Versatile artist, writer and illustrator, born in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, a small and vibrant industrial town which had a marked influence on his work and methods. The roots of his paintings and sculptures were planted in the processes of work and the drive to make. McKendrick was fascinated by the interaction between man, ideas and materials, which resulted in big multi-media shows. He worked in Clydebank shipyards, 1963–9, attended Glasgow School of Art, 1971–5, then Jordanhill College of Education, 1976. He was elected RSW, 1985, to the Glasgow Group, 1986, and the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, 1988. He won a string of awards, later ones including the Mayfest Compass Prize, 1985, and Inverclyde Biennial Prize, 1986. Among extensive public and private commissions was work for Scottish Television, BBC and Channel Four Television.