If you are not a Scot you may not know what or who is the Big Yin. Every Scot young or old will tell you that the Big Yin is a legend, a comedian and musician raised in the rough environment of Glasgow's East End and a welder in the Scottish shipyards. He made your sides split with laughter as he told his rambling stories which were observations of the life around him. He inspired today's comics such as Eddie Izzard. He graduated into TV and film starring in the TV series 'Head of the Class', playing Queen Victoria's ghillie in film "Mrs Brown" and being the voice of Fergus in the animated move "Brave" to name only a few.
His name is Billy Connelly or Sir Billy Connelly having recently celebrated his 70th birthday and receiving a CBE from the Queen of the United Kingdom. Three Scottish artists were commissioned to create portraits of Sir Billy which would be painted as murals on the side of Glasgow buildings as a tribute to him organized by BBC Scotland and Glasgow City Council. BBC Arts Digital invited the public to submit their own portraits of Billy Connolly via social media using the hashtag #BigYinPortrait. So I thought I'd give it a try in honor of the Saturday nights in the 1970's when I'd sit watching the Big Yin on Parkinson - a UK chat show - with my Mum and Dad roaring with laughter.
