Custom Portrait Oil Paintings from Your Photo

Some photographs deserve more than a phone screen. A face you love, the house you grew up in, a dog who was part of the family for fifteen years. A commission turns one of those photographs into an oil painting, made by hand, one canvas at a time.

What can be painted

Nearly anything you have a photograph of. People is the largest group by far: single portraits, couples, families, children, grandparents, three generations in one frame, and portraits marking a profession or an achievement. Animals covers dogs, cats, horses and portraits of an owner with their animal. Places takes in houses, family homes, beach houses, hotels, restaurants and offices. There are also vehicles, from a first car to an aircraft, and a group of memorial portraits for people and for pets.

Alongside the commissions, the collection holds a small set of ready-painted portraits of well-known figures, which can be ordered as they are.

How a commission works

The start is deliberately slow. You send photographs; one strong reference is usually enough, though extra angles always help. An artist reviews the subject, the number of figures and how much detail the image will carry, and says plainly if something will not translate well into oils. Nothing is charged until a person has read your request and agreed the subject can be done justice. You see photographs of the work in progress before it is finished, while there is still room to adjust.

What makes a good reference photo

Daylight rather than flash, and soft side light rather than direct sun. The original file from the camera or phone, not a screenshot or a compressed message attachment. Faces clearly visible, eyes in focus, nothing shading the top half of the face. Send several if you have them: an artist can take a better expression from one and a better pose from another.

If your only photograph is old, small or damaged, send it anyway. Painters are used to reading imperfect images, and a faded print is often exactly the one that matters most.

Size, finish and delivery

You set the dimensions rather than choosing from a fixed list. Three finishes are available: Simple for a clean, even surface, Texture for visible brushwork, and Museum for the heaviest impasto. A single head and shoulders sits happily at a modest scale; a group of figures wants room. Shipping is free worldwide.