From pint to paint pots - an extraordinary life

provided the inspiration for a character in Jilly Cooper's forthcoming novel.

Like one of the best-selling author's fictional heroes, the 50-year-old painter is impossibly charming, blessed with dashing good looks and has had a career, he claims, based largely on luck.

In fact, as anyone familiar with Alan's Yorkshire Television series, In the Frame, will know, he is also incredibly talented. No wonder then, that so many well-known figures from TV, music and politics have agreed to have their portraits painted by him, including Jilly Cooper.

At one time, Alan himself was a regular on the London showbiz scene, burning the candle at both ends and hobnobbing with the rich and famous.

Now, happily settled in Apperley Bridge with his family and after an eclectic career as an artist, traveller, TV presenter and director, he has returned to his first love - painting.

Originally from Leeds, Alan moved to Scarborough as a young lad with his family and it was there that his interest in art began. "I studied graphic design at Scarborough School of Art, as I thought, at the time it was the only way to make a living from art," he says.

Luckily, he changed his mind after artist John Ridgewell spotted one of his illustrations and advised the 17-year-old to study fine art.

"So I decided I wanted to be painter - thanks to him I had the guts to do it."

His next stop was Birmingham College of Art and Design where he achieved first class honours for his fine art degree, studying with the likes of Bryan Ferry.

He returned there as a lecturer following an 18-month trip with his girlfriend Sue (now wife) to India where they lived in a fishing village on basic resources, and travelled through Afghanistan and Iran where they were attacked by bandits.

But Alan's art flourished and on his return, the artist had what he describes as his first lucky break.

"I went back to Birmingham to see my tutors and was immediately offered a

lecturing job."

He stayed at the College of Art and Design for three years - then it was time for another career change when BBC producers visited the college looking for an arts researcher.

Alan was snapped up for the job and the show, Hurdy Gurdy, an afternoon arts slot, was an instant success. "I wasn't meant to present - I was a researcher. But they were auditioning for presenters and after everyone had left the producer suggested I have a go. I stuttered all the way through and thought I was awful but they liked me."

Alan's job was to interview painters and photographers about their work. "Because I was trained as an artist I knew the right questions to ask so it worked really well."

Soon after came a call from ITV and Alan's TV career was in full swing. "Firstly I went to Southampton to do an arts show interviewing everyone from painters to musicians. The Head of Features at Thames Television called and offered me a job on a network show presenting with Judith Chalmers and Mary Parkinson. I jumped at the chance and moved down to London."

It was there that Alan began to really enjoy the celebrity lifestyle.

"It was mad - in the space of a year and a half I had completely changed career."

Still in his mid-twenties he took full advantage of what he calls "the hottest ticket in town" and threw himself into life in the capital. "I had access to all the major stars, I interviewed the likes of Dustin Hoffman, got to know David Bailey, Mick Jagger. I found it exhilarating."

Determined to make a lasting career in TV, Alan's next move was to train as a director and producer. He was involved in everything from telethons to pop videos and children's TV and, although he loved his work, it left him feeling ultimately burned out.

"You live the job - there is no getting away from it," he says.

It was a far cry from his painting days and eventually the pressurised lifestyle proved too much for him.

He bought the house in Apperley Bridge but continued working in London, only seeing his family at weekends. "Eventually, it all came crashing down," he says. "One day, when my son Robert was about four I was leaving the house one day and he said he never got to see me. I realised I had to give it all up."

In his late thirties he decided to return properly to painting and has never

regretted the decision.

And, apart from a brief but successful foray into corporate video production, he has concentrated on his painting ever since.

"My painting really started to develop then and I began exhibiting my

watercolours.

"Coronation Street star Liz Dawn bought one of my paintings and from then on the work snowballed. Jilly Cooper bought a painting of some wild flowers and other stars began to call."

Yorkshire TV got in touch and Alan come up with the idea for In the Frame. He contacted celebrities, politicians and religious leaders who were all more than happy to sit for a portrait in front of the cameras.

"I think celebrities like to be asked," he admits. "That way it doesn't seem too egotistical."

The success of that show paved the way for others and Alan now has a packed schedule, even fitting in time to lecture at Leeds College of Art and Design.

But this time he is determined to remain focused on his painting and find time for relaxation. "I now find piece of mind by walking in the Dales," he says. "I don't really miss the glamour of London and the showbiz circuit. It's all pretty false at the end of the day.

"I now wish I hadn't done all the other stuff and just concentrated on my painting. I should have had enough faith in myself," he says.

He's now happiest when concentrating on his portraits and his botanical pieces, a passion that provided the inspiration for yet another TV show, Blooming Art, where he paints the gardens of well-known people

His house in Apperley Bridge is usually the setting for his portrait painting and he has painted rock great Rick Wakeman, numerous Coronation Street stars and the Archbishop of Ripon. "I think people feel at ease with me - I chat to them as I paint and they can relax."

His favourite portrait is of Dennis Healey, who he describes as his dream subject. "I'm not really interested in painting beautiful girls - I like people with interesting faces which aren't perfect and have lots of character like Dennis Healey. They are far more enjoyable to draw."

The next name on his wish list is actress Dame Thora Hird: "She has a great face and she's a great character. I'd love to paint her."

And only once has the artist had a less than enthusiastic response with the finished product. "One celebrity - who shall remain nameless - seemed to be quite happy with his portrait but then rang me later and asked me to change it. But I don't like doing that at all."

In his latest series he will paint Robert Palmer, the rock singer, who he once designed an album cover for.

"We had studied together at Scarborough and then he rang me out of the blue and asked me to design an album sleeve for him. We met in London to discuss designing an album cover and it turned into a four day bender, taking in top London restaurants and nightclubs."

Such exploits - long gone now - are precisely the stuff that sparked Jilly Cooper's imagination. Alan and his TV crew spent time at her house while she sat for a portrait and he also produced a watercolour of flowers in her garden.

But is the artist in her new novel - with the risqu working title of Well Hung - really based on Alan?

"I take it with a pinch of salt," he says. "Jilly asked me lots of questions about my life as an artist and wanted all the details. I gave her a few spicy anecdotes!"

And according to Jilly? "I never base any one of my characters on a single person," she says, when asked. "But I have used quite a few of Alan's anecdotes in the book. He did inspire me - he is a beautiful, blonde Yorkshire hunk."

n In the Frame, featuring Richard Whiteley having his portrait painted, is on ITV on October 5 at 7.30pm. Blooming Art is on Sundays on ITV at 6.15pm.