He also used tempera rather than oil paint in his Algoma landscapes, a fast-drying material that was more often associated with commercial art of his day.

[5] Johnston's rate of production was such that in the 1919 Algoma show at the Art Gallery of Toronto he contributed sixty works - more than any other artist.

He asserted his independence even more, having a large one-man show of 200 paintings at the T. Eaton Company Galleries in December 1920,[3] of which the Mail and Empire said:The position of Frank H. Johnston, A.R.C.A.

Mr. Johnston is always classed as one of the much discussed 'Group of Seven,' but he has never got out of touch with the picture lovers who cannot quite get the viewpoint of his ultra-radical companions....He has the secret of the living, vivid colouring of the Northland, and catches the feeling of the wild spaces.

This theme recurred in later works, in large narrative paintings of the 1930s and 1940s as well as more intimate examinations of a river valley, the bright blue of the water contrasting with snow-laden banks.

His subjects range from the pastoral countryside of the Wyebridge area, to northern Quebec, and the Northwest Territories.

[3] He died in Toronto in 1949 and buried with fellow members of the Group of Seven at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection museum grounds in Kleinburg, Ontario.