Jack Vettriano painting
Jack Vettriano is a Scottish painter.
Originally Jack Hoggan, he grew up in the industrial seaside town of Methil, Fife. He left school at 16 and later became an apprentice mining engineer. He took up painting as a hobby in his twenties. His earliest paintings were copies or pastiches of impressionist paintings – his first painting was a copy of Monet's Poppy Fields.
Jack only took up painting as a hobby in his twenties when a teacher friend bought him a set of water colours.This is when Jack found his artistic talent. It was 14 years before he felt they were ready to show.
In October 2005, it was "discovered" that figures in some of Vettriano's paintings, including The Singing Butler, were based on figures from an artists' reference manual, The Illustrator's Figure Reference Manual.This revelation did little to tarnish Vettriano's reputation, however, as he has never denied being self-taught. In his early years he didn't have the financial resources to hire models. His talent lies in placing his figures in an unusual narrative context.
