An Interview with David Galletly

As part of our McLuckie & Walker exhibition, held in Made In Stirling, we commissioned local artists David Galletly to produce architectural illustrations, and even some drawings of McLuckie & Walker themselves. We sat down for a chat with him about his work and inspiration, enjoy!

What drew you to architecture as a subject for your work?
A client asked me to illustrate some buildings in Edinburgh and Glasgow for a magazine article back in 2010. The subject matter was new territory for me as an artist but I enjoyed working on the drawings and they turned out well. From then on, buildings and streetscapes became a common part of my work.

And what was the inspiration for your signature streetscapes?
I use Photoshop to manipulate my drawings. The streetscapes developed through playing with some of the buildings I had scanned, overlapping and combining them as a digital collage. This technique lets me create dense, detailed streetscapes with a lot of control over the composition, which is important in avoiding the artwork becoming overly confusing or messy.

As a kid, I read a lot of Where’s Wally books. I imagine my love of drawing tiny details started there. As I grew older, the architectural artwork of Nigel Peake was a big influence on my work.

The three McLuckie and Walker buildings (Clock Tower, No.2 Baker St., Co-operative Building) by David Galletly

What are some of your favourite buildings in Stirling?
I love the old Boys Club building on St. John Street and find the ‘Keep Smiling’, ‘Play The Game’ and ‘Quarrelling is Taboo’ mottos on the outside incredibly charming.

I have fond memories of the Barnton Bar & Bistro on Barton street. It was a beautiful bar. I’m hopeful that it’ll return to its former glory.

Beyond that, I love anywhere that gives a view over the whole town. The top of The Tolbooth, the castle esplanade, the Wallace Monument. Seeing the town rising out of the countryside never gets old.

You produced prints and illustrations for our McLuckie & Walker exhibition, can you tell us about your process and the mediums you worked with?
The three McLuckie and Walker buildings (Clock Tower, No.2 Baker St., Co-operative Building) are pen on paper drawings. It’s increasingly rare that I get to draw traditionally and I jump at any chance I get to keep things simple.

The cityscape is entirely digital. I used an iPad Pro and an app called Procreate to draw the individual buildings. I then sent these over to Photoshop on my Mac to arrange the composition, colour and prepare for print.

I reproduced the final cityscape as a Risograph print. Risographs are a beautiful halfway point between a hand-crafted screenprint and a common photocopy.

To see more of David’s work check out his website, and head on over to the Made In Stirling Shop where you can buy some of his work

Many thanks to David for being interviewed and working with us on the McLuckie & Walker Exhibition

davidgalletly.com