Martin Roberts began his artistic career as a boy with a brownie box camera. His works capture the rustic detail and atmosphere of Mediterranean landscapes.

Martin’s work is visually appealing with a detail unimaginable because he is a mixed-media artist. The result is exquisite, three dimensional, extremely informal and relaxing, with cascading flowers, foliage and textured colored walls.

Mediterranean, Provence and Tuscany subjects are his specialization with series featuring Venice and quaint English Cottages as well. His exhibitions have included the Leica Gallery in Manhattan; a distinction so rarely given to American artists.

Not long after the beginnings of photography in the mid-1800s, hand-tinted colors were applied to black and white photos to enhance the image and create the appearance of color. This process continued to grow in popularity until the emergence of color film. A renewed interest in hand-tinting came about in the 1960s and appears, once again, to be gaining popularity.

While some people indulge in photo tinting for fun these days, adding color to black and white photos has been a passion of Orange County artist/photographer Martin Roberts for more than 25 Years.
"I'm the only person I know who shoots black and white film in the tropics," he said.
Roberts describes his work as hand-painted, rather than hand-tinted. He uses acrylics, watercolors, gouaches and oils--often on the same piece to create different shades and textures.
"I consider my work hand-painted since I use a variety of paints, layering and adding color until the work becomes an art itself," he said. "The colors vary between the different mediums. That's

"Essentially, hand-tinting is a process that attempt to turn black and white photo into a color photograph,” said Roberts."

Some people go for the surreal look; neon green grass, purples, sky colors that aren't found naturally."
Most beginning hand-tinters use photo oils, specially prepared colors (available in most art supply stores) designed to tint photographs, rather than the paints Roberts prefers.

However, he says, no amount of hand-tinting or painting can "save" a poor quality photo. The strength of the work comes from the strength of the image.

"The image is only as strong as the photograph," he said. "You want something that will emotionally move people. The photo has to be able to stand on its own without any paint on it. I don't just pop out of a car and shoot a cow and paint it purple. I'm trying to shoot the perfect image. Something magical. No amount of paint or effort will save an image that's not substantial."