Ken Johnston

People ask me when I knew I wanted to be an artist. Hmmm... I really can't remember a time I wasn't creating art (crayons were my first fine-art medium). I grew up on a farm in SouthWest Missouri, and over the years (with the encouragement of a supportive family) Kenny's crayon drawings became Ken's (self-taught) paintings in oil and watercolor.

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I pursued art in college for a couple of years, but was less-than-impressed with the "instruction" there, and went on to teach myself a unique approach to transparent and opaque watercolor painting techniques that I ultimately wrote three books about (Anyone Can Watercolor), and also produced a video series on. Then I had the great pleasure of traveling and sharing these techniques in U.S. and Canadian workshops for several years!

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My art has always tended to be pretty photo-realistic, and I brought that realist eye to the portrayal of Tulsa, Oklahoma's skyline, art museums, and city parks. Tulsa's a beautiful city (I lived there for 20 years), and I wanted to create artwork that celebrated this place I loved.