How to commission a hand-painted portrait from a photo

The three questions everyone asks

Almost every first-time buyer asks the same three things: will it look like them, how long will it take, and what if it isn't right. The honest answers are that a good painter can capture a likeness from a clear photo, most paintings take 7 to 14 days, and you see it twice before it ships: once as a proof and once as a finished photo.

What we need before we quote

• The reference photo, at the highest resolution you have
• The finished size, in inches or centimeters
• How many pieces
• Rolled in a tube, or stretched and ready to hang
• The delivery country
• Your deadline, if there is one

The two gaps that cause the most trouble later are a blurry photo and a size chosen too small. Both are easy to fix before painting starts and hard to fix after.

From photo to finished canvas

1. We review the photo. If it's too dark, too small or taken at an awkward angle, we say so before you pay anything.
2. You approve a proof. Composition, crop, size and any artistic direction are confirmed before paint touches canvas.
3. The painter builds it in layers. Underpainting, form, color, then detail. Each layer dries before the next.
4. You approve a photo. The finished painting is photographed in consistent light. If anything should change, the painter reworks it before it's varnished and packed.
5. It's packed and shipped. Rolled, stretched or crated, by the shipping method you choose.

How to describe what you want

The most useful brief says where the painting will hang, how large it should be and how it should feel. Words like "more artistic" or "high-end" mean different things to different people; a reference painting you like, with a note on what you like about it, says far more. If you want the painting to go beyond the photo, such as a softer background, a warmer light or a looser brushstroke, say so at quotation so it goes into the proof.

The mistakes we see most

• A low-quality photo. No painter can recover detail the photo doesn't contain.
• A size that's too small for the subject. Faces in a group portrait need room.
• Expecting a copy of the photo. A painting interprets; that's what makes it worth having.
• Leaving it late. A painting built in layers can't be rushed without showing it.