For much of his young adult life Stephen Nicholson was trapped in a cycle of binge drinking but didn't really know it.

The weekends were for drinking - Thursday's were too - and it didn't really matter what was in the glass that reached his hand.

"I grew up with a lot of drink involved and I used to like to go out and party," he says.

"I was caught up in that sort of cycle where that became normal."

The drink took over and, without even realising it, the young Clydebank lad's life began to spiral.

"When I came round, I'd try and get my life together," he says.

"But I was locked in a place where people did the same. I was just getting dragged into the same routines and scenarios."

Until the day a paintbrush reached his hand.

As a boy, Stephen had loved art but gave it up until he stumbled across a course in Glasgow.

"I'd always been into art so I thought just give it a shot," he says.

"I stuck it out and that was five years ago."

The 31-year-old artist, who "paints constantly", is now holding his first ever solo exhibition.

"To see my work, 23 of my paintings professionally presented...it was amazing, such a good feeling," he says.

"It's changed my life so much."

With a passion for figurative work, Stephen says he tried to capture the people he paints "not by looking just on the surface but by going deeper below", using his love of moody blues and mauve to bring out the depth in their skin.

"I find it intriguing and it brings personality and character to my paintings," he says openly on his artist's page.

"I love a painting that grips you and drags you in, something that will make you stop for that moment not just a quick glance."

Describing his painting as an emotional roller coaster for him and something very unpredictable, Stephen's works will be on show at the Backdoor Gallery in Clydebank from January 28 until February 17.

"I strive to better myself every day and moving forward is my key," says Stephen.

"Success is progression and if I better myself the smallest of fractions each time I am happy."