Still Life Painting
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William Henry Johnson
Untitled, Still Life with Flowers
watercolor and pencil on paper
ca early 1930s
Borrell Collection, Florence County Museum
This watercolor painting bears striking similarities to Holcha’s floral still life not just in media and subject matter, but in style.
Holcha Krake Johnson
Still Life with Yellow Flowers
watercolor on paper
ca early 1930s
Wright Collection of Southern Art
William and Holcha kept a garden on the grounds of their home in Kertiminde, Denmark. It is likely that Holcha cultivated some flowers and other plants for their usefulness in creating dyes for her textiles.
The comparability of this small painting to Johnson’s still life reinforces the hypothesis that Holcha and Johnson were sharing artistic ideas on equal terms, neither being the creative dominant.
Make it at Home!
William H. Johnson and his wife, Holcha Krake, occasionally painted still life paintings. A still life is a painting of arranged objects.
What do you notice about the paintings above? How are they the same? How are they different?
- Gather the following materials:
● Pencil with eraser
● Paint brush or cotton paint swab
● Watercolor palette and a cup with water
● Sheets of paper
● Vase, jar or cup
● Flowers or small branches (Artificial or Real, Dandelions work well!)
- Put your flowers in your vase (or jar, or cup) on a table.
- Using a pencil draw a horizontal line showing the edge of the table.
- Draw the flower vase. Look carefully at the shape. Follow the outline of the vase with your eyes. If it doesn’t look right, erase your lines and try again.
- Draw the flowers and/or leaves. Look at the shape of the flower petals or leaves. You don’t have to draw every petal for it to look like the flower.
- When you are happy with your pencil drawing, you are ready to paint.
- Paint your flowers with watercolor paint to bring your flowers to life.
- Your Flower Still Life Painting is complete! Allow it to fully dry before display.
