WHY.

Most of my working life has been spent in the creative departments of London advertising agencies.

It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it.

But above all, I like to draw.

In the 1980s, I was lucky enough to attend Roy Oxlade’s legendary summer school in Tunbridge Wells.  It changed my life.

Roy was a brilliant artist and inspired teacher.

He taught me that mistakes were good and that irreverence was essential.

Once, when he asked me what I did for a living, I told him I was an art director. My job is to grab attention.

That’s all there is, he said. And that, I suppose, is the basis of my drawing.

There are three tools I use when I’m making a picture.

My head, heart and hands. More heart than head and always hands.  Never, ever, a computer.

Like Roy Oxlade, I draw very fast, looking for something that surprises.  If I can surprise myself, I stand a chance of surprising you.

ABOUT.

As an art director, Martin has won over 120 awards in a career spanning over 30years, working both at Bartle Bogle Hegarty and Leagas Delaney and then starting his own agency, Hooper Galton in 1997.

He has had work accepted by The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and has had numerous sell-out exhibitions of his Ten O’ Clock News work.

Seventeen years ago Martin created and co-founded the ground-breaking spoken word club Bang Said The Gun.Voted best poetry night in the UK by The Times, it turned the once dreary and retiring world of poetry performance into an evening of unbridled exuberance and entertainment.  The weekly club’s format is now much copied and has started the careers of many well-known spoken word performers.  Martin writes, performs and illustrates his poems, one of which has been commissioned by Channel 4. Bang Said The Gun has just opened in New York.