Horrible Histories illustrator Martin Brown shares his artistic journey with new Preston Harris exhibition

This weekend marks the start of ‘The World of Martin Brown’ at the Harris, an exhibit to celebrate and inspire with the works of Martin Brown through the years.

The exhibition was opened in the usual ceremonial manner, with a red ribbon and some big scissors, cut by the newly appointed Mayor Councillor Nweeda Khan.

Running from Saturday, 23rd May to Monday 31st August 2026 in Gallery One, this free exhibition invites visitors of all ages to discover the wit, imagination and visual storytelling that have made Brown’s work a staple in homes and classrooms across the nation.

Looking back on Martin’s career, he talked about how he turned his love of drawing and doodles into something greater.

“Well I’d always liked art at school. Art was my favourite subject,” Martin said, “I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it and what I would have loved to have been is a cartoonist but how do you become a cartoonist?

“How do you study to be a? I mean you can study to be an illustrator, you can do graphic design, all that stuff.

“In the end my grades weren’t very good I couldn’t get into graphic design, I couldn’t get into fine art.

“I did nearly three years of a four-year teacher’s course I was going to be an art teacher in the Australian secondary system until I realised that that’s a lot of hard work and so I tried becoming an actor and that didn’t work either, went traveling I ended up working in London in an art supply shop.”

It was at this point where Martin had the golden opportunity to go further with his passion.

“There were the names and addresses of every of all the contacts for every publisher magazine newspaper sort of design house in London and of course London’s one of the publishing capitals of the world so if I was ever going to give cartooning a go then I had this sort of opportunity and if it didn’t work out I’d just go back to Australia.”

The exhibition will Feature over 100 original pieces, and charts Martin Brown’s creative journey from his earliest cartoons through to international publishing triumphs.

The layout of the art is organised into three sections: Early Years: A Cartoonist’s Journey; Horrible Histories: Time Travelling With Ink; and Dragons, Animals and Cave Bears: Imaginary Expeditions.

Included in that is artwork from Horrible Histories, whimsical illustrations from Lesser Spotted Animals and exclusive new material from recent releases, including Nell and the Cave Bear.

But it doesn’t stop there, for the first time, visitors can explore previously unseen original works from Brown’s newest Horrible Histories release on Football, from rough sketches to finished masterpieces.

Martin says he wants the exhibition to help encourage people to see that ‘it’s all possible’ and they can achieve their dreams through hard work.

“You’ll see in some of the cabinets I think just some of those scribbles that we all do as kids and it’s just doodling because it’s fun you know you’re not never going to be framed it’s never going to be seen by anybody and you’re just you know drawing for the sake of it.”

“I just kept going with that because it’s fun, you know I love the cartoons I used to see in the newspapers and magazines, you know they strip cartoons whether they’re Charlie Brown peanuts or another favourite was BC by Johnny Hart.”

“But to go from the love of that to here if someone could see that journey and say i could do that then um I’d be chuffed a bit I’d be chuffed to bits.”

To further inspire Prestonians, Martin was invited to produce bespoke new work for the show, with a special storyboard featuring Horace the Elk in development.

This promises to be a highlight for fans eager to glimpse the illustrator’s creative process up close.

Helping to link Proud Preston to the Horrible Histories, the Harris will also be pairing select items from its own collection of gruesome historical artefacts with Martin’s drawings, offering a fresh perspective on history and creativity.

The exhibition is free to attend and is presented in partnership with Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books and developed by the South West Heritage Trust in collaboration with Martin Brown and Events of Wonder.