Martin has spent most of his life in the world of art and design. An early interest in science fiction led to an appreciation of the imaginative paintings of illustrators like Jim Burns or Alan Lee and this combined with the influence of Ridley Scott’s film “Bladerunner”, pointed the way towards a career in art.
However an interview with one of the chief designers at the Rover car company when he was sixteen altered Martin’s trajectory away from pure art and illustration and into the world of automotive design. He has spent nearly twenty years in this demanding world initially gaining an MA at Coventry University before becoming a principal designer for Rover group and then Land Rover. His work has included the Land Rover Defender SVX show car and more recently he was responsible for the interior design of the Land Rover Freelander2.
However in the increasingly complex world of automotive design Martin has found himself spending more time in meetings than at the drawing board, and to compensate for this started drawing for his own pleasure in his spare time. Gradually this hobby became more serious and exhibitions with the Guild of Aviation Artists and the Guild of Motoring Artists followed.
His work is mostly in either pencil or watercolour, and although Martin enjoys commissions on any subject concentrates mostly on automotive, aviation and animal subjects.
When not drawing and painting Martin enjoys travelling, which he finds a great inspiration for his work, and after gaining his private pilots license in 2001 flies a Cessna C152 around the Warwickshire countryside.
