Acrylic Portraits — Hand-Painted on Canvas From Your Photo

Acrylic is oil’s faster sibling. The painters, the drawing, the underpainting, the layers and the proof are the same; the difference is that acrylic paint dries in hours, so a finished portrait can be photographed for its proof, varnished and packed days sooner than an oil painting, which must cure first. When a portrait has a date to meet — a Christmas delivery, an anniversary, a wedding gift — acrylic is usually what we suggest.

What it looks like

Close to oil at normal viewing distance. Acrylic dries slightly flatter and a touch cooler, and because it sets quickly the blending in skin and fur is a little crisper. Painted at the Refined or Hyperreal level it has the same detail as oil; at the Painterly level its fast-drying layers give a lively, direct surface that suits decor pieces and volume trade orders.

Durability and care

Artist-grade acrylics are lightfast and stable, and a matte or satin acrylic varnish protects the surface. Care is the same as for oil: out of direct sun, away from heat, no water.

When to choose acrylic

• A delivery date within reach that oil’s curing time would put at risk.
• Trade orders where turnaround matters more than the last degree of depth.
• Larger decor pieces at the Painterly level.

For everything else, oil remains the default. Both ship rolled or crated, both are priced by size, subjects, detail level and medium, and both are available to trade buyers from one piece.