Max Scratchmann is a British illustrator and author.

He was born in Calcutta, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, to Scottish parents in 1956. He studied English Literature

English literature

English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....

 at the University of Strathclyde but preferred art and began illustrating professionally in the late seventies working as a cartoonist and comic artist but his career took off when he developed a collage style in the 1980s. His editorial work has appeared in magazines and newspapers in the UK, US and Japan including The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

, The Big Issue

The Big Issue

The Big Issue is a street newspaper published in eight countries; it is written by professional journalists and sold by homeless individuals. It was founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991...

 and City Life

City Life

City Life may refer to:* Urban culture, the culture of cities* CityLife , a 2004 urban project in Milan* City Life , a 1994 musical work by Steve Reich* City Life , a New Zealand soap opera...

.

Scratchmann is known for the 'operatic' quality of his images and has created numerous posters for theatre companies, including The Coliseum and Scottish Opera

Scottish Opera

Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies funded by the Scottish Government...

, and in 1996 he was commissioned by Manchester University Press

Manchester University Press

Manchester University Press is the university press of the University of Manchester, England and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher...

 to re-illustrate all the play text covers of their Revels series. His efforts were recognised by the Dimensional Illustrators and the work was exhibited at the Art Directors' Club Gallery in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 city.

He had his first one-man-show in August 1999, and his 2008 show, Magicians was described as "an intricate fantasy, nonetheless magical for its mercurial truths" by the Glasgow Herald.

Scratchmann is the author of "Illustration 101" and "Chucking It All", a memoir pulped by its original publisher after it's characterisation of Orcadians caused widespread offence in the islands. Scratchmann is also a contributor to various poetry anthologies, the most notable being "Star Trek - The Poems".

Select bibliography of covers

• The Duchess of Malfi (Revels Student Editions) (Paperback) by John Webster Manchester University Press; New edition edition (17 April 1997) ISBN 978-0719043574
• The Spanish Tragedy (Revels Student Editions) (Paperback)by Thomas Kyd Manchester University Press; New edition edition (9 May 1996) ISBN 978-0719043444
• Bartholomew Fair (Revels Plays Student Editions) (Paperback) by Ben Jonson Manchester University Press (30 Nov 2000) ISBN 978-0719051500
• The Witch of Edmonton (Revels Student Editions) (Paperback) by Thomas Dekker Manchester University Press; New edition edition (7 Oct 1999) ISBN 978-0719052477
• The Revenger's Tragedy (Revels Student Editions) (Paperback) by Cyril Tourneur Manchester University Press; New edition edition (9 May 1996) ISBN 978-0719043758
• The Changeling (Revels Student Editions) (Paperback) by Thomas Middleton Manchester University Press; New edition edition (2 Jul 1998) ISBN 978-0719044816
• 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (Revels Student Editions) (Paperback) by John Ford Manchester University Press; New edition edition (17 April 1997) ISBN 978-0719043598
• Volpone (Revels Student Editions) (Paperback) by Ben Jonson Manchester University Press; New Ed edition (11 Mar 1999) ISBN 978-0719051821
• The White Devil (Revels Student Editions) (Paperback) by John Webster Manchester University Press; New edition edition (9 May 1996) ISBN 978-0719043550
• Tamburlaine the Great (The Revels Plays) (Hardcover) by Christopher Marlowe Manchester University Press; New edition edition (2 Jul 1998) ISBN 978-0801826696
• The Jew of Malta (Revels Student Editions) (Paperback) by Christopher Marlowe Manchester University Press; New edition edition (21 Aug 1997) ISBN 978-0719051807
• Plays on Women (Revels Plays) (Paperback) by Kathleen McLuskie (Editor) Manchester University Press; Student edition (18 Nov 1999) ISBN 978-0719016462
• States of Mind: Dialogues with Contemporary Thinkers (Paperback) by Richard Kearney New York University Press (1 Aug 1995) ISBN 978-0814746738
• Niccolò Machiavelli's "The Prince": New Interdisciplinary Essays (Texts in Culture) (Paperback) by Martin Coyle (Editor) Manchester University Press (Jul 1995) ISBN 978-0719041969
• Sigmund Freud's the "Interpretation of Dreams": New Interdisciplinary Essays (Texts in Culture) (Paperback) by Laura Marcus (Editor) Manchester University Press (1 April 1999) ISBN 978-0719039744
• Simone de Beauvoir, the "Second Sex": New Interdisciplinary Essays (Texts in Culture) (Paperback) by Ruth Evans (Editor) Manchester University Press (29 Jan 1998) ISBN 978-0719043031
• Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations": A Critical Companion (Texts in Culture) (Paperback) by Stephen Copley (Editor), Kathryn Sutherland (Editor) Manchester University Press (April 1995) ISBN 978-0719039430
• Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species": New Interdisciplinary Essays (Texts in Culture) (Paperback) by David Amigoni Manchester University Press (April 1995) ISBN 978-0719040252
• Moving Images: Understanding Children's Emotional Responses to Television (Paperback) by David Buckingham Manchester University Press (18 Jan 1996) ISBN 978-0719045967
• Deep Fried Hillman Imp: Scotland's Transport (Discussions S.): Sorting Out Scotland's Transport (Discussions) (Paperback) by Christopher Harvie Argyll Publishing (2 May 2001) ISBN 978-1902831305