Reading Artist Specializes in Rapid Watercolour Portraits

An artist from Reading, known for her ability to complete a portrait in just 10 minutes, has stated that her technique involves painting faster than the speed of thought. Helen Ridley, a “live illustrator,” attends weddings and various other events, where she produces watercolour paintings at a high pace. She launched an online portrait business in 2020, later transitioning to painting individuals face-to-face. On Thursday, she visited the BBC Radio Berkshire office and showcased her skills by painting presenter Kirsten O’Brien’s portrait during a live broadcast. Ms. Ridley remarked, “The quicker I work, the better I am at getting a likeness, weirdly. It’s almost the less you think about it, the better.” She mentioned that her training was in fashion illustration, but she became dissatisfied with its rigid approach. “That [style] is usually a very elongated and skinny figure,” she explained. “There are some illustrators who use templates of skinny people.” She added, “I try to be very inclusive and not use templates. The adrenaline of having to draw from scratch is half the fun.” In the past month, she has also been creating live portraits of people’s pets at her local John Lewis. However, she noted that painting dogs in a retail setting presents its own challenges. “With the dog portraits I take a quick photo, because you are not going to get a dog to sit still for five minutes,” she clarified. She concluded, “But I’ve got really good at getting a likeness of dogs really quickly.” BBC Berkshire can be followed on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Information regarding our approach to external linking is available.