Ah wis walkin hame frae ma mum's hoose yin Sunday nicht, when inspiration hit me. Ah wis inspiret tae uise ma love an knawin o art an design history tae make pro-indy graphics. Ah stairtit a drawin that nicht, an feenisht it a few deys later, oan October 15th – seiven years ago the dey!
Ma thinkin wis tae mak a design that wisnae a specific message, as ah had been daein, but wis mair o a symbol for the hale movement – aye, talk aboot big-heidit! Onywey, the inspiration here wis acourse baith Alphonse Mucha and Sheperd Fairey's 'Hope'.
Ower time, an much tae ma surprise, the drawin became fairly popular. Yin example: Chris Law likit eneuch tae yaise it oan his Spirit of Independence fire engine. Ye can see it in back o this Leith rabble, which includes twa future MPs, Chris and Deidre Brock!
Anither example: there's a few fowks oot there wi a tattoo o it. (This yin wis done bi Morag Sangster in Edinburgh in spring 2015.)
An there's that mural o it on Skye. (Sorry, ah've anely iver been sent pics o this, so cannae credit whaiver done it.)
In the spring o 2014, it wis the first indy drawin ah sold as a print oanline, an that led in the summer tae this place, ma Indy Prints shop.
Efter the indyref wis ower, ah retired the drawin, replacin it wi this mair appropriate adaptit yin. Addit inspiration here frae Charles Rennie Macintosh for the typeface an Alasdair Gray in the words, wha in turn took inspiration frae Canadian author Dennis Lee,
Oan the fifth anniversary o the indyref, ah brocht the drawin back here. The reason? Well, a few fowks hae cried it 'iconic', includin Lesley Riddoch: ‘Stewart created an iconic image the whole Yes campaign could rally around and identify with.’ Here it is in Lesley's buik Blossom.
It's still in ma shop noo, the auldest piece there. Ah wonder if we'll suin see it return tae proper use, instead o bein merely a historical artifact. Ah howp sae.
In the mean time, ye kin get yer ain copy o it as a poster, caird, magnet an mair.
If ye want tae ken mair aboot ma political work, ye can hae a swatch at this wee fillum bi Phantom Power, or this even weer yin bi CBC.