Artists win royal approval

Elizabeth Blackadder is Scotland's painter laureate

Two very different Scottish artists have been named in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Jack Vettriano, who was awarded an OBE, is the man behind the UK's top-selling fine art print.

However, the Fife painter's work has divided critics and been largely ignored by the arts establishment.

He is joined on the honours list by Elizabeth Blackadder, who becomes a Dame.

The Edinburgh-based painter was awarded an OBE 1982 and became Scotland's first female "painter laureate" in February 2001.

The 71-year-old followed in the footsteps of Sir Henry Raeburn and Sir David Wilkie when she was appointed to the 300-year-old role of Her Majesty's Painter and Limner in Scotland.

Flowers and cats

The latest honour recognised her services to the visual arts.

Best known for her watercolours of flowers and cats, the royal artist's paintings can fetch £20,000.

She was also the first woman to become an Academician of both the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Academy.

Her collections have been displayed at the Tate in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh.

He is absolutely delighted with the news

Spokeswoman for Jack Vettriano

By contast, Mr Vettriano's work does not feature in any of Scotland's national galleries.

The self-taught painter received his award for services to the visual arts.

A spokeswoman for London's Portland Gallery, where his original work is sold, said: "He is absolutely delighted with the news.

"It has been an amazing month for him because he is also due to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of St Andrews later this month."

Mr Vettriano, who started his working life as a mining engineer at the age of 16, was born Jack Hoggan in Methil, Fife, in 1951.

His distinctive paintings are among the most widely sold artworks on prints, postcards and posters in Britain.

Services to literature

He is thought to earn £250,000 a year in royalties for The Singing Butler alone, making it the best selling fine art print in the UK.

The awards honour a number of other figures from the Scottish arts.

Writer Douglas Dunn, a Professor of English at St Andrews University and the director of the Scottish Studies Institute, has been made an OBE for services to literature.

Mr Dunn, who was born in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, in 1942, has twice been awarded prizes by the Scottish Arts Council for his work.

He has also received a Somerset Maugham Award and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, and was overall winner of the 1985 Whitbread Book of the Year Award.

Singing career

Mr Dunn has published six collections of poetry and written several radio and television plays, including Ploughman's Share and Scotsman by Moonlight.

Country singer Sydney Devine also features on the list, being awarded an MBE.

Born in Cleland, near Glasgow, his singing career has spanned almost 50 years.

He spent two decades years building a live reputation, primarily in Scotland, before the start of his recording career expanded his following.

His biggest chart success came in 1976, when his Doubly Devine album broke into the UK top 20.