Born in Northumberland, right on the border with Scotland, Charlie Macksey started out as a cartoonist for political magazine The Spectator and an illustrator for Oxford University Press, before being slowly drawn into the art world. He developed a signature calligraphic style, as featured in his series of prints created after we asked artists from around the world to respond to Nelson Mandela’s “Struggle” sketches with their own works. Published in 2019, his picture book “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” rapidly became a phenomenon, taking the crown as the longest-running Sunday Times hardcover bestseller ever. With its recognition of the power of vulnerability, it acted as a source of comfort for many during the global pandemic.