I enjoyed the challenge of rendering these humble vegetables in paint. Still searching for that elusive painterly quality, though. Always just out of reach. For sale in a few weeks’ time, when the paint dries! (Reserve it for my early bird price, £85.00 – drop me an email with your postal address, and I’ll put it aside for you: jojohnsonart@gmail.com).
My latest project has come to fruition. An illustrated children’s book based on the story of Joseph in the Bible.
The story of the illustrations actually began about forty years ago, at the boys week at Auchenfoyle Bible camp, where I was asked to create a series of drawings illustrating the story of Joseph for the morning class that year.
I got a big roll of wallpaper backing paper and drew the scenes each day, with black & white felt tip pens. Donnie Black, one of the camp leaders, very practically hit on the idea of mounting the roll of paper on two sticks, so that the illustrations could be progressively unfurled each day as the speakers told the next part of the story to the boys.
By the end of the week, the illustrated ‘scroll’ stretched halfway round the walls of the dining hall. However, all good things come to an end. I took the rolled up ‘scroll’ of illustrations home and stuck it in a cupboard, where it remained for several years while I got on with life, with only the occasional outing when it was borrowed by an old friend who asked if they could use it in their Sunday School.
After I retired, I self-published a few books, including my autobiography and some old diaries my father’s maternal grandparents had kept. The process of compiling and publishing these books made me aware of the new digital tools available to the author/illustrator. Then, I came across the Dr Seuss books, which my grandchildren really enjoyed reading with their dad. I thought to myself, if I re-wrote the story of Joseph in verse, I could use the old drawings I did at Auchenfoyle camp to illustrate the story as a children’s book!
Thus was born the idea of “JOSEPH The Epic Poetic!”
The first job was to put the story into verse. Easier said than done! After two years of trial and error, writing and re-writing, I had a reasonable draft, and was ready to marry the verses to the illustrations. Meanwhile, I scanned the original illustrations into Procreate and embarked on a year-long journey, first teaching myself Procreate, then adding realistic texture and colour to the original drawings.
I published the first version as an A4 sized paperback and then reduced the drawings slightly for the more compact 7″ X 10″ hardback edition.
Now all I have to do is market the book. My YouTube video is here – next stop TikTok!
A few months ago I entered the NYAS open postcard competition, to paint a local landmark on a postcard. I didn’t win, but it was an interesting challenge. I primed the card with shellac, so that the oil paint wouldn’t seep through.
On the back of the postcard, I wrote the following info about this ancient pack horse bridge:
“The Barrel Brig, Queen Mary’s Road, Fife”
Oil on shellac and acrylic primed card.
The Barrel Brig, south of the old mining village of Coaltown of Balgonie, Fife, is a narrow 18th century barrel-vaulted pack-horse bridge, built to replace a medieval bridge. Spanning the river Ore with two arches, cutwater buttresses and no parapets, this route was in use when Mary Queen of Scots rode from Wemyss Castle to Falkland Palace in the mid 1500s. An ancient right of way, it has recently been the subject of a local protest against Network Rail’s proposed closure of pedestrian access to the Barrel Brig due to the re-opening of a rail link to the coastal town of Leven. (Latitude: 56.1726 / 56°10’21″N Longitude: -3.1166 / 3°6’59″W)
You can now buy an A4 print off the NYAS website for £18! (I’ll get a small percentage if you do!)
Here’s the link: https://www.nyartschool.org/product-page/the-barrel-brig-queen-mary-s-road-by-jo-johnson-a4-print
I’m calling this one “Toms ‘n Lydia”! (knock knock … Get it?)
I really enjoyed working out these subtle variations of colour. That luscious Cad Red Light – I could almost eat it. (I said ‘almost’!)
Been looking at some inspiring “Daily Paintings” lately, and while I don’t yet have the stamina or the self-discipline to finish a painting every day, I like the idea of not being too ambitious and focusing in on a modest subject rather than trying to produce an epic masterpiece! This is my first effort, also trying to use the paint more loosely and thickly and not fussing over tiny details. Plenty of room for improvement, but I can see myself making some progress.
