Studied art at the University of Missouri, School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the American Academy. He won numerous awards in both fine art painting and advertising illustration.
His illustrations for national advertisers include Coca Cola, Campbell's V-8, Kraft Foods, Green Giant, Kellogg, 7-Up, Pillsbury, American Bakeries, Mars, Inc. Among his extra curricular activities includeded metal sculpture and beard growing.
Part of the Chicago "Nine Illustrators". John's Iconic art was the bridge between rendering and photography in realistic product sales until his death in 1965.
Active from the 1930's until his early death in 1965, John Howard's works graced magazine ads in the transitional age before modern photography editing; A time when imagery was best conveyed thru the artists rendition of products.
His specialty was food and beverages, and was the first to use the water droplet effect to convey the fresh cold crispness of the product. One example of his technique can be seen on the V-8 juice label.
He also moved towards photography later in his career, and was the inventor of "Spectarama" which was a photographic lens used to create the effect used in the 1963 film X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes .