Marnie Johnson - Artist, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Marnie Johnson
Oil Painting
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Artist's Technique

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The Artist

I use Holbein oil paint on masonite. I size the board, cut it with a saw and sand it. As a primer, I combine gesso with acrylic black paint to make a medium gray and paint several coats onto the masonite and sand between each layer.

Oils are suited to my temperament since you can glob it on thick and quick or paint thin and methodically, whatever mood you are in at the time. You can't make mistakes with oils because you can always paint over it and I like that, since each painting is an experiment.

I started out as an Impressionist painter because of the influence of my father, Bob Johnson, who was a painter and sculptor, and also because of Sergei Bongart. I was a scholarship student of this wild Russian painter and though I loved his style of painting, I soon discovered it was not for me since I liked more detail. Fortunately, he introduced me to the work of Kathe Kollwitz and Andrew Wyeth. In the early '70's, it was almost taboo to be a realist, but I eventually chose that path.

"Map of Texas" by Bob Johnson
"Map of Texas"
by Bob Johnson

Though now after so many years, I consider myself a realist-impressionist since I love the brush stroke and color of impressionism as well as the detail of realism.

Yet I have learned that every painting should have an abstract design within the composition. The passages of light and shadow within a painting can be compared to the highs and lows within a symphony. It is an interplay of opposites. The trick is to see the simplicity in the complex and visa versa. Technique is essential in a good painting, but a great painting is inspirational and can come with having a child-like sense of exploration and abandonment.

Recently I read a quote from Picasso that I could relate to:

"It takes a long time to become a child again."

Marnie Johnson