John Martin was born in 1957. He studied at Hornsey followed by three  years at Exeter College of Art where he obtained a First Class Honours Degree. He then studied at the Royal Academy Schools under Peter Greenham, gaining a Post Graduate Diploma.

His work is in a line of traditional figurative painting, influenced by the Camden Town Group, particularly Sickert, Gilman and Spencer Gore. John’s paintings reflect a sense of place and atmosphere. Brian Sewell, Art Critic of the Evening Standard, said of John’s work : "The gentle honesty of his observation and a technique that matches it produce pictures without irritating mannerisms or striving effects."

John was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1991 and has been the recipient of many awards; Stowells of Chelsea Prize Winner, David Murray Landscape Scholarship, WH Patterson Prize, the Fabrica Painting Prize, the Windsor and Newton Best Artist Award and the de Laszlo medal at the RBA . John's paintings have featured in the Tatler Magazine, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times and International Artists Magazine.