Josh Leppard, formally known as ’The Driftwood Artist’ is from the Isle of Wight. His love of being outdoors and specifically the seaside and the Isle of Wight’s dramatic coastline serves as the main inspiration for his paintings.
Since graduating in Garden Design in 2013, Josh has successfully run his own garden design business but a love for painting was always lurking in the background. One day, after the Island had received some particularly stormy weather, Josh went down to his local beach and noticed a lot of washed up driftwood. He started to collect it, but was unsure what to do with it. Once the wood had dried, he experimented with creating candle holders and planters but nothing was quite right. After collecting some larger pieces he realised painting on the driftwood would also be possible.
At first he experimented using acrylics to create seascapes, he loved the texture and uniqueness of each piece of driftwood. Whilst the driftwood was key to Josh’s initial exploration as an artist he has developed his style to work on canvas in recent years. Canvas enables him to larger scale works which give the viewer the impression of truly looking down at the sea from an aerial view as if they were flying overhead.
The unusual viewpoint is achieved by Josh using drones to capture footage of the shore and coastlines. This shows the true changes in depth in the water and the colour variation as a result. Josh then works from the drone footage to create his sea scapes. Josh is also committed to the conservation of our beaches: “Being able to walk my favourite beaches on the Isle of Wight everyday is such a special thing, and for me to be able to do my bit in keeping them clear of debris and plastics is very important to me. The amount of plastic I clear up on my walks is really quite scary. It may be a global issue, but I feel like if we all do a little bit to help keep our coastlines clear it can make a real difference. Let's protect our beaches!”
Over the past year Josh’s career has accelerated, he has taken on a number of commission including a large scale work for a super yacht, he has participated in artist-led fairs and signed to two new galleries. Whilst new to a career as a fine artist, he has a very promising career ahead of him.