Louis McNally was born in 1963 in Inverkip, Scotland. He attended Gray's School of Art between 1986 and 1990 graduating with a BA- Hons. His work has a very distinctive and recognisable style. He painstakingly develops his paintings, in oils, over many weeks of using drawings, photos and memory. The result is often an emotive and atmospheric land or city scape with long, low horizons (usually inspired by Edinburgh and the East Coast areas), and have a solidity and stature to them - qualities which are unusual for paintings of such fine detailing and observation.

Louis paints full time, from his studio outside Edinburgh, and his paintings are collected world-wide; his work is featured in the Institute of American Museums, Washington.