IN a galaxy not that far away, Darth Vader is wearing Billy Connolly's banana boots, Yoda has aquired a tartan bunnet and the stormtroopers are kitted out in kilts. Meanwhile, in a corner of a space bar, Han Solo is enjoying a pint of Tennents. Welcome to the world of Star Wars with all the characters reimagined as Scots born and bred. This is the brainchild of artist Andy McKay who has chosen the George Lucas film franchise as the latest subject of his work 'tartanising' global screen icons. Mckay - who's cartoons have been published world-wide has made a new career by 'Scottifying' a range of well known faces including Tony Soprano from The Sopranos, Walter White from Breaking Bad and Mr.T from The A-Team. The Edinburgh born artist - whose new career took off during lockdown when demand for his cartoons dried up - now struggles to keep up with demand from buyers all over the world. The first outlet to sell his work was The Scottish Design Exchange whose stores in Edinburgh and Glasgow offer a high street presence to hundreds of independent artists and craftspeople. 

Mckay said "during the pandemic, I started to do some abstract painting and a friend suggested I should do it as a business and so I kept going. Whatever you work at you have to enjoy it and have a passion for it . As a nation, we don't take ourselves too seriously and we like to see our Scottishness reflected back to us in a humerous way and I think that's why the pictures have proved so popular. The most popular characters to date have been Obi Wan Kenobi's long-lost Scottish brother and a version of Begbie from Trainspotting. It's amazing how much of Scotland's modern cultural identity is wrapped up in that book and film and how it has shaped much of the way we see ourselves." He added - "their popularity has spread and I am now getting online orders across the country, down south an overseas."

Carlos Alba