Talented portrait artist Glen Folan is proof that young offenders can turn their lives around.

Glen, 31, who spent two years behind bars, is now firmly back on the straight and narrow – and wants to be a role model for others.

Glen, of Milnsbridge, is a self-taught artist and took lessons during his time at Armley Jail in Leeds.

He’s made a name for himself brushing shoulders with some of the biggest showbiz and sporting stars around – and now he’s helping others stay out of trouble.

Glen has found a niche painting portraits of stars at sporting dinners and meet-and-greet events.

The Hollywood stars in his portfolio include Al Pacino, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Vinnie Jones and he’s met sporting legends such as Sir Geoff Hurst, Pele, Paul Gascoigne and Mike Tyson.

Artist Glen Folan with some of his work which went on display at the Global Diversity Cafe

The father-of-one is self-taught and took up art in Armley while serving a four-year prison sentence which saw him locked up for two years. On his release he set about rebuilding his life and has never looked back.

And they don’t come any bigger than his next project painting Hollywood star and film-maker, Sylvester Stallone, alias Rocky.

Glen said: “He is definitely one of my heroes, I’m into boxing,” and he joked: “I’m actually running out of celebrities now!”

But on Saturday morning he took time out from life between canvasses to draw on his experiences behind bars to talk to a group of young offenders at the Global Diversity Positive Action cafe on Ramsden Street in Huddersfield town centre.

Glen, a former Newsome High School student, who lost his father while still young, said: “It came about because I have had my work on the walls here and the directors asked me if I would like to be a guest speaker and I said yes. It’s the first time I have done something like this and I think it went well. It’s shown them another way.

Artist Glen Folan, who has turned his life around after serving two years behind bars

“I know myself if I had had someone like me, a mentor, to help me then maybe I would not have gone wrong. If I can help just one person it will have been worth it.”

When he arrived in Armley he had to wait patiently for three months before he could be enrolled in the art class and had to content himself with learning IT skills in the meantime.

Glen said: “I always had a little bit of a knack when it came to art but in Armley I got to hone my skills. I had never done portraits until I went to prison. I started doing portraits of other prisoners’ family members from photographs.

“I entered a competition while I was there, administered by the Koestler Trust. There were 8,000 people entered portraits and one of mine was shortlisted as one of the final three. That was my first big step.”

He is now looking at taking a brief pause from portraits to concentrate on well-known landmarks in the Huddersfield area including the town’s celebrated rail station and Castle Hill.