Roughing it in Edinburgh     28th Jul 2009

I nipped over the Forth Road bridge in my little car yesterday, with a box of UV Black Lights and a hand bag full of Posca Pens and headed for the Portrait Gallery.

Find out more about the project here.

Work has begun on every paintable surface and the gallery floor is littered with abandoned spray paint cans and empty paint pots - this is art with an alternative bite. The black lights were quickly unpacked and the graffiti boys began experimenting with UV spray paints and various different bleaches and whiteners, creating a weird ethereal glow within the inked up walls.

As for me, I whipped out the Posca Pens and began doodling some rambling botanica on the gallery walls. There's just one week left before the press previews - so things are getting frantic. I've learned lots of new swear words and am now pretty much immune to the smell of spray paint - a good result all round I reckon!

You can see some super cool time lapse films of the install process here and here.

Be sure to pop along on Friday 7^th August to the Gallery from 5pm for the official opening night, sponsored by those nice people at Zeitgeist - the alternative black lager.