Scottish art lovers are to get the chance to view the work of Sir Anthony Hopkins, who as well as one of the finest actors of his generation is an accomplished painter. A special exhibition of his work is coming to Scotland.  

The Welsh-born star who now lives in the USA has enjoyed a long career acting in film and TV since the late 1960s, winning an Oscar award for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, as well as three other Oscar nominations

However, painting is something he has only taken up recently.

He explained: "The painting I have been doing for five years. I started drawing as a child, as a little boy, scribbling and doing the usual flat, almost stick figures that children paint and draw, but I started paining five years ago, in 2005. I did one painting as a young boy, I went to an art class, I painted a pirate, but that was the only painting I ever did, I started quite recently."

He was inspired to start painting by his wife Stella. He said: "She picked up some of my old scripts, film scripts and on each blank page opposite the script I had done many many drawings in coloured inks, felt pen drawings of landscapes and faces, and she said 'You know, you're quite an artist.'

"She was in the art business, she said: 'You ought to do this, you ought to pick it up as a hobby,' so I said: 'OK."

See some of Sir Anthony's artwork here >

On his creative process, he elaborated: "I'm not in the studio every day, I'm not a recluse eccentric, but I go into the studio when I feel like it and I paint, I paint rapidly but I don't finish the painting rapidly, I take many days or a week or maybe longer, but I go at it with a passion or a vigour because I don't have academic training.

"What liberates me is the feeling that I don't have any anxiety about the result, I don't have anxiety about what anyone thinks or what a critic or whatever thinks, some of my friends have seen my paintings, they come into the studio and they go 'wow' so that affirms it for me."
 
So what will those who go to the exhibition think of his work?  

He replied: "All I could say to anyone who is coming to the show is that you might be in for a surprise or not, take it or leave it But I think what I'm proud of, what I love doing, is the colour. "

"I am at the stage in my life where I just do what I want to do and they sell it for me, show it and give the money to charity, put some of the money back into the business, but it's basically for charity."

His new career as a painter has brought some unexpected results for Sir Anthony.

He explained: "The best thrill I had was being commissioned by two collectors who were anonymous, but they paid a considerable amount of money for me to paint a certain style of painting.

"That was good to be commissioned to do a painting, it made me feel good about myself, because not being academically trained I don't have any arrogance about what I do I just think 'If it works it works, and if people like it that's fine and if they don't that's OK too."

The show in Edinburgh will be the first time that his work has gone on display to the public in the UK.

He said: "This will be a first for me in Britain, so it will be fun to see what the response is, not that I'll become involved in the results and critics or anything like that, I won't be able to be there because I'm starting a movie although I love Edinburgh, it's a beautiful city, it's good to have my art shown there in Britain, maybe I'll do a show in Wales.

"I think there's been a call for me to do a show in Cardiff, which will be great because they have a great are collection there, it's a small collection but it's a collection of some impressionists and so on so that would be a thrill."

Despite the success of his arts career and with his music, Sir Anthony has no plans to give up acting. He said: "I've got Wolfman coming out in March, and I did a Woody Allen movie last year and I'm doing a movie with Kenneth Brannagh called Thor, where I get to play God - Odin, so that will be a thrill.

Watch trailer for Wolfman here >

"I've got a few more movies, so I'm not going to turn my back on it until they tell me its over and we don't want you any more, so if they say they want me I'll learn my lines and hit my marks and do what I do so it's the best time of my life now."

The exhibition will run at The Dome in Edinburgh from March 2 to 6. More details about the venue are available on the Dome's website.