MARTIN ALLEN

I was born in England & have always had a pencil or brush in my hand, ever since I can remember!

I have never had any formal art training but when leaving School I took up signwriting  and design work and went on to designing one-off T-shirts. In the late 80’s I started designing Graffiti style work on T-shirts as at that time they were very popular.

After that I started landscapes and portraits of famous people, including George Michael, James Dean and Liam Gallagher, then I was approached to do a commission to paint a Dolphin in 1994 and that is when I found out that this is the subject for me. Finally I found the subject that I really enjoy and got a positive response from it. I then went on to study dolphins for the same length of time and in the year 2000 I had my first wild encounter with them off the coast of Gran Canaria.

Technique

All of my paintings are acrylic on canvas board or 400lb paper, most of the paintings are now on canvas board as I find I work better on a textured surface and prefer to frame without glass.

My dolphins are built up from a number of washes (as many as 30), then corals and rocks are straight out the tube thick to get the rough and bright texture.

Once finished, the subjects in a painting are carefully built up again with washes to give the feeling that they are really in the ocean. This is a very time consuming method but the result is worth watching paint dry in between washes!

Out and about

I have  exhibited my work all over the country and have had work in local Galleries, high quality signed prints are produced of every new painting from now on as demand for original paintings is getting greater.

I have had numerous one man shows at libraries and theatres in the Essex area and won several awards for my dolphin paintings.

Since this website has been up and running it has given me the opportunity to sell my paintings worldwide, as far away as Singapore & Malaysia. My work has been published in magazines around the UK & the painting “Healing Waters” was used as a front cover on The Animal Times magazine in Memphis Tennessee. I have received positive feedback from around the world regarding my artwork which is always appreciated and welcomed for my drive in bettering myself in art. Every new painting I do now will be made into professional quality prints that are colour matched by the printers and produced in Giclee’ 7 colour light fast pigment inks.

Photo Restoration

A new photo restoration service is now available here at dolphin-art, no matter how ripped or damaged a photo is, it can be digitally restored to its original quality or even black & white photographs converted to colour.
With over 20 years experience in digital print & design your images are in safe hands.