About Martin J Leighton

I have been painting professionally for over 20 years and feel that it's a day wasted if I don't manage to get paint onto canvas. I am passionate about portrait and figurative subjects which are often combined with seascapes. As I live on the south coast of Dorset, UK my surroundings allow many opportunities to study light changes and an abundance of ideas for paintings. Whenever I see a subject of interest I am driven to paint it.   I often use friends, family & ordinary everyday people who are willing to sit for me for figurative work.  The stunning Dorset coast is a constant inspiration for landscape & seascape paintings, providing me with amazing cloud formations and sunsets.  My favourite medium is oils on canvas. I commence a painting on an under-painted canvas, usually in grey, followed by sketching the subject with thinned oil paint.  The work then progresses by blocking in tone, light & shadow.  Once this is achieved I add colour to the composition using various types of brushes to create texture & depth, sometimes using palette knife.