JACK Vettriano has persuaded soap star Kara Tointon to be his latest muse – after seeing her win Strictly Come Dancing.

The former EastEnders actress posed for the artist in a vintage Aston Martin. And she is the latest sexy brunette to inspire the best-selling Scot after sultry lookalikes appeared in a string of his paintings and real-life romances.

The Fife painter and Kara appear in the BBC4 film What Do Artists Do All Day and he reveals the inspiration behind the image.

Jack Vettriano, 61, said: “I once had a relationship with somebody I shouldn’t have. We used to meet, we both used to drive to a certain spot and then one day she just never turned up.

“But the idea is I want Kara to be playing the role I was playing at that point in time. I’m trying to create this beautiful woman, who is about to be terribly, terribly disappointed.”

Kara, 29, was thrilled to pose for Jack Vettriano, whose prints out-sell Dali, Monet and Van Gogh and whose most famous work – 1992 painting The Singing Butler – is the country’s bestseller.

She tweeted yesterday: “Looking forward to being ‘the girl’ in one of the great Jack Vettriano’s paintings! One of my fav artists. So exciting!”

Jack first noticed his new muse in 2010 when she was crowned champion on BBC1’s Strictly and made contact with her.

The film also follows Jack Vettriano  – who was honoured with a lifetime achievement gong at the Sunday Mail Great Scot Awards
ceremony in 2011 – starting work at 5am and painting to the sound of Johnny Cash and smoking cigarettes.

The miner’s son also reveals how his harsh upbringing – he went down the pits at 16 – influences his work. He said: “I paint what I paint because it is escapism.”

What Do Artists Do All Day? on BBC Four at 8pm tomorrow.

Full story available here: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/strictly-star-kara-tointon-poses-1816434