Portrait of a business artist: meet Helen Perkins

Helen Perkins, 29, works as a professional artist and is regularly selected to exhibit her work in national shows.

She also holds painting classes to share her expertise and experiences with other aspiring portrait painters.

Helen initially gained her skills as a painter’s apprentice, learning from established Royal Portrait Society painters Sam Dalby and Toby Wiggins.

She benefited from their advice and by taking on challenging projects alongside these teachers. Helen then sharpened her draftsmanship and technical skills at the London Atelier of Representational Art.

As a former journalist, previously based in Cumbria, Helen is a natural storyteller as well as an artist. These skills enable her to capture the essence of those she paints. Her enthusiasm is based on an interest in people and a desire to show how unique we all are as individuals.

Helen shares the secrets of portrait painting and what she hopes to discover from getting beneath the skin of the people behind some of the region’s top family-owned businesses.

What is it Helen that you are most looking forward to about this project?

People are infinitely different and trying to find a way of conveying their character in paint is a unique challenge. An opportunity to do this is rare.

You have met a range of award-winning business people as a journalist, are there any common traits you have witnessed among those successful business people, and is that something you can capture in paint?

Successful business people - I think, successful people in any capacity - tend to have faith in their decisions. They will allow themselves to try new things, and make mistakes. If you paint honestly I think you can capture those qualities because they come through in the way an individual naturally holds themselves.

Is there a particular interest from painting ten different individuals of all ages, different business backgrounds, but all being part of a series?

I am interested in the fact these portraits link ten different people, all touched by being in a family business. This group will become like a family themselves as a group of paintings. These images I’m making will be connecting people that probably have not even met before. You are bringing them into the same room in a way. What is it that a portrait artist sees in a person that the rest of us would miss? When you are painting, I find you are often reminded of how human your subject is. In a way, you are brought right back down to the basics - you look for the way a person sits, the parts where their face is maybe more blue or more pink, you look for the way their shoulders are curved or straight, or the way the light catches their hair. It’s a real case of paying attention to detail, and in looking at a person in a way that is humble and curious.

Has anyone ever told you the process of being a sitter has helped them solve a problem?

The space between a portrait model and a painter is a space free of distraction, and I think that benefits a lot of people - it certainly benefits me. It is strange, but sitting for a portrait does seem to lead people into deeper thought. While I am busy, trying to create an image that should last for many decades, sitters are often led to consider who they are and what has led them to the exact moment I am painting.

Why do you think a bond of trust forms between painter and sitter?

I think this is a process which encourages an honest connection between two people. You are both working together, in very different ways, as a team, to create something which will hopefully be beautiful. There’s something very naturally bonding in that creative process.

What are you expecting to discover from behind the canvas?

I am expecting to be surprised. One thing my writing career taught me is that people are full of a thousand interesting stories - they contain whole histories, and business people are as unique as snowflakes.

Are there any similarities between how people open up to a journalist and a painter?

People open to you as a journalist for a particular reason - so your communication tends to be very focused on a subject. In painting you are also very focused - but you are interested in your subject now as a whole human being. It can lead to some quite deep conversations. It’s one of the great things about portrait painting.

What type of reactions have you experienced when sitters see the finished work?

People are often very surprised to see themselves appear in oils. It’s really nice to hear their reactions. A couple of times in the past I’ve had sitters say I’ve captured the look of their mum or their dad, which is lovely to hear.

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