Douglas Johnson is a fine artist who has made Baltimore his home since 1987 when he began his studies at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Johnson lives to create with color. His work continues to explore new possibilities of water-based media: primarily watercolor, gouache and ink. 

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Figures that have a living presence, landscapes that stretch out for miles, expressed in paintings made with a spare economy of swift marks. It is this gymnastic precision in Johnson's brushwork and unbridled use of saturated color that make his paintings so recognizable.

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In addition to his accomplishments as a painter, he has been an active member of the theatre community as a writer, director, and producer of set designs for Annex Theater, Yellow Sign Theatre, Frith and Inle, Everyman Theater, Single Carrot Theatre and the Baltimore Rock Opera Society. Johnson's experience in preservation includes work on the restoration of the Brumidi Corridors of the United States Capitol and Clifton Mansion, former summer residence of Johns Hopkins.

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American Artist Magazine has praised Johnson’s “provocative approach to watercolor, one that relies on shockingly vibrant colors [and] flowing strokes of transparent paint,” describing him as a “serious and well-informed” artist.