FIFE-born artist Jack Vettriano has claimed that leaving Edinburgh, the city which spurned his art, has saved him.
The painter said that his recent move to London has given him a new lease of life after becoming disillusioned with life in the Scottish capital.
The 65-year-old said after he injured himself in a fall in 2014, he spent most of his time drinking, taking anti-depressants and watching daytime television while trying to recover.
He described the period which he spent in his New Town mansion as an all-time low in his life.
"I somehow thought that my body would heal itself. As I'd never had an accident before I didn't realise you have to work at helping your body to recover," he said.
Now, after a decade in Edinburgh, he has recently put the townhouse on the market for £1.6 million and has moved down to London.
He said: "Every day I get up at 5am and go cycling around Battersea Park. I'm at work in the studio most days at 6am."
He added: "It was more than 25 years ago that I had last lived in Edinburgh and a lot has changed.
"I used to love walking around all the vintage shops and charity shops of the Grassmarket, but they are no longer around. I missed that and, without sounding arrogant, I always felt I was being watched.
"I'm so much lower down the pecking order here for paparazzi in London that I don't get bothered at all."
A former mining engineer and bingo caller, Mr Vettriano also spoke to the Scots magazine about his rejection from Edinburgh College of Art, saying the snub spurred him on.
In 2014, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow hosted a major retrospective of the self-taught artist's work.
More than 123,000 visited the exhibition, making it the most popular ever to be held at the landmark venue.
He said: "It was the ultimate accolade to have the show put on there.
"I don't think it was something that would have happened in Edinburgh."
Recently he joined fellow Scottish artists John Byrne and Rachel Maclean in showcasing three outsize murals of Billy Connolly in Glasgow.
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