Grangemouth artist had a big hand in Edinburgh's virtual Hogmanay celebrations

Normally based in Edinburgh, talented illustrator Gary Wilson returned to stay with family in Grangemouth earlier in the year when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.

He worked remotely on the designs which appear in the three Fare Well instalments, filmed near Spean Bridge in the Highlands earlier this year.

Using sophisticated software to choreograph their movements, the drones in the films reached an altitude of 150 metres and top speeds of up to 25mph to form the images created by Gary.

Parts two and three of the online celebration, which mixes poetry and music with Gary’s art and the massive drone flying display, will be broadcast online from 7pm tonight and tomorrow.

Gary said: “It’s been a hard year. We’ve had to adjust our lives to the unexpected and unpredictable. We’ve had to separate ourselves, and find new ways to be together.

“These pieces are our attempts to capture that in words, music, and images – all working in different places, never meeting beyond the screen. It was a daunting task, unlike anything I’ve worked on before, but I think we’ve come up with something worth sharing.

“It may not be how we would normally ring in the new, but celebration is as much about hellos as goodbyes.”

Fare Well can be viewed free of charge by logging onto www.edinburghshogmanay.com and will allow people from all over the world to watch the display from the comfort and safety of their homes.