Frequently Asked Questions

Send us the photo through the contact form or WhatsApp, tell us the size and number of subjects, and we reply with a written quote. Once you confirm and pay the deposit, painting starts. You approve a digital proof before the piece ships and pay the balance then.

One where the eyes are sharp, the light is even, and the camera is at the subject's eye level. Phone photos are fine if they are not screenshots. Old, blurry or low-resolution photos can often still work — send what you have and we will tell you honestly.

We confirm a timeframe on each order instead of promising a fixed number of days, because size, subject count, detail level, drying and transit all vary. Ask for the typical range for your piece; if you have a deadline, tell us up front and we will say plainly whether it is realistic.

Adjustments at the digital proof stage are part of every order — likeness, colour, background. We keep going until you approve. Changes to the brief after painting starts (a different photo, an extra subject, a larger canvas) are quoted separately.

Tell us at the proof stage and we adjust it before it ships; nothing leaves the studio without your approval. Because each piece is custom, we cannot accept change-of-mind returns after approval, but damage in transit is always covered.

Yes. Combining references into one composition is routine — pets that were never photographed together, a grandparent added to a family group, a person and their dog. We sketch the arrangement and confirm it with you before painting.

In-house painters employed by our studio. Each piece is completed by one painter from first sketch to final varnish. We do not publish painter names or faces; we show the process and the paint surface instead.

Physical texture. Look at the raking-light photos we send with every proof — real brushstrokes cast shadows, prints do not. Our how-we-paint page documents one painting through eight stages, and trade buyers can order a sample to inspect in person.

Acrylic and oil portraits are painted with artist-grade, lightfast colours on triple-primed cotton or linen canvas and varnished after curing. Charcoal, watercolour and pencil portraits are on heavyweight archival paper, fixed, and shipped flat to be framed behind glass. Frames, when ordered, are solid wood.

Acrylic on canvas is our default — oil, charcoal, watercolour and pencil on request. Acrylic for speed and durability, acrylic when a date is close because it dries in hours. Charcoal, watercolour and graphite or coloured pencil on paper are available for every subject and ship flat. Price is set by size, number of subjects, detail level and medium.

Three levels for acrylic and oil: Painterly (visible, expressive strokes), Refined (fully resolved features, our most-ordered level) and Hyperreal (individual hairs and iris texture, chosen for memorial pieces). You pick the level; it changes painting time and price. Works on paper are quoted at one level of finish.

Yes, and we treat it as a specialty. Black fur is painted as a full range of dark blues, browns and warm greys with the highlights placed to show the coat's direction, so the animal reads as three-dimensional rather than a silhouette. A well-lit photo helps; see our photo guide.

Yes — individuals, couples, families, children and memorial portraits, alone or together with their animals. The same painters, process and proof step apply.