Google marks St Andrew’s Day with Doodle by Aberdeenshire illustrator
With more than 20 million sales of her quirky colouring books for adults, the Scottish illustrator Johanna Basford has built up a loyal fanbase over the years.
But she won a host of new followers yesterday after her eyecatching style greeted millions of internet users who logged on to Google on St Andrew’s Day.
The Aberdeenshire artist describes herself as an “illustrator and ink evangelist who prefers pens and pencils to pixels,” but when one of the world’s biggest companies came calling, she made an exception.
Ms Basford was asked by the search engine to come up with Scottish themed ‘Google Doodle’ - the image that greets visitors to the website. The resultant graphic, which featured on the UK portal of the site, incorporated a unicorn, the Saltire, thistles, bluebells, and the Loch Ness monster.
Writing on her website, the 34-year-old explained: “The pixels at Google UK are looking a little inky today! To mark St Andrews day, Google asked me to create a very special Google Doodle that celebrates all things Scottish, so I picked up my pens and pencils and created this for them.
“My daughter, Evie is delighted to see our national animal the unicorn! - make an appearance!”
Ms Basford’s first adult colouring book, Secret Garden, was published in 2013. It became a best-seller, allowing people to colour in around her intricate designs.
In keeping with her trademark style, the illustrator, who was awarded an OBE in the 2016 Birthday Honours list for services to art and entrepreneurship, has also made a downloadable version of her Google Doodle available for people to colour in at home.
She added on her blog: “There’s a splash of Saltire blue, but I think it needs more colour ... over to you!”