Draughtsman in pencil and sculptor, born in Scotland, he eventually settled in Edinburgh. He attended the College of Art there, 1967–70, then concentrated on life drawing at Royal College of Art, 1970–2. Johnston lived in Germany for a time, having a first solo show at Konrad Fischer Gallery, Düsseldorf, in 1973. Johnston went on to show regularly, at the Graeme Murray Gallery in Edinburgh, at Oxford’s Museum of Modern Art and the Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney, held a touring exhibition. The 1980s saw his work shown widely abroad. Johnston’s work was delicate and Minimalist, influenced by Zen Buddhism. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s From the Mountain to the Plain is a good example. In 1998, Norwich School of Art and Design’s Norwich Gallery invited Johnston to make one of his wall drawings on a specially constructed wall, giving visitors an opportunity to view and discuss its progress over seven days.