Couple Portraits, Hand-Painted From Your Photograph

Couple portraits are painted from moments more often than from poses. An engagement photo, a photo from a holiday, a phone photo one of you took across a table — the painting is about the two of you together, and the reference that shows that is the one to send, even if it is not the most polished.

Two faces, one light

Both likenesses are drawn from the photo at the sketch stage, and the relationship between the two heads — the lean, the tilt, who is looking where — is kept exactly as it is in the reference. If the two of you were lit differently in the photo, or if the painting is built from two separate photos, we bring the lighting to one side so the pair reads as a single moment. Skin is painted in thin, warm layers with cool halftones so both faces read as flesh.

Backgrounds and settings

The setting can be kept — the beach, the church steps, the restaurant — painted soft so the faces stay the subject, or replaced with a plain, warm ground. A crowd or a stranger in the photo is removed at the drawing stage.

Mediums

Acrylic on canvas is the default and the most-ordered. Oil is the traditional choice and takes longer to dry and ship. Charcoal or graphite on paper makes a quieter, more drawn piece, ships flat, and is a favourite for anniversaries; watercolour suits a light, outdoor engagement photo. Wedding photographers order couple portraits from their own frames at trade pricing, one image or a whole season of them.