Martyn Hayes is an award-winning designer, illustrator, and artist based in Leeds. He began his creative journey in graphic design at a time when being able to draw quickly and accurately was essential—long before digital tools became the norm. Drawing wasn’t just a skill, it was the primary way to communicate ideas to the world.

While drawing has always played a key role in his professional life, over the past decade it has become much more personal. A passionate urban sketcher, Martyn finds inspiration in the everyday—capturing the world around him with pen, pencil, and sketchbook in hand. Whether sketching on location or working in his studio with coloured pencils, he focuses on storytelling over technical precision. His drawings—often of buildings and people—are not about counting bricks or windows, but about expressing atmosphere and spirit with looseness and life.

Martyn is frequently seen sketching on his travels, drawing bustling markets, city streets, cafés, and the quiet moments of ordinary life. His work has been featured in both solo and group exhibitions, and is held in private and public collections around the world.