Martin Handford spent much of his childhood drawing and his earliest influences were cinema epics and playing with toy soldiers. After art college, he began working as a freelance illustrator specialising in drawing crowd scenes. Martin now gathers his inspiration from a huge variety of sources: films, visiting museums and art galleries, reading comics and books, and collecting ephemera and trivia. Gradually, from all this meticulous research, the inspiration for a picture emerges, which Martin embellishes with his own ideas to create his astonishing scenes. He is fascinated by crowds and is attracted to their vibes, patterns and details – especially humour.

“I love the idea of an exciting journey that never ends, filled with colour, energy and people smiling – what could be better?” Martin Handford