b'in the candreams What Resene ReseneBullseye MomentumReseneJuicy ReseneReservoirmay come far left: Dean Johnstone airbrushes a viper on to a Dodge Viper pickup truck using paint from Resene Automotive & Light Industrial.left: Key colours used to give an Dean Johnstone makes his mark withedgy look to this bowser-themed private bar included Resene technical prowess, masterful brushworkReservoir, Resene Momentumand boundless imagination. and Resene Bullseye.B eforewehadaccesstotheprintingandlasercuttingwould drive around and approach shops to signwrite their Christmasbeen a pretty colourful artists life so farespecially when you One of the biggest challenges Dean faces in his work is not technologywerelyontoday,signsweremadewithwindows to get a bit of cash to buy all your gifts. start talking about opportunities like being flown out to Americabeing able to access time-saving products and materials that are paintbrushes wielded by the steadiest of hands. At thatAsidefromsixmonthsinWellingtonwhileworkingonto signwrite on a superyacht, he says. available overseas, but he says that it leads to plenty of creative time, being able to create anything needed, at any scale, in a waythe set of King Kong and a few short stints in Queenstown,Ive also been able to work on a number of major movies, too.problem solving. We just simply dont have the same range of thatsendlesslyrepeatablewouldhaveseemedunimaginable.Texas, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, DeanKing Kong was one that I had quite a bit of work on. I was the chiefoptions here, so we have to do it a different way. It takes some Instead, a craftsperson could only rely on their own practice, carehas always called Christchurch home. He started out with ansignwriter, which was right up my alley, because I had to studycreativity and you have to work out how to get the same look and skill as they pursued perfection.apprenticeship at Pilgrim Displays back in 1984 before startingwhat the period signs, fascias and faades in Times Square wouldwith whats availablewhich might be only 10% of the options Today, theres only around 14 master signwriters left in Newhis own business in 1989. have looked like back in 1932. I appreciated that the productionsomeoneelsemightbeabletouseinanothercountry.For Zealandbut they continue to be in high demand. Some areStarting my own business was a lesson in life in its own right,teamonthatprojectrecognisedthathand-renderedarthasinstance, I have a job in Queenstown where I have to create a contracted for bespoke painting projects where clients are afterhe laughs. But Im so glad when I look back now that I did ansomething more to it than digital does. filigree wrought-iron sign. I cant just cast that from one piece of their particular kind of artisanal charm, and others are kept busyapprenticeship, because even though I now have access to all theMyteamandIalsoworkedon10,000BCforRolandmetal, because it would be too heavy, so I need to laser cut it and working on film and TV sets. Dean Johnstone does all of the above. latest tools that you can have in a sign studio, it seems to haveEmmerich, a German director thats known for doing a lot ofrouter the edges to create the same sort of look.Being a signwriter by trade and having been taught the old- come full circle as Ive gone back to so much hand painting. disaster movies. That was cool. We built all the woolly mammothFor movies, you end up making stuff that would be really fashioned way with a stick and a brush, its become almost like a circusThere was also a small gap where I went through what I thinkbones up in Wanaka in the snow. And its always exciting to takeheavy out of materials that are really light, because they need act; people love to come and watch as they dont see it anymore anda lot of young people go throughwhere you think youve hadyour kids to those kinds of movies and say to them, I built that. to be able to move them around. For instance, youll make an theres not too many around that can still do these things with a brushabout enough of the boss and then you find yourself wanting toForDean,itsthemedenvironmentsthathemostlooksI-Beam that realistically looks like it weighs about a tonne and now, says Dean. In the old days, when you were an apprentice, youbreak away from what youve been taughtand thats what I did.forwardtoworkingon.Forthoseprojects,Igettobethea half. But when people see it, they dont realise it only weighs I went and worked as a contractor for a landscaping companydesigner, builder and painter. With a lot of big movies, youre justabout eight stone and is made out of polystyrene.as a concept artist, which I loved, and I would draw what theiranother number. But with the theming, you design it, create itDeansaysthatReseneproductsareoneofthemost left: Dean brought the jungle to CoriandersResenelandscapes would look like in 20 years so that their clients couldand build itand even better when they have the budget to beimportant things he relies on for his work. When youre doing restaurant in Christchurch with his impressiveLimerick visualise them. That was a big deal to that company at that time. able to let you do really cool stuff with it. Most of the time, theoutdoor murals, you absolutely cant beat Resene Lumbersidertiger mural, which features Resene Juicy,ReseneBut Dean is glad he came back to the rewarding work ofbudget is tight. youre trying to make it look like a million dollarsand the Resene colour range is fantastic. I have lots of favourite Resene Ayers Rock and Resene Limerick.Ayers Rock painting. Im 55 now, and when I look back, mine has alreadybut youve only got $27.90 to spend. Resene colours that I find myself going back to. But when I go into 14 blackwhitemag.com blackwhitemag.com 15'