Sir Billy Connolly unveils four new drawings for sale

Commonly known as ‘The Big Yin’, the Scots comedian says he was inspired to take up drawing while touring Canada in 2012.

Sir Billy Connolly sits next to his newly unveiled piece, Drunken Donkey (Castle Fine Art/PA)

One of Scotland’s most-loved comedians has swapped laughs for fine art and is to sell four new pieces.

Sir Billy Connolly, 80, has been a keen artist since 2012, and has unveiled four new drawings through gallery Castle Fine Art.

The pieces have been launched through his Born on a Rainy Day art series and are being sold for £1,250 each – though they can be bought as a set for £4,500 framed or £3,300 unframed.

The pieces are named Pontius Tries Pilates, One Armed Juggler, Nightmare and Drunk Donkey.

“The Big Yin” said he always wanted to give Pontius Pilate a “keep-fit name”, adding the idea came to him when his wife joined a pilates gym.

He added: “I said it would be funny to call it Pontius Pilates, then I thought people would be offended by that, so I fiddled around and I got Pontius Tries Pilates.

“He’s just a guy trying at the gym, trying his best. I don’t understand the whole gymnasium culture, but he’s he does and he’s good.”

On his One Armed Juggler drawing, the comedian said: “He’s an example of the fact that most of the figures in my work are doing things that don’t matter.

“Just doing the things they do, thinking they’ll do you good – I’ve spent my life doing that. You see guys in their 60s out running in the evening and you think: ‘Get a chair. Get a chair and a bottle of beer and switch on the telly; who are you kidding?’.

“But all my guys are doing that, they’re trying to be part of it wherever ‘it’ is.”

The Nightmare piece is inspired by Sir Billy’s own bad dreams, which he says he never really remembers upon waking up.

He said: “But I’m famous for shouting in the night and singing and laughing; my daughter has seen me; I’ve never remembered it.

“And I was directing a play in my sleep. I was talking to the actors and then I would become the actors, singing songs.”

His Drunk Donkey piece hearkens back to his earlier days when he lived in Scotland.

He owned two donkeys who he says he would let “wander about the place eating grass”.

The comedian says the animals are “lovely” and “friendly”, comparing them to dogs.

He added: “They cling to you, they’ve got a real tie to human beings. Donkeys are funny animals but it’s an endearing kind of funny.

“Our donkeys used to escape over the wall of the garden, run down to the village and the villagers would bring them back.

“Donkeys always look drunk and behave drunk. This one’s a friendly looking guy and I think he’s been drunk a few times because he’s got a beer belly on him. And he’s got the drunk legs.”

To have somebody who wants a part of your mind in their life - I thought my wife had been the only one to fall for that, but it turns out that she's not alone

Sir Billy Connolly

Sir Billy was first inspired to start drawing while on tour in Canada.

He said: “I’d never drawn in my life until this point, but I just started drawing weird islands and carried on drawing.

“I asked my wife to tell me if they were getting better and she said ‘definitely’.

“My manager sent them to the gallery, and now I make pictures and they’re lovely to me.

“And the fact that other people like them and want to live with them in their homes blows me sideways.

“To have somebody who wants a part of your mind in their life – I thought my wife had been the only one to fall for that, but it turns out that she’s not alone.”

To see The Big Yin’s drawings, visit www.castlefineart.com