John Langley Howard, son of John Galen Howard and brother of sculptor Robert Howard, was born in New Jersey shortly before his talented family moved west. He attended the University of California and the California School (College) of Arts and Crafts, as well as the Art Students' League of New York.

In 1926, he held his first exhibit at San Francisco's Modern Gallery.  He was one of the artists who were selected to do murals in Coit Tower in San Francisco.  One newspaper account of his large mural mentioned that the painting, which depicts "the mining, hydroelectric power, and orchard industries of the State" shows an "anachronistic but forceful jumble of State activities [from] 1840 down to the present."

This fresco is his only work in that medium, though he has executed many easel paintings, particularly for sports magazines, depicting fishing equipment, tools and specialized machines in meticulous detail.  He died in San Francisco in 1999 at the age of 97.  He continued to do his work until he died.