About Kristen Johns

Finding the magic in our mundane lives, and sharing it through graphite and watercolour.

Kristen Johns began her journey into the the visual arts by earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History at the University of Victoria. Shortly afterwards she began painting herself and has continued to create for over 20 years.

She is self taught when it comes to drawing and painting and has concentrated on mastering watercolour, coloured pencils and graphite. She has exhibited her works in many local shows including The Sooke Fine Arts Show, The Victoria Arts Council Exhibitions, and community Art Crawls. She has also created commissioned work for many individuals and businesses in North America, like Taproot Magazine, as well as selling her work to a global audience online.

See more of Kristen's art.

Kristen is married to artist Marc Johns and together they have created many collaborative pieces. Although they had worked together for many years supporting each other’s art careers, they hadn’t created work jointly until early 2020 during the Covid shutdowns. Many artworks have followed with both of their unique styles working beautifully together. Their pieces have been sold and collected worldwide.

Kristen’s art is focussed on drawing plants of all kinds, but especially those that are directly around her: the leaves, food, seeds, and flowers in her own garden. She believes that plants not only connect us to nature and the seasons, but also to each other, our food, our memories, and our journey on this planet. She lives, works and gardens in Victoria, BC, Canada.

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My Process

Materials

I use watercolours, graphite, and coloured pencil on paper to create my work - sometimes one or two of these, and sometimes all three in one piece. Washes of colour, refined details and smudges of graphite all play a part in my creative process. I love to capture the mood of the plants with light washes of colour as well as bring out the incredible details of the subject’s lines, textures and folds with the coloured pencils. I use oil based coloured pencils by Faber-Castell (Polychromos) which blend together very well and offer punchy colour to the piece. Drawing my hand is a real joy as well which I often capture in graphite in order to bring light and importance to the plants that I paint in colour.

I am particularly drawn to graphite these days; I can get lost in the myriad tones of grey for hours. To reduce an image down to darks and lights allows me to focus solely on form, while the energy of the subject is still very much alive. Graphite also creates a wonderful opportunity to express texture and drama as well. It is a very versatile medium which I look forward to exploring more.

Subjects

Plants have been a huge source of inspiration for me for many years. Trees, flowers, seeds, herbs, home grown food - all of them! They are endlessly fascinating to me with their simple beauty, intricate structures and incredible diversity. The plants that are close by are what I choose to draw and paint the most. Connecting to nature and experiencing it’s energy is where all my artwork begins. I would much rather draw a flower or leaf that is part of my daily life and which I can see up close and hold in my hand.

Art prints

Creating prints has been an important part of my art practice. After years of experimentation, I’ve found a beautiful matte paper that I’m really happy with, that allows the artwork to be reproduced accurately and maintains the spirit of the original. I have them professionally printed at a local print shop here in Victoria, on a woven, textured 100lb paper which shows the subtle details and tones of the original drawing beautifully.

My prints can be enjoyed individually or in sets to create a modern botanical art wall.

Kristen's Prints

Commissions

I am always open to do commissions! Whether it’s a commercial project, or something more personal like drawing your favourite rose, I’d be happy to discuss it. I can work in graphite or watercolour, whichever suits your project. I have been hired to make many pieces over the years, often to be given as gifts to others, or to celebrate a special memory of a plant that is meaningful. The elm branch drawing pictured below was created for a client who wanted to acknowledge a beautiful memory of picnicking below the huge tree.

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