An Oscar-winning American director has arrived in Scotland to mentor the next generation of film-makers.

Mark Andrews, director of the Disney Pixar film Brave, will give lectures and workshops to students at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) during the next two weeks.

Part of the inspiration to share his knowledge and expertise was due to his own experiences at art school when he was younger.

He said: "I learned the most from my instructors who were actually out in the business working. They would come in after their work was done at 6pm or 7pm and then teach us, they were right on the cutting edge.

"They took time out, instead of going back to their families, to come back and give the students something.

"I want to give back to those students as it inspired me to continue to pursue my art."

Katy Gilchrist, 19, a digital culture student from Inverness, currently in first year at the GSA, said: "I'm excited to hear about all of his experiences and passing on his skills so I can contribute them into my own work."

Fellow first-year student Mairi Blyth, 18, from Falkirk, said: "The main things for me are all about capturing the audience and character development.

"On our course, digital culture, it's not necessarily all about character-based animation but the same set of skills can be applied to what we do."

Mr Andrews, who has Scottish ancestry, first visited the country on his honeymoon in 2008 when he was inspired by the "magic" in the scenery to create an animated feature set in Scotland.

He said: "I was already hooked [but] a lot of the crew who went on research trips from Pixar had never been before and a lot of them were just blown away by what they felt coming here and being out in the wilderness and in the Highlands."

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop accompanied the director on his visit to the GSA.

She said: "This mentoring and skills sharing programme is a fantastic opportunity for emerging Scottish animation and film-making talent to learn from one of the very best in the business, and is a direct result of Brave and Scotland's strong relationship with Disney Pixar."

Local primary school children will also benefit from Mark's skills when he will take a look at work GSA have been doing in the wider community.

Students from the GSA worked on an animation project with two classes at Pirie Park primary school in Govan, and the characters they developed will be presented to Mr Andrews before he gives a short talk to the school.