Tartan Tuffy was the brainchild of Neil G Smith and was inspired by the stories of Clyde Puffers and a picture commissioned by David Birrel called The Tartan Puffer.

In 1996 while embarking upon a touring exhibition, Neil G Smith with his original idea for Arttoons visited Oban in Scotland. The touring exhibition consisted of variety of work. A selection of Arttoons included in the original touring exhibition can be viewed at Arttoon Facebook.

Arttoon on Facebook

The tour was a resounding success, resulting in numerous private commissions, one of which was a large pastel mural for David's hotel restaurant, which he named The Tartan Puffer.

I then took the idea of The Tartn Puffer and created a series of Children's Illustrated Books called Tartan Tuffy.