AS THE hardman of Sun Hill police station, DI Burnside's colleagues would have sent him home on sick pay if they heard him talking about his latest watercolour painting.

But more than 30 years after training at one of London's top art colleges, actor Chris Ellison is returning to a pastime which he has continued to nurture throughout a career playing some of TV's toughest characters.

The star, from Hove, said: "I always used to doodle while I was filming and people knew a script was mine because it would be covered in drawings.

"Showing my paintings is worse than the opening night of a show but at least I can run away and go to the pub. You can't run away on the stage."

Ellison opened his exhibition at Dekoart gallery in Upper North Street, Brighton, on Thursday, when scores of friends and family turned out to see the collection of around 20 paintings.

The show, entitled T.K.O, features watercolours based on the world of boxing, including depictions of fellow Brighton and Hove resident and former super middleweight world champion Chris Eubank.

The painting, named Simply The Best, takes its names from Eubank's chosen theme tune as he entered the boxing ring.

Ellison began work on the collection during a break last summer as he sat at home watching his favourite sport.

He said: "I was watching fights on TV. I am a boxing fan and I started sketching and thought I could do something with this'.

"I use the sport purely as a hook to hang my work on. I love the movement of the body, the athleticism and to see the action and show a moment in time.

"I have a summer house in the garden where I work and I would take the sketch and then finish it in watercolour over the next couple of days."

Ellison took his work into Dekoart where he photographed the painting and developed the colour on a computer, before blowing up the image and printing it out on canvas.

The end result is a collection of close-up portraits, mid-action poses and full anatomical studies of boxers in action, with each piece costing between £500 and £3,000.

The attention to the human form is proof of Ellison's training at the Camberwell School of Art, where he perfected his skills with life classes and nude studies while working in the theatre at weekends.

He said: "I studied art because it was something I could do and I was always drawing from an early age.

"I wish I had kept up with the painting but I started getting parts, the acting took over and I was making money.

"Showing my work in an exhibition is beyond my experience. This is all new to me but it is something I have wanted to do and now I have got the chance to do it."

Married father-of-two Ellison appeared in television dramas The Sweeney, The Professionals, Minder and Dempsey and Makepeace before taking a part in The Bill.

The actor first appeared at Sun Hill CID in 1984 terrorising criminals and falling foul of suspicion from his own colleagues.

His success in the show was followed by his own series, Burnside, and in recent years the actor has appeared on stage and screen in a variety of productions, including a film by Worthing producer Mark Jones.

But in preparing for his exhibition, which will run until the middle of this month, Ellison is keen to separate his work as an actor and an artist.

He said: "This show is removed from my work on television, acting has not got anything to do with this. I hope people come in and look at the work as it is."

He is already planning his next series of paintings and is also hoping to develop a project based on gangster films.

Ellison said: "I am not putting myself out there as David Hockney, I just hope people are interested in my paintings.

"I don't know how they will react. They may think it is just about boxing, and it is, but I also like painting scenes of urban life, showing characters that exist in real life."

For information visit www.dekoart.co.uk or call 01273 719059.