Dean Johnson remembers drawing recognizable faces when he was two years old. In his opinion, his art ability is a gift that he was born with. A gift unused and unshared is a gift wasted. Therefore, it has been his responsibility to develop this gift over the years.

Dean studied Fine Arts at Columbia College Chicago, where he mastered figure drawing and portraiture. Since graduating in 2003, he has completed numerous art commissions, including original drawings, paintings, flyer designs and logo designs. He has created promotional postcards for numerous organizations, including theater companies TUTA and Darknight Theatrical Productions; DJ Elle Madelyn; and rock band Arch Visceral Parlor.

One of his paintings appears as a permanent installation in It's a Paws World pet supply store. He provided illustrations for John Wawrzaszek's chap book, Field Manual: Human Body. For the last three years, he has produced promotional images for the Two Cookie Minimum fundraiser for the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo. He recently created the logo for The Souls Journey life-coaching.

Dean has been involved in art classes since 2007, when he and and some friends began to organize figure drawing sessions in one another's apartments. These collaborations set the stage for Dean's art workshops at ChiPRC. He builds on the goals and needs that he saw first-hand when contributing to those initial figure drawing sessions. Therefore, Dean's classes fulfill real needs in the community.