ONE of Scotland's leading artists is to paint 100 soldiers and veterans to mark next year's centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

Tom McKendrick, 64, probably best known for his work paying homage to shipbuilding on the Clyde, said the project was a tribute to those who had fought in different conflicts.

"Next year is going to be a time of enormous reflection and I wanted to make a record of some of the soldiers who have gone to war and share what happened to them," he said.

"In particular, some of the older veterans of the Second World War are at an age when over the next 10 years many will not be with us."

Mr McKendrick, a former ­shipyard loftsman, added that he hoped the work would prompt viewers to contemplate on the regularity of war.

"In this time of reflection it's also significant to remember just how often soldiers are sent off to war," he said.

"Britain's been involved in pretty much continuous conflicts since the First World War. They may not have been on the same horrendous magnitude as the First World War, but they are wars nonetheless."

Mr McKendrick has completed 14 portraits and hopes to finish the project over the next three years. Each portrait will be accompanied by a short biography of the soldier it portrays.

He said that while there was an artistic tradition of painting heroic soldiers of high rank, he wanted his paintings to capture his subject's vulnerabilities and humanity.

The soldiers and veterans have all sat for their portraits at his studio in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire.

They have ranged in age from 23 to 99, in rank from private to lieutenant colonel and have served in conflicts as diverse as the Second World War, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Some have been critically injured.

Mr McKendrick said that after speaking to the soldiers and veterans, some common themes emerged about their experiences.

"Some are still serving, some are retired, but they never forget that time in their lives when they were in the forces and the profound affect it had on them," he said.

"The circumstances and the technology change from war to war, but the fear, the loss, the anguish and the comradeship are constants."

The project builds on the ­painter's interest in war, and follows a major, more abstract work he completed in the mid-1980s on the Clydebank Blitz.

One image that was displayed at the Lillie Art Gallery, Milngavie, showed a giant window frame, capturing the agony of one ­survivor who unsuccessfully tried to rescue a young girl from a burning building.

In another work, the artist hung sheets over picture frames as a way of portraying the improvised shrouds that covered the bodies of those killed.

"In many ways what I'm doing now is similar to Blitz. It's not sheets and window frames but portraits of people who have witnessed the horrors of war," he said. "My job is to tell their stories in images. To me the important thing is what the images are saying, and the people's stories that are being told."

Warrant Officer Terry Lowe, from north Glasgow, was among those who have had their portraits completed. The 34-year-old, a member of 2 Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, was painted in both his combats and his ­ceremonial uniform.

"I'm very proud of the way I look in my red jacket and I think that's the one my family will prefer, but I think the one in the combats showing my tattoos is the real me," he said.

"It was nice getting all the attention, very flattering, but also on a bigger level it's a good thing. I think it will raise awareness about the different generations of servicemen and women and the campaigns they fought in."