David Johnson was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa. He studied painting, drawing and printmaking at the University of Iowa, where he received his BFA in 1977, and later attended the Cleveland Institute of Art and earned his MFA at Miami University. He taught beginning drawing, figure drawing, Intro to Printmaking, and Woodcut at Ball State University for 33 years. He has shown his prints, drawings and artist’s books in approximately 400 exhibitions since 1982.
About his art, David says, “I believe in the idea that Elizabeth Catlett took from Grant Wood, which was something like; make your work about something you know about, your life, things you have seen or experienced. I believe in drawing from life. I am interested in the attempt to make a graphic representation of our world; the people, places and things in it, the often scribbly results of drawing from observation… Drawing is wonderful; but drawing is so fragile. With etching I can throw the sink at it. I can do endless experimentation with color and texture. And the end result seems more permanent as the image is turned into ink on paper. Woodcut seems to have unfair advantages. With woodcut the drawn image is cut into wood or linoleum and turned into chunky, dynamic shapes and lines with unforeseen impact. And everybody can do it, in the basement, in the kitchen, in the garage, with a gauge and a roller and a wooden spoon to print it with.”
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