It's been a good week for ...
art
First Minister Alex Salmond has been immortalised in a new portrait - by a seven-year-old. It shows him rotund and jolly, waving a Saltire and wearing tartan slippers – a true giant of politics.
But Salmond is delighted by the less-than-complimentary rendition. It's by one of Scotland's leading artists – internet phenomenon Jack Henderson, the whizz-kid behind jackdrawsanything.com.
Motivated by the illness of his baby brother Noah, Jack decided to raise money for Edinburgh Sick Kids' Hospital by drawing pictures for friends and family in return for donations.
Once online, his website went viral. Hundreds of pictures down the line, the youngster has raised £32,000 for the charity.
He and his family were invited to Bute House last week to present the First Minister with the portrait, which Jack drew on the day of the SNP's election victory last May.
The Hendersons also gave Salmond a copy of Jack's book, Jack Draws Anything, with drawings done over the past year.
Salmond, who was "touched" – if not flattered – by the portrait, praised Jack's fundraising efforts.
If Spitting Image ever returns, there's a budding satirist waiting in the wings.
It's been a bad week for ... art
Are there no end to The Big Yin's talents? Stand-up comedian, musician, actor, playwright, TV presenter, Lord Of The Rings dwarf - now Billy Connolly has unveiled his work as an artist.
The comedian has unveiled a series of pen-and-ink drawings called Born On A Rainy Day, the result of two years of sketching.
As you might expect from someone who grew up in Glasgow, colourful they are not.
An odd mix of Etch A Sketch and knitting, his work is hard to fathom.
Connolly explains that the interest came to him late in life, saying: "Art, for me, bears no relation to comedy or music. My art is pure and 'unjudged'. I am creating it for myself -"
One wonders, therefore, why he has chosen to foist it on the rest of us.
Art is, of course, subjective and far be it for me to comment on Billy's doodles. But some tips from Jack Henderson might not go amiss.
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