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All images copyright
1993-2008 Howard David Johnson all rights reserved.
*****
STYLE and
TECHNIQUE
"Those who are enamoured 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. |
|
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 Numérique )
. 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 Numérique
) 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. He loves to paint custom oil paintings and accepts commissions with down
payments starting at one thousand dollars. On his existing works his low cost license
offers start at only 100 dollars.
*****
All paintings, pictures,
& text (c) 1993- 2008 Howard David Johnson All rights reserved
Thank You for Visiting the
Paintings & Pictures of Beautiful Women Gallery
***** |
|
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
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
viciously 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... |
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
***** |
| 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. |
The Rebirth of Realism
More 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.
|
Drawing,
painting, photography & digital artistry |
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. |
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
|
Essay V
Sexuality,
Violence, Morality, and their relationships with the Arts in 21st century
American Society
A case for the
sacredness, purity, and beauty of the human form
A brief personal opinion essay
by the artist
|
In
our 21st century western society the disparity between the moral attitudes
toward images and actions is amazing to me and I will examine in this article
just how unfair they really have become and how "political
correctness" is destroying our cultural heritage.
In history,
the Classical or Greco-Roman school of art is distinguished by the notion that the human
form is the ultimate arena for artistic expression. Unclothed figures were very common in
Classical art and their culture was very comfortable with it in general. The Victorians in
contrast have always stood out in my mind for their extreme prudishness and
puritanicalism. They invented the tablecloth to prevent men from looking at a table's legs
because they feared a table leg might make men think of sex. In spite of this, 19th
century Victorian Art did allow some unclothed figures in statues and paintings within
certain bounds. One of the principal attractions of fairy paintings for the Mid-Victorians
was that they made possible highly realistic and erotic pictures of unclad females that
would have otherwise been inadmissible. In the 20th century the sexual revolution
eliminated all of these traditional boundaries. I can see how the radical transformation
of society by the total liberation of the subconscious was a bit too much for most people.
In 21st century America however, the sight of a healthy partially unclad woman is taboo even
as an innocent or religious depiction in the
visual arts.
A moral pendulum swinging too far
again?
I find this very interesting considering they way American society is so
comfortable with violence- even children viewing extreme violence and gore on television and in motion
pictures. It's terrible- disembowelments, exploding heads with splattering blood and guts,
cut off arms and legs are deemed just fine for prime time children's viewing. But not to
worry- the profanity has been edited out. It seems too arbitrary to me. If the human body
is torn apart or cut to pieces it is all right. Desecration of the human body is embraced
or tolerated while appreciation or adoration even in art, is condemned. I
think the human form is sacred.
The average American child sees
20,000 violent deaths on television alone by the age of 10.
After all the outrageous and horrible events that have happened in America
surrounding the turn of the millennium I am amazed that the only real public out cry about
anything has come about over a harmless affair in a politician's private life and a stray
breast at a national sporting event. I also find it interesting that the religious
establishment in America feels that the healthy uncovered female human body is a dirty,
filthy thing to be ashamed of. I disagree.
Since the source for this stigma about images of
women is supposed to be the influence on our society's laws by the sacred
writings of the Judeo-Christians, I present to you the idea that this is not
what these actually teach and they are also being treated as arbitrarily as a
buffet line and will use illustrations. This attitude comes from Jesus' saying: "If a man even look at a woman
to lust after her, he has already committed adultery in his heart." By this same
standard, just thinking about robbing the poor and the elderly is a sin, but in our
society the act is considered "a good business move". Don't misunderstand me, he
taught that his commandment was to love one another, and basically that if you did that
the ceremonial law was fulfilled. A more positive approach; if you love someone you won't
murder them, falsely accuse them, etc., etc., If your heart is full of covetousness for a
woman, a car or anything it is likely you will transgress this law in practice. Cheating,
stealing, torture, and even murder in actual practice are taken in stride by our society, but
seeing a woman's left bosom exposed is an outrage. If the Ten Commandments are the
standard we're going by as they say-
What about the other nine?
Children are diligently taught to dishonor their parents on
every "family" television show. It is taboo now- yes, it is actually considered
wrong to portray a good father in American movies and television with only the rarest of
exceptions. What is so terribly wrong about a portrayal of a good dad? To me, this is an
outrage. Stealing the retirements of thousands of citizens who have worked hard
for them all their
lives is also considered "a good business move". What about "thou shalt not murder"?
(Interestingly, it doesn't say” kill"{ harag } in the original Hebrew text, {
Exodus 20:13 } but "murder"{ ratsach }. ) In Nazi Germany, six million people-
Jews, Christians, and politicals were secretly murdered in the death camps, but in modern
America, more than forty million baby boys and girls have been publicly murdered
by willing citizens in
abortion clinics and we call that a “choice". Of course it is a
choice- choosing to murder a helpless child! If that was called the Holocaust,
how will history judge us? I
was told by an abortion advocate that I am wrong, that a child still in the womb is not a
human being-
but a fetus. My wife was born in 1959 when her
mother was four months and two weeks pregnant- is she a fetus? Of course not!
She is a human being- a wonderful wife, mother and award winning teacher. The Nazis felt if they
declared that the Jews were not human, it would be much easier to mass-murder them. This Nazi-style de-humanization
of unborn children is necessary to deaden the conscience before murder. Judeo-Christian morality, and
that's what we're talking about here as the most influential source of America's
laws, ONLY justifies killing in self-defense. The child in the womb is
defenseless. I find this astonishing that we
as a society can embrace such such
horrific and gruesome acts and then make an issue over a nude painting or
statue. I ONLY bring these up as an examples of the disparity between society's acceptance
or tolerance of these violent and gruesome things
I've mentioned to contrast them to the intolerance of the sight of
a peaceful woman’s uncovered bosom celebrated for it's natural beauty in an
innocent setting through the visual
arts.
Why is the sight of a naked
man's chest considered to be decent and not a woman's? I think there is a
disparity here too in our attitude toward images. If the sight of a woman's chest is an
outrage why is a man's permissible in ANY situation? I am
told certain works of Leonardo Da Vinci are pornographic now because of a nipple but I see romance novel
covers in the grocery store with photos of naked men climbing in bedroom windows
to commit adultery-why are those considered acceptable? If images are wrong
because there is a chance a man might think of sex, why are "romance"
novels written glorifying vile acts of sexual betrayal for NO OTHER REASON but
dirty thoughts acceptable?
Why are sleazy soap operas on television available to children with sexually explicit scenes
glorifying
adultery acceptable?
The answer is
simple- its double standard.
As a man, I believe that women are the brightest and loveliest of all of GOD's creations. The
sight of a healthy young partially uncovered girl on television even for a split second is
considered a CRISIS and we hear public outrage? Implying the human body itself
is filthy; Think about
it. Since the basis of this sight of a healthy human body taboo is supposed to be of
Judeo-Christian religious origin, I want to debunk this outrageous doctrine that the
human body is filthy. In the Bible's first book, Genesis, it says, "they were naked
and were not ashamed" and it teaches us that men and women were "made in the
image of GOD". To follow this line of reasoning, GOD would also have to be filthy.
Case closed. I don't think what I perceive to be the crowning achievement of GOD's
creation, the woman - is filthy, but is instead pure and beautiful.
What I believe to be GOD's greatest
creation is considered filthy, and not people's minds?
What's wrong with this
picture?
These outrageous boundaries chosen by our society are
so poorly thought out that Michelangelo's statue of David is now deemed pornography and
books with such immortal works of art are being removed from our public school
libraries because of "politically correct" activists. I'm not
suggesting that we remove these boundaries again like in the 1970's, Heaven forbid! Only that these newest ones
are ill conceived and badly placed and I would personally prefer to return to the
traditional ones and avoid all these extremes.
~ HD Johnson
MMVII
*****
Thank You for Visiting the
Paintings & Pictures of Beautiful Women Gallery
All these paintings, pictures,
& text are copyrighted & were registered with the Library of Congress Office
of Copyright in 2004-08 by the author, Howard David Johnson All rights reserved worldwide
*****
|
