ONE OF Dudley D. Watkins’ more unusual artworks, depicting the crucifixion, has been discovered at a house in Lochgelly.

Famous for his illustrations in Oor Wullie and The Broons, Watkins was also a deeply religious man.

He created evangelical comic strips and harboured an ambition to make an illustrated version of the Bible.

The artist gave the crucifixion work to Jean Kinnell (77) in 1951, when she was a young mother living with her husband’s family in Cowdenbeath.

She said, “My father-in-law, James Kinnell, was a lay preacher with the Church of Christ in Cowdenbeath.

“Dudley and his wife often attended his services, and after church we would sit around the kitchen table discussing the Bible.

“One day he handed me a roll of cardboard and said, ‘That’s for you, Jean.’ The painting was in it.”

The ink and watercolour picture, which is about two feet by three feet and has hung in Mrs Kinnell’s home for many years, was discovered last month by Gillian Parsons from Lochgelly Arts Centre.

She was preparing an exhibition of oil paintings by Mrs Kinnell’s late husband, Jack.

Ms Parsons said, “It’s a highly intricate piece of art, instantly recognisable to anyone familiar with Watkins’ work.

“It’s disturbing to see distress on the faces of characters just like those in Oor Wullie or The Broons which you’ve been familiar with since childhood.”