By Claire Elliot

A DERELICT building has received a wild makeover - after being wrapped in a giant sketch of Britain’s largest seabird.

The former glazier's premises in Banff, Aberdeenshire, has been adorned in a 20ft by 70ft drawing of a pair of gannets.
 

The building has lain empty for years and is branded an eyesore by locals.
 

But organisers of the area’s Coast visual arts festival decided to transform it into a public art display ahead of their second annual event, which starts tomorrow (Friday).
 

Artist Gabrielle Reith, who won a competition to have her work exhibited on the two-storey building, said her design aimed to represent one of the area’s wildlife treasures.
 

Scotland’s only mainland gannet colony at the RSPB’s Troup Head nature reserve, near Banff, has more than 1,500 gannet nests.
 

Gabrielle, 32, of Inverurie, said: “I wanted this to be a gateway to the festival.

“It’s a pen and ink piece so it stands out quite well.
 

“There is a big gannet colony at Troup Head so this is a picture of gannets doing their mating rituals with their bills intertwined.
 

“I’m really pleased with it. It’s amazing to see it so big. I’ve painted on 10ft canvas before but that’s as big as it’s ever gone.
 

“This is really exciting. I just hope the public like it.”
 

The black and white piece took the Gray’s School of Art graduate just five days to complete.
 

It was then enlarged and printed onto a close-mesh fabric.
 

The 150kg piece has now been hoisted onto scaffolding to cover the vacant building.
 

Festival director Danielle Daglan, said: “Any site that is disused over a period of time can be a bit dreary to look at so this definitely perks it up for a few days.
 

“Gabrielle selected to do a piece celebrating quite a rare aspect of the area and I think people are going to like it.
 

“It is such a fantastic design and it’s got relevance to the community.
 

“And it is a great vantage point. You can see it from Macduff and as your coming over the bridge into Banff.”

Ideas are now being sought what to do with the artwork at the end of the four-day festival, when it must come down.

The festival promotes visual arts with the aim of boosting local tourism.