A London artist’s huge ink sketch of Perth is ready to go on display in the Fair City.
Carl Lavia has been busy putting the pain-staking final touches to his highly detailed illustration, which is part of the ambitious Portrait of Britain project – a series of 69 hand-drawn cities from across the UK.
The Perth portrait stands at two metres tall and depicts the whole of the city including the racecourse, Scone Palace, the city centre and surrounding countryside. It even features tiny details like bus stops and post boxes.
Carl has been working on the self-funded project with photographer Lorna Le Bredonchel for two years.
The duo have confirmed the painting will go on public display for the first time next month at the Perth Museum and Art Gallery.
Afterwards, it will move to AK Bell Library for the rest of 2019.
The Courier understands that the drawing has already been snapped up by a local business owner.
Perth is the fourth Scottish city in the series, after Edinburgh, Dundee and Stirling.
Carl and Lorna have already turned their attention to other places in Scotland.
“After Perth, we began researching Inverness, then Aberdeen and lastly Glasgow,” said Lorna.
“After Glasgow is finished, we aim to form a major exhibition of all the Scottish cities together to be shown in several spaces throughout the country.”
Carl said: “There has been nothing of this scale that I have seen in the last 150 years.
“The main thing for us is to have the people in the city get the chance to see it.”
He added: “I’ve been swept up by the landscape. I think Scotland is a very unique country.
“We have fallen completely for Scotland. Its dramatic beauty, the people themselves and the epic history of the country make for an almighty love affair.”
