On November 3, 2026, Dulwich Picture Gallery in London opens its first museum exhibition featuring Charlie Mackesy, the man behind the book about the boy, the mole, the fox and the horse. Sketches never seen before will be shown in a single room, and the point is simple: art is for everyone. It’s a good reason to think about what an illustrated poster can do for a room, and why hand-drawn lines with visible hesitations often move us more than perfectly polished images.
Quick facts: “Charlie Mackesy: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse... and You” is on display at Dulwich Picture Gallery in South London from November 3, 2026, to February 7, 2027, curated by Kate Bryan. It is Mackesy’s first museum exhibition in the UK. The book has sold over 10 million copies, been translated into more than 50 languages and become an Oscar-winning animated short film. The artist himself will appear at a live event on December 5, with tickets from £25.
One room at Dulwich: sketches that reveal the thinking behind the images
The exhibition is deliberately small. Dulwich describes it as a one-room exhibition featuring previously unseen sketches, unpublished studies and original works from Mackesy’s career. Preparatory drawings hang alongside finished illustrations from the two books The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse and Always Remember, the latter featuring a storm. You can follow how a figure takes shape: first a few hesitant strokes, then a more assured line, and finally the image that made it onto the printed page.
That is what makes the exhibition unusual. Most museums show the finished result and leave the preparatory work in the archives. Here, the sketch itself takes center stage. Visitors are also encouraged to draw in response to the works, while an audio guide in the form of a quiet monologue shares the artist’s own thoughts on the technique. Curator Kate Bryan calls him a rare artist whose work embraces our shortcomings, and museum director Jennifer Scott connects this to the fundamental idea that great art is made to be shared.
Opening hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm, and the museum is closed on Mondays. The exhibition is included with admission, and those who want to find out more can find the program and tickets on Dulwich’s own page and in the museum’s press release.
Dulwich 1817: England’s oldest public museum and an illustrator on the wall
Dulwich is a fitting setting. It is often considered England’s oldest public art museum, designed by Sir John Soane and opened in 1817. From the outset, the idea was to let people who couldn’t afford private collections see art up close. That a museum with this history is now making room for an author and illustrator whose pictures already hang in millions of homes is more than a coincidence: it’s about the same ambition, to make art part of everyday life.
The museum itself highlights the connection between art and well-being as one reason for the exhibition. This aligns with what we’ve previously written about research in this area, where images in a room seem to be able to reduce stress and create a sense of belonging. If you’d like to explore further, read our overview Art and well-being – what research actually says about art in the home.
Tip: Want a drawing that feels calming without being cloying? Choose an illustration with few strokes, lots of white space and one clear subject, and frame it in a slim wooden frame sized 30x40. Hang it by your bed or in the hallway, and you’ll see it every day, making it a quiet reminder rather than an exclamation point.
From sketchbook to ten million copies: how a drawing book became a phenomenon
What makes the exhibition interesting is just how unlikely the story is. A book with few words and lots of illustrated pictures has sold over 10 million copies and been translated into more than 50 languages. It also became an animated short film that won an Oscar in 2023. Yet it all began with little sketches, and those are what Dulwich is now hanging on the museum walls. The point for us as viewers is that a subject doesn’t have to be complicated to go far. One character, one gesture and a soft background are enough if they’re made with honesty.
The second book, Always Remember, takes the storm as its theme, and it too is represented in the room. This is a sign that Mackesy’s work moves between light and darkness, despite its friendly surface. The same balance is worth looking for when choosing an illustrated print: an image that is calm but not empty, and gentle but not bland, lasts longer than one that is merely cute.
The unfinished as an art form: the hand’s traces in a print
A sketch moves us because it shows that someone has thought, hesitated, and changed their mind. The line isn’t perfectly straight, a little of the paper’s color remains visible, and you can see the hand’s movement. It’s the same quality that Japanese aesthetes call imperfection, and that we wrote about in our guide to wabi-sabi in interior design. There, beauty lies not in perfection but in the traces of time and the human hand.
But there’s also a practical reason why illustrated prints work so well on the wall. They’re easy to read. A simple figure against a light background works from a distance, in poor lighting, and in small rooms, where a dense painting would become unclear. They also convey feeling without requiring prior knowledge: you don’t need to know anything about art history to understand that two figures sitting close together express comfort.
"A sketch moves us because it shows hesitation, and hesitation is the most human thing an image can contain."
Mackesy’s work isn’t on our walls, but the spirit is: how to find illustrated prints
We want to be clear: Mackesy’s own works are not sold by Bozetto and are protected by copyright. What we can offer are prints in a similar spirit, with soft lines, a hand-drawn feel, and a subject that takes center stage. You’ll find several styles in our collection of illustration prints, featuring everything from animals and plants to little stories in pen and watercolor.
If you want to combine images and words, there are text prints, where short sentences stand alone against a calm background. Keep in mind that text and illustration shouldn’t compete: let one of the two carry the image. And if you’re buying for a child, there are plenty of gentle figures in our prints for children, where most designs are calmer than the cartoons children often watch.
Illustrated art has an advantage as a gift. It’s personal but not private, and suits both teenagers and grandmothers. Read more about how to choose the right one in our poster gift guide, where we cover sizes, frames and delivery times ahead of the holiday season.
Rooms, sizes and frames: where drawings work best
In the bedroom, serene designs work best. Stick to one or two, preferably in 30x40 or 40x50, and avoid sharp contrasts above the bed. In the hallway, a drawing can be the first thing you see when you come home, a small gesture of welcome. A 21x30 or 30x40 in a slim frame works well there, hung at eye level, about 145 centimeters from the floor to the center of the picture.
In a child’s room, you’ll often want designs that grow with the child. Choose figures with a calm, open expression and avoid pictures filled with tiny details, as they can make an already busy space feel cluttered. In the living room, a larger illustration, 50x70, can create a gentle focal point above the sofa, especially if the other surfaces are muted.
The frame and mat make a big difference. A wide mat gives a drawing the breathing room a sketch needs, while a tight frame can feel heavy. Natural wood or oak frames almost always work, and a black frame makes fine lines stand out. Use the same type of frame if you’re hanging several pictures together, so they read as a group.
Also think about the light. Fine pen lines and light watercolors can easily look flat in harsh backlighting, so avoid hanging them opposite a large window. Side lighting or a warm lamp placed a little way away brings the lines to life and reveals the texture of the paper. If the picture hangs in a room that is often dark, such as a windowless hallway, a small wall light with warm white light is an inexpensive way to make it visible, and it won’t damage the paper.
Putting together a small group of illustrations is easier than many people think. Choose three designs that share a line style, for example, all drawn with thin black lines, but differ in subject matter: a person, an animal and a plant. Hang them in a row or in a loose triangle, five centimeters apart, and use the same frame for all of them. The group then tells a little story without words, which is exactly what Mackesy’s pages do.
Art for everyone: what it means for a poster to cost less than two movie tickets
The exhibition’s message that art is for everyone sounds like a slogan, but it can be made concrete. Historically, printed images have been art’s democratic form, from woodcuts and lithographs to the posters that brought art into the streets in the 19th century. Today, posters carry on that tradition. For a fraction of the cost of an original, you can have an image you love on display every day, and choosing for yourself is part of the point.
The best way to buy is to go by how something makes you feel rather than what’s in fashion. Ask yourself what you want to feel when you enter the room: calm, joy, security? Then choose a design based on your answer. An illustrated design that makes you feel a little warmer in the hallway on a dark November evening has done its job, whether or not it’s in a museum collection.
Frequently asked questions about Charlie Mackesy and illustrated posters
Would you like to give the wall at home a little human touch? Start with our collection of illustration posters, choose a design with calm lines and plenty of breathing room, and try it in a slim frame. A single hand-drawn picture can make a room feel warmer.