Martin-Jan van Santen (b.1968) graduated in 1992 at the Constantijn Huygens School of Art in Kampen. After a period of working and living in different places, he eventually returned to Kampen, where he is active as an independent painter. After a career spanning ten years, working as an animation artist, draughtsman and director, in 2007 he finally decided to concentrate on painting, something which for a long time he had aspired to do. The theme he explored for many years, and which still fascinates him, the male nude, remains a key part of his artistic output, but the subject matter evolved. Landscapes, still lives, portraits and many other motives, difficult to categorize, became a source of inspiration. Light and color are of the essence, and the texture of paint itself is crucial to the final result, never betraying his distinctive hand. Perhaps the most important feature is the effect of light in his paintings. Nearly always he uses light in a striking way: sometimes spectacular,