by copying it to a CD or Local disk.

If you have lost your CD-Rom Master Disk:

Your CD replacement cost is 24.95 USD- Send check or money order to:

Howard David Johnson

P.O. Box 49531

Austin TX 78765-9531

 You should have no trouble continuing with the program with this remedy.

The Brandywine School of Illustrative Art

Is A Program of Private and Personal Illustrative Instruction and is a Non- Accredited School

Check out  www.howarddavidjohnson.com/instruction.htm  for more information...

The Brandywine School of Illustrative Art

 

 

Q: Do you ever create your color pencil rendering over a completely detailed and finished graphite pencil drawing?

A: I used to decades ago, but I hated going to all that time and trouble and having the drawing lost. In those days I would create the image on tracing paper, flip it over, trace it again and burnish (rub) it onto the art paper or canvas. In the 1980’s I went to projection but it gave me backaches. In the 90’s I began to use two 11x17 color Xeroxes, one to tape on my table thickness smooth beveled glass drawing board under my blank white or flesh colored Bristol board to illuminate from below while resting my hand on the other that I use to select colors and copy details. Since I started doing this, I eliminated a bunch of unnecessary work and go right in with the colors. I take it one small area at a time so I don’t get overwhelmed. Its so tough starting out with a blank page but if you just relax and keep making marks on the paper with the right colors in the right places it will suddenly reach the point where it is a joy to work on as the downhill roll takes effect. Hang in there! Relax, take your time!

Q: Do you create just the contour or outlines of your composition with a graphite pencil?

A: Sometimes, laying out dark soft graphite outlines with pencils like Ebony, #2b #6b etc. is great, like with trees and other things that smudging in black will enrich the image. A close-up of a girl’s face- or other very light things are different I never use soft darks for those.  I’ll use a hard pencil very softly to get the outline. For color portraits I use a VERY SHARP softly applied THIN line of sepia or burnt umber for my outlines of the hair, eyes, nose and mouth. They blend GREAT with the peach and salmon colored flesh tones. Sometimes I rub a little Grumbacher or Rembrandt soft pastel into the paper to get rid of the white and Prismacolor flesh tones go over it real nice with the crosshatch.

Q: What decisions determine your choice of color pencil to begin your rendering of the over all composition?

A: As I said in the lesson, I copy almost everything and simply hold the pencil up against my source material an as I recognize the best match, that is my choice. My guesses are ALWAYS wrong even after all these years.

Q: When you do start a drawing with color pencil, do you work in layers using a different color for each layer throughout until the entire composition is finished? 

A: usually I have to keep re-applying many layers of the same color and use layers of accent colors like dark brown where the shadow of the hair falls on the cheek on a face mixing with the main color for shadow texture and depth. I don’t attempt details until the shape and color are in.

 Q: Finally, do you generally start the drawing by beginning with the background?

A: Sometimes the background comes to me first, but not usually.

Q.) I am finding that the pigment wears off with some of these blending tools and especially with the tissue- I am reapplying pigment and blending-Just to confirm is this the correct way?

A.) There are as many ways as there are pictures. I have yet to discover them all. Sometimes I apply 10-50 layers building it up thinly, changing colors every time. Heavy application of light color causes breakage and cracking.

Q.) HOW DO YOU DO 50 LAYERS OF Colored Pencil WITHOUT MIXING MEDIA?

A.) I SCRIBBLE PENCIL IN, SMEAR, RUB, BURNISH, POLISH WITH TOILET PAPER , ERASE THE EDGES WITH NUMBER TWO PENCIL TO CLEAN THEM UP, THEN SOFTEN CENTER AREAS WITH KNEADED ERASER.

THEN I SCRIBBLE PENCIL IN, SMEAR, RUB, BURNISH, POLISH WITH TOILET PAPER , ERASE THE EDGES WITH NUMBER TWO PENCIL TO CLEAN THEM UP, THEN SOFTEN CENTER AREAS WITH KNEADED ERASER. I DO THIS TEN - FIFTY TIMES BEFORE I LIKE IT. AVOID WAXY BUILDUPS OF LIGHT COLORS AS THEY GET UNWORKABLE QUICK, I APPLY THEM THINLY WITH SUPER SHARP CROSSHATCH OR LAY DOWN A LARGE AMOUNT OF PRISMACOLOR ON A PIECE OF THE SAME PAPER 'TIL ITS PLENTY THICK AND WAXY, THEN I POLISH IT WITH A WAD OF TOILET PAPER THEN RUB IT IN THE LIGHT AREAS LIKE CHEEKS OR FOREHEADS ON A BIG PORTRAIT OR SKY BACKGROUNDS. DO HEAVY WAXY BUILDUPS OF DARK COLORS ONLY. THIS CREATES A THREE DIMENSIONAL LOOK! FIXATIF: USE ONLY WORKABLE FIXATIF NEVER OR ONLY LATE IN THE PROJECT AND WITH PROPER VENTILATION.

Q.) Do you use all of these blending techniques together or keep them separate?  For example first with the toilet paper then the blending stump or is one used for certain areas?

A.) Sometimes I limit myself to one media instead of playing with mixed media, but there is no set order or way to do things. Prismacolor: The wadded or folded toilet tissue is used for large areas like cheeks and foreheads. The fine smaller Stumps for pinpoint detail and large broad stumps (go easy with these)& clear burnishing pencils fingers, thumbs and what –have-you for the darker areas followed by An eraser on a #2 pencil to clean it up or a kneaded eraser rolled up to lighten it when too much is applied. I use both methods separately and in combinations as well as in layers. Each picture has it’s own special needs. Be flexible. Be Adaptable. Sometimes I limit myself, like with “Miss Lillian” On that limited color piece, I did not allow myself to smudge or burnish the pencils at all. I did allow use of razor knife and ebony pencil. All crosshatch and adaptive irregular shading motions and patterns.

Q.) Although you use Strathmore 400- I cannot find it.  What is your opinion about other papers?

A.) I recommend any card stock or thicker smooth white paper. Especially Acid-free. Exact vellum bristol and exact index card stock paper are sold 250 sheets 11x17 for 12 US Dollars or so, very economical easy to draw on surface that’s still white after fifteen years. It very economical and good paper. 

Q.) You demonstrate shading technique using the Ebony pencils. Do we use this pencil to practice shading or is it used with the colored pencils as an underpainting?

A.) I never use Ebony first, only to darken areas and to create finishing texture effects. I use light brown prismacolors applied lightly because they don't smear. Ebony is the greatest over layer when freshly sharpened and applied on its side. Sometimes I blend it in with colors to darken them, but it can get as messy as charcoal AND RUIN NEARBY PORTIONS OF THE PICTURE if you don’t save it for one of the last things you do. I go into under painting techniques below!

Q.) Should we shade using a variety of techniques-cross hatching etc. or do we use one that we generally gravitate towards? 

A.) It all depends on what you’re doing. Every picture is unique and different. Use every method that I demonstrate and all that come into your head, and then gravitate toward your favorite. My favorites are crosshatch and irregular shapes or “scribbling”. As opposed to say, angled strokes or stipple. 

Q.) When applying color is there a specific sequence you place your colors for example. working from darks to light on the whole picture or finish a specific area first then start another area?

A.) Same as before, here are words to live by, and to help you make your own decisions. “What is best for this picture?” It all depends on what you’re doing. Every picture is unique and different. Use every method that I demonstrate and all that come into your head, and then gravitate toward your favorites. My favorites are crosshatch and irregular shapes or “scribbling”. As opposed to say, angled strokes or stipple.

  Q.) When you worked on the pictures of Arriba or Miss Lillian. what were the general sequence of color application to achieve your results? 

A.) On these particular pictures I was using limited colors to create a charming old fashioned effect and sharpen my discipline and get away from relying on “gadgets” like burnishing and smudging. I started with very light sepia colored pencil for the faint outline adding umbers as I went along. later I added whites and the potentially messy Ebony pencils.

Miss_Lillian_1994.jpg (47512 bytes)   Pandoras_Box_copy.jpg (73444 bytes)

Q.) How does this differ from full color three dimensional scenes like Pandora's Box? Do you use all of these blending techniques together?

A.) It really doesn't differ basically, except that there are more colors and textures applied the same way in layers and controlled to create various effects. I always start with thin light lines, like peach or umbers for a face and the lightest colors overall and go darker and darker in shade and growing brighter and brighter in pigment or tone as these layers build up. Yes and no. I use almost all of these techniques as needed in most pictures to create contrast and various effects from the lighting and textures to create the illusion of three dimensions.

Q.) What about the layers of color? How are they applied?

A.) A little at a time, add color, blend, polish, erase, re-define details, then add MORE color, blend, polish, erase, re-define details again, and repeat this process as often as necessary. A great short cut is underlayments and they often look much better too!

Q.) How do you start adding color in a large area without building the color up to thick on say a forehead on a portrait or a sky in a three dimensional story telling picture?

A.) I almost always use underlayments. Sometimes I prepare a huge thick solid area of flesh color or blue prismacolor on scrap paper and polish it with toilet tissue in a circular motion. Sometimes I prepare a huge thick solid area of flesh color or blue soft pastel on scrap paper and polish it with toilet tissue in a circular motion.  I also experiment with the use of different kinds of colored inks, sometimes I used thinned down acrylics or watered down watercolors applied thinly and lightly as to not wrinkle the Bristol board and let it dry overnight before I start with in with colored pencil and pastels. Experiment with under layments and create your own secrets!

Q.) How do you finish, by applying layers of colored pencil and soft pastel to create the colors and sharp pencils for the details?

A.) Yes, that's EXACTLY what I do! Layer upon layer-don't be afraid to experiment! Sometimes I often take lighter fluid and melt the colored pencils and brush it around like oils! A prismacolor painting! Sometimes I add water to soft pastels and apply them with a brush as a final layer of contrasting texture. I always apply Ebony pencil as a finishing texture or detail to darken the colors, the overall picture or shadow areas. Sometimes I use acrylic or Prismacolor to large black areas for dramatic contrast too.

 


The Johnson Galleries

hdjart-03-banner.jpg (25156 bytes)

Admission Free Non-Profit Virtual Realistic Art Museum

The Realistic Art Galleries of Contemporary American Illustrator & Photographer Howard David Johnson

Click on the Icons to visit the  Fun & Educational Art Galleries : Including Realistic Art of Greek Mythology, Mythic art of Rome, Asia, The Celts, The Norsemen, and more ...Fairy and Dragon legends, The King Arthur Legends, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Paintings of Ancient Egypt and Babylon, Illustrations of Ancient Mystic Religious texts, War and Civilization from The Ancient Spartans and the Trojan Horse to World War Two, The World's Great Religions, free lessons in Realistic Art Technique and Essays on Realistic Art and Technology.

Welcome! Click F 11 for full screen mode or again to remove it... If your browser ever stops loading click refresh

 

These Realistic Art Galleries and those they link to are suitable for General Audiences...

 

Enter a world of Beauty and Imagination...

 

Fairies - Realistic art gallery link.jpg (17733 bytes)

_Btn.myth.jpg (4278 bytes)

btn celtic&.jpg (15723 bytes)

The World's Great Religions Art Gallery.jpg (14460 bytes)

deutsche mythologie.jpg (14999 bytes)

Realistic Fantasy Art Gallery.jpg (16883 bytes)

Fairy Paintings

Greek Mythology

Celtic Mythology World's Religions Norse Mythology Surreal Fantasy Art

Asian mythology Art Gallery.jpg (13921 bytes)

~symbolist art.jpg (15008 bytes)

~The seven wonders of the ancient world btn.jpg (14813 bytes) _Btn.res.jpg (4044 bytes) Alamo btn.jpg (17997 bytes) Greek Myths Link.jpg (17046 bytes)

Asian Mythology

Symbolist Art

The Seven Wonders Res Publica Legends of History Spartan Warriors
Digital Realistic Art Gallery Link.jpg (17603 bytes) Free-lance Art & Contracting.jpg (17032 bytes) btn.com.2.jpg (15461 bytes) _A History of Dragons.jpg (14657 bytes) btn.Phantom of the Opera.jpg (16977 bytes) Mythic-Women Art Gallery Link.jpg (19893 bytes)

Art Numérique

Art Commissions

Commercial Art

History of Dragons

More Fantasy Art

Mythic Women Art
btn_stages.jpg (16477 bytes) _Btn.port.jpg (3193 bytes) Realistic Art Instruction link.jpg (14563 bytes) _Btn.fine.jpg (4916 bytes) Realistic Paintings Art Gallery.jpg (14400 bytes)
Pin up Art Gallery Basic Art Technique Studio Photography Art Instruction Frauen Mit Blumen Realistic Paintings
_Btn.abouthdj.jpg (3569 bytes) _Thumbelina_copy.jpg (3431 bytes) ~btn.pencil drawings.jpg (11394 bytes) Colored pencil portraits Art Gallery II.jpg (12252 bytes) Free Fairy Wallpapers link.jpg (17183 bytes) Pre- raphaelite Art link.jpg (16219 bytes)
About the Artist Thumbelina full size Pencil Portraits I Colored Pencils II Fairy Wallpapers Pre-Raphaelite Art
All Realistic Art - paintings, pictures, & text  (c) 1982- 2008 Howard David Johnson  All rights reserved

The Johnson Galleries have been honored by more than 

20,000,000 unique visitors 

from the Four Corners of the Earth:

My Friends from around the world thus far :

England,   Canada,   Scotland,   Wales,   Ireland,  Germany,   France,   Greece,  Cyprus,   Turkey,  Italy,   Belgium,   Denmark,   Yugoslavia,  Macedonia,  Croatia,  The Czech Republic,   Bosnia,   Herzegovina,   Slovakia,    Slovenia,  Luxembourg,   Latvia,   Estonia,   Hungary,    Bulgaria,   Lithuania,   Poland,   Austria,   Romania,    Spain,    Russia,    Ukraine,   Kazakhstan,   Moldova,   Malta,   Iceland,   Finland,   Norway,   Netherlands,   Switzerland,   Sweden,   Portugal,   Israel,   Egypt,   Saudi Arabia,   The United Arab Emirates,   Qatar,   Yemen,   Iraq,   Iran,   Jordan,   Lebanon,   Morocco,   The Republic of Congo,    Angola,   Ghana,   The Ivory Coast,  Zambia,   Zimbabwe,   Nigeria,   Namibia,   South Africa,   Mauritius,   Japan,   South Korea,   China,   Macau,    Taiwan,   Nuie,   New Zealand,   Australia,   The Philippines,   Palau,   Cocos Island,  The Kingdom of Tonga,   Singapore,   Thailand,   Viet Nam,    Malaysia,   Brunei Darussalem,    India,   Sri Lanka,   Pakistan,    Indonesia,    Chile,   Argentina,   Uruguay,   Brazil,   Peru,   Venezuela,   The Dominican Republic,    Guatemala,   Costa Rica,   Colombia,   Trinidad   and  Tobago,   Panama,    Ecuador,   Belize,   Cuba,   Puerto Rico,   Mexico,    

and my home,   The United States of America...

If your home is not listed here please e-mail us and tell us where you're from...

 

All  paintings, pictures, & text  (c) 1993- 2008 Howard David Johnson All Rights Reserved World Wide

The Brandywine School of Illustrative Art

Is A Program of Private and Personal Illustrative Instruction and is a Non- Accredited School

Thank You for Visiting...

 

Thought you might enjoy this recent interview promoting my new book; "World Folk Tales volume one:": www.worldfolktales.com

INTERVIEW WITH COLIN BRADSHAW-JONES 5/25/05


CBJ Hello David, thanks for agreeing to do this interview.

DAVID: My pleasure.

CBJ Tell us about Austin, and how you came to find yourself there.

DAVID: My family came to San Antonio Texas seven generations ago in 1824 with Stephen F. Austin under the original land grant from Santa Anna. My ancestors on both sides defended the Alamo. I moved to Austin in 1974 to attend the University of Texas and loved it. After a lifetime of travelling the world with my military family I decided to settle down so mine could have roots. In the thirty-one years I’ve lived here its changed from a sleepy little college town to a metropolis like Los Angeles with all the its city problems. I live close to the University and downtown area so I can enjoy all the cultural highlights and pretend the ugly suburbs and traffic don’t exist.

CBJ I guess you’ve always painted, ‘as a bird sings’(Monet).

DAVID: You got that right. My Mom and Dad say I “painted little murals” in my baby crib with “available materials” from my diaper. My Dad said: ”Looks like we got us a little artist”. I moved on to creating murals around the house with my big brother's crayola crayons. My mother tired quickly of cleaning the walls and began providing me with typing paper and my own deluxe set of color crayons. I drew happily and stayed out of trouble for years. By age six I was creating little picture books on subjects like the heroes of American History and informed my parents that I had decided to dedicate my life to art. Once I started school, I drew diligently every day with pencils. I always finished my assignments early and some teachers were outraged that I would quietly draw while waiting on the rest of the class and punished me but others approved whole heartedly. In art classes in elementary school I got ahold of pastels and paints for the first time. All those years as a boy while I was developing my anatomy and composition in pencil people told me that it was not a valid medium for artistic expression. I could only afford watercolors and pastels so I worked with what I could get my hands on, but still everyone said I needed to be doing oil paintings and dismissed my work as invalid. Mixed media started because of lack of finance, but became a delight. My mother was among them but couldn't buy me any oils of my own because of my father's violent dissaproval. He wanted me to die fighting in Viet Nam, not serve with honor but die with honor.For some strange reason, this did not appeal to me. She quit painting altogether at his insistence. Later I could afford acrylics but I got the same disrespect. At the age of nineteen I realized my favorite masters used photographs as reference, then I learned Da Vinci and Michaelangelo traced. Well, if you can't beat 'em- join 'em. Naturally everyone I knew condemned me for this and said I was a thief and not an artist. To overcome this, I bought a camera and began taking my own photos, later acquiring a complete studio of my own by reason of hard work. My sons and their love of video games is what led me to get into computers. My oldest son, Christian, wanted to be a computer artist for video games and in the process of giving him complete support I acquired all the computers and software he needed. I realized this was a whole new ball game and combined with the internet was the biggest thing to happen in the visual arts since the Renaissance and I wanted to be a part of it.

CBJ I’m fascinated by the diversity of media that you use, but your style is so utterly seamless that I can’t always tell what was done with what, especially from photos. Could you take us through a couple of pictures on your website and tell us which medium or combination you used?

DAVID: I am an experimentalist. There is no set formula and that’s why its still fun after all these years. Finding and training the right models, Photography, Mathematical Design and assembling the various elements into a composition all come before the image is transferred to paper or canvas and rendered in combinations of prismacolor pencils, acrylics, oils, or other traditional art media. I go into great detail with plentiful examples and illustrations on my website www.howarddavidjohnson.com on the’ about the artist’ and ‘digital techniques’ pages and also have several pages of free art lessons. Like Houdini and other illusionists before me I am not eager to share all my secrets with the general public, but I do offer private instruction through my correspondence school for serious artists. 

CBJ Could you show us an image which was solely created with photoshop and an image which was solely created with paint? That’d be fascinating.

DAVID: There is no such thing. Although my oil paintings are all oil, they are based on my digital montages and my digital montages contain nearly every medium known to man. Photoshop is just another tool in my studio. In the early days of photography artists used various transfer methods like enlargement grids and the like. Later artists like Maxfield Parrish would cut out and assemble photographic collages to trace on boards or canvas and then paint. Even later projection equipment lended more speed and control, but mechanical aids could also create a dependence, stifling artist's creativity and imposing limits. This has always been one the greatest pitfalls of working from photographs. For decades I made differently sized xeroxes and tracings and and cut them out and slid them around replacing them with larger and smaller copies to get the perspectives perfect and the design of the composition to have the mathematical precision I wanted. 
What a mess! Bits of paper trash and glue everywhere! Irritating trips to a copy store that did not want to wait on customers who wanted less than a hundred copies. Then came computers..! No more mess..! much lower expenses! The old collages were a mess and were almost always destroyed because of their raggedness, but these new Digital Photo Montages are Surprisingly presentable compared to their forerunners in earlier technologies. The old masters had several apprentices to grind their pigment to make oil paints, then came oils in a tube, the impressionists and the Plein air tradition followed. They were told they were not ‘real” artists because they did not grind their own pigments, now few people realize paint didn’t always come pre-mixed in tubes. These wonderful developments in technology will have no less impact on art history! 


CBJ Your attention to detail is something I find unusual amongst today’s artists. How do you fit into the ‘art world’?

DAVID: I’m a non-conformist and a recluse. I’d rather die than fit in to the “modern art scene”. I have been acclaimed and honoured by critics, curators, and scholars but also condemned by jealous third rate artists who hate me for striving for such a high standard of quality. Since the times of the ancient Greeks, Art History records a relentless quest for Realism and artistic excellence in realistic paintings and sculpture. The masters of each generation strove to perfect their craft, then passed on the torch of their accumulated knowledge and skill to the next generation. The accomplishments and technological breakthroughs of one generation have often set new standards of excellence for the next. Digital media has done that in spades!

CBJ David, you get an incredible number of visitors to your website (www.howarddavidjohnson.com) Tell us about some of the reaction you’ve had.

DAVID: I’m getting between a million and a half to two million hits a week from more than a hundred countries. My most gratifying feelings come from the academic and educational communities expressions of joy to discover new art works of this kind. I’m so busy I’ve turned away more than sixty thousand dollars in commissions so far this year. I get tidal waves of mail offering me so many business opportunities that it’s overwhelming. I have to have a screener to sort through the various kinds of mail. I used get a thousand love letters for each piece of “computers are evil!”or “illustration is not art” hate mail, but I haven’t gotten a mean letter in more than two years, I guess, like tube paints, people are starting to get used to them. I never get tired of the kind words and encouragement.

CBJ How important is it to you to teach others? 

DAVID: Very important. I wish I could, but I cannot pay back the great artists who came before me and paved the way for me by setting such fine examples for me to copy, I can only pay forward. Even though I have turned away so much work, I will always put down what I am doing to answer my students the same day.

CBJ Do you believe in fairies?

DAVID: No. However, the folklore is an important part of my American Scots-Irish family's roots and cultural heritage after all and I feel what we do have left is to be preserved and never to be treated lightly even if I don't believe any of the supernatural elements in it. The myths have so much to offer us today. We must preserve them or we will be cut off from our roots and we all know what happens when you cut off a plant’s roots. The same thing is happening to our culture, this is why I’ve rolled up my sleeves and gotten to work hoping to help do for images what Aesop, the Brothers Grimm and Walt Disney did for the old stories, reworking them to appeal to future generations. Living in America, "the great melting pot" many of us are cut off from our roots. Black Americans were the first to address this crisis by embracing their heritage. I was particularly inspired by African American author Alex Haley and his book "Roots". With the mobile society and the breakdown of the family unit, other groups of Americans are now suffering an identity crisis. Very few Americans are so fortunate as to have a genealogist in the family like my mother and most don't even know the names of their great-grandparents. I feel these legends as well as our history tell us much about who we are, where we came from, and can keep us rooted and grounded as we go forward into a new age and a new millennium. I feel if you are comfortable with who you are it is much easier to be comfortable with who others are. I love mythology, fairy tales, legends, and history. Studying and painting them is still great fun for me. I am trying to preserve our heritage and draw young people's attention to it by appealing to modern tastes while staying true to the source.

CBJ Tell us what you’re working on at the moment.

DAVID: I’m currently getting paid handsomely to render “Pandora’s Box” into a 16 x20 oil painting on canvas and when that is done, I have an unpublished montage of the goddess Diana based on photos I shot of a nude dancing Russian ballerina with a bow based on an exquisite art deco statue that I will render for the same collector. I’m really enjoying myself.

CBJ Where does your work end up?

DAVID: There are originals in various media all over the world in the hands of private collectors. I have an enormous collection myself of every kind of media I use but oils, which I have oversold. They come together slow and are sold before I can get them finished. This is why I am in seclusion now, to build that exhibition back up. My Traditional Realistic Art was exhibited in the British Museum in London in 1996, ( 3 years before I got my first computer ) as well as numerous American ones since, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My realistic illustrations have made appearances in every major bookstore and game shop chain in America as well as magazines and educational texts around the world. Some of my more prestigious clients have included the University of Texas, the University of Cambridge in England, Paramount Studios, PBS TV, Enslow Educational Publishers, Adobe Photoshop, Auto FX, Tree-Free Greeting Cards, Sound Choice, Verizon wireless, IPOD, Doubleday, the Book of the Month Club, (Bookspan), and J Walter Thompson Advertising, just to name a few. I have contacts with many museums and when I have built my exhibition of oils up, will have a travelling show and finally donate several to key museums who have asked me. Hopefully, when I fulfill their requests they will still want them and that is where the best of them will ultimately wind up.

CBJ What’s a typical day like?

DAVID: I love my life. I live in Hyde Park in downtown Austin (in the proverbial ivory tower) and am able to ignore how my beloved little college town has turned into a big city around me with all the usual big city problems. My studio is in my home so I get up when ever I please, usually around one in the afternoon and have a cup of coffee. If I don't have a commercial project going I check my mail that my screening service has cleared for me. While I'm puttering about I burn CDs for license deals fill print orders and check in on my students. My wife goes by the Post office for me on her errands. Then I choose one of my many irons in the fire and get to work, usually going late into the night. It is so peaceful at night, I much prefer working then. I always take a couple hours off in the evening to spend with my family on workdays. Sunday is always reserved exclusively for GOD and family. Because of the blessings of GOD I have seen my dreams come true in my lifetime and am truly thankful everyday. I always put down what I'm doing when my friends call because they have such rigid schedules and I have so much freedom. Austin, Texas is a very peaceful place to live and a cultural center- a great place for an artist to call home. I love my work, I have many fun hobbies and have wonderful and fulfilling relationships with my GOD, my family and my friends.

CBJ For the record, which painters have influenced you?

DAVID: Although I love Rossetti and all the other Pre- Raphaelite artists dearly, none of the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood has influenced me more visibly than John William Waterhouse. Helen of Troy is my loving tribute to him, his vision, and his magnificent and deeply inspirational works. ( My life and artistic vision are patterned after and inspired by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, but the actual appearance of my works are more patterned after those of J W Waterhouse.) One of the greatest things that ever happened to me was to hear from the Rossetti family telling me they considered me a true successor to the Pre-Raphaelites. I have always held a vision of the ideal woman from my earliest childhood. When I saw the works of the Pre-Raphaelites such as John William Waterhouse and Dante Gabriel Rossetti I was captivated by the feeling in their paintings. Their critics called them "shameless woman worshippers" but their work enchanted me and countless others. I was nineteen when I first saw them and have sought to unravel the mystery of their magic. Of course the magic is true love. It would take much more than working harder on my sketches- a quest was in order. My wife was the perfect model but so modest that she did not want me to show her to the world and wanted me to use other models. I searched high and low for women with similar qualities. Hundreds and hundreds of interviews and years of searching for my models has paid off, but my muses (my most dear and inspiring models ) were just sent to me, as if from God. With most of these I have formed life- long friendships. For example: My little pet albino ferret got out and got lost. We were heartbroken when we couldn't find her. A knock came at the door and there was our little lost ferret in the arms of Carmen, soon to be one of my most inspiring, beautiful and versatile models. I fell to my knees and declared the greatness of her beauty. I asked her in and showed her my artwork and asked her to model for me. That was ten years ago and last summer I was proud to do her bridal portraits. When I choose a model, there's always a feeling of Cinderella in the air. Girls love that. I discovered that as an artist and admirer I could offer this elite sorority of ladies a sense of fulfillment that their lovers and family members could never offer them. ( Not to mention GREAT portraits free of charge for the families and loved ones.) Everyone who encounters these women tells them they are beautiful, but to be told by someone who is NOT trying to seduce them is so rare and always touching. My solid relationship with my wife and family makes them feel comfortable and secure working with me. My showers of praise and passion to create a record of their beauty combine with other like elements to make them sigh. The moment of truth! Then, amid all the lights and glamour of my photography studio, I take the pictures I Draw and Paint from. Coming from the technical angle I show them sketches or paintings or photos of statues along with my existing artwork to coach them and demonstrate exactly what I want. So, it is achieved by having clear objectives, communication, passion, and a very high comfort level among everyone involved. Now why I would want to portray women in art like this is another story... Women are the brightest and loveliest of all of GOD's creations, without them, life would be unbearable. My mother would take me on outings when I was young and set up her easel outdoors to paint breathtaking landscapes and seascapes in oil because that was where she saw the most beauty. I fell in love with the outdoors too, but with me, it is womankind that inspires me the most- not just because of outward beauty, but because of the totality of what they are. Womankind are my moon and my stars, but my wife is the sun that brings warmth and life. I have been very displeased with the portrayals of helpless and degraded women in the media and choose to lift them up and celebrate their strength and virtue along with their beauty.

CBJ Which living artists work do you admire?

DAVID:  I wish I could rattle off a list, but truthfully, Frank Frazetta is the only living painter I admire, he is rooted in the classical tradition and was instrumental to starting me on my path. I like the Pre-raphaelites and the Old masters.Comic Book artists like Wallace Wood,with his Valor and Frontline Combat really got me into story telling with art.

CBJ Much of your work is absolutely perfect in every way. But are there any works which stand out as masterpieces to you?

DAVID: Thank you, but I don’t agree. I have my favorites, but I think I have a lot of room left for improvement.

CBJ Anything you’d like us to learn?

DAVID: Yes, but I’ve gone on and on today, you can read my essays on my website if you’re interested in any serious thoughts about art and society I have.

CBJ David, it’s been an absolute honour and a privilege. May your brush stay forever supple.

DAVID: Thanks for your kind attention.

All  paintings, pictures, & text  (c) 1993- 2008 Howard David Johnson All Rights Reserved World Wide

The Brandywine School of Illustrative Art

Is A Program of Private and Personal Illustrative Instruction and is a Non- Accredited School

Thank You for Visiting...