From Edward Scissorhands' gothic pallor to Jack Sparrow's guyliner-friendly swashbuckling, his rose-tinted Mad Hatter to his dazzle-painted Tonto, Johnny Depp has always been partial to a bit of greasepaint. And now all those hours in the makeup chair have been rewarded, with the Distinguished Artisan award from the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild.

This is a new awards category from the industry body, which celebrates an actor who has made particularly artistic collaborations with hair and makeup specialists. The award will be presented by Joel Harlow, the Oscar-winning make-up artist who worked with Depp on The Lone Ranger and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies as well as the fortcoming Transcendence.

"Makeup and hair artisans agree that Johnny Depp is a wonderful selection to receive our first Distinguished Artisan Award," guild president Susan Cabral-Ebert said in a statement. "He, probably more than any other actor working today, uses the skills of our members to delineate his characters. Depp has constantly been an outstanding supporter of our crafts, ultimately respectful and appreciative of our members' abilities and generous with his creative collaboration. A great artist himself, he allows others to shine."

The awards take place on 15 February at Paramount studios, and its nominations include a mix of Oscar favourites and curveballs with tonsorial innovation. The Paul Potts biopic One Chance gets nominations in both Best Contemporary Hair Styling and Best Contemporary Make-up, while the aforementioned Lone Ranger also gets two nominations.

It'll have strong competition in the Best Period and/or Character Hair Styling category from American Hustle however, in which Jeremy Renner and Bradley Cooper effectively co-starred alongside their own hair, and from Steve Jobs biopic Jobs, which accurately replicated the Apple founder's Lego cut atop Ashton Kutcher.