With a career in the arts of more than six decades, Sanip graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1961. He employs an emotive palette of colours to construct abstract landscapes that evoke mood and atmosphere. Devoted to the landscape, he is known for series such as Sri Mersing, Endau-Rompin, Gunung Ledang and Gelorasa, and has served as president of both the Johor Artists Society and the Johor Historical Society.