You have the photo. The bay from the terrace on your honeymoon. The lake from the end of the dock. The farm before it sold. We paint that place by hand, on canvas, from your own picture. There is no minimum order, so one painting is a normal order for us. Standard sizes run from 24 by 20 inches up to 80 by 60 inches, and any other size is painted to your measurements at the same rate. A single painting takes 7 to 10 business days in the studio. Before it leaves, we photograph the finished canvas and send you the photos. Nothing ships until you say yes.
What a place painting is, and what it is not
This is not a filter and it is not a print. A painter in our studio in Dafen Art Village, Shenzhen, works from your photo on prepared canvas, in acrylic or oil, with brush and palette knife. Stand close to it and you can see the paint sitting on the surface. If you want to see what happens between the photo and the finished canvas, read how we paint.
It is also not a copy of your photo. A photo keeps everything the camera saw, including the parked car and the gray sky that day. A painting keeps what you remember. Most people send one main photo, name the two or three things that matter, and let us simplify the rest.
The photo on your phone is probably good enough
People worry about this more than anything else. For a landscape the photo is a guide, not a scan. A normal phone shot of a wide view holds plenty for a painter.
- Send the largest file you have. Texting it to yourself throws most of it away, so send the original from your camera roll or a cloud link.
- Daylight helps. A scene shot at dusk or in flat rain gives the painter no light to work with, and we will say so before you order.
- Send extra angles if you have them. A second shot lets us fix a roofline or a tree the first photo cut off.
Not sure your photo will work? Send it with your inquiry. We look and tell you honestly, before you pay anything.
One rule about whose photo it is. Send a photo you took, or one your family took. If a professional photographer shot it, or you found it on a stock site or a travel blog, get written permission from the photographer first. Paintings by living artists are also off limits. For older art, we paint only works whose artist died more than 70 years ago and that were published before 1931. The finished painting is unsigned.
What we can change in the scene
Most buyers do not know they can ask for this. Say what you want in plain words.
Take things out
Cars, trash bins, power lines, the scaffolding that was up the week you visited, tourists on the beach.
Put things back
The old dock, the tree that came down in the storm, the boat you sold, the porch swing, a dog that is no longer with you.
Change the season or the hour
You visited in March and remember October. We can paint the same view in autumn color, or move a flat noon sky to sunset light.
Combine photos
The house from one photo, the sky from another, the view off the porch from a third, composed into one picture.
Choose the look before we start painting
Two painters can take one photo in completely different directions, so we settle the look first. The easiest way is to point at a painting we have already made and say “like this one”.
Browse landscape and countryside paintings for lakes, farms and open fields, Mediterranean and coastal paintings for harbor towns and cliff villages, or ocean and seascape paintings for open water, surf and beach light. Send the link with your photo and we paint your place that way. If nothing fits, use feeling words instead. Soft and hazy. Bright and sunny. Thick paint you can see across the room.
Tell us the room too. If the sofa is rust and the walls are warm white, we can hold the painting in that family without wrecking the real colors of the place. We can also match a paint code or a fabric swatch. When we do, we mix the color, photograph it under daylight and send you the photo for approval before painting starts.
What size to order for your wall
Almost everyone orders one piece, and almost everyone guesses too small. Measure the wall first.
- Over a standard three seat sofa about 84 inches wide, aim for 42 to 60 inches of painting. In practice that is 36 by 48 inches or 40 by 60 inches.
- Over a smaller sofa or a queen bed, 30 by 40 inches or 36 by 48 inches sits well.
- Over a cabin or lake house fireplace, measure the mantel and go wider than feels safe. 40 by 60 inches and up is normal.
- In a hallway or up a stair wall, go tall. 24 by 36 inches vertical is a good default.
- 24 by 20 inches is our smallest standard size. Below that a wide view gets crowded.
Mark the size on the wall with painter’s tape and live with it two days. Hang the finished piece 6 to 10 inches above the sofa back.
How the order runs
- Send the photo with the room it is going in, a size if you have one, and the changes you want.
- WhatsApp replies are usually immediate; email replies usually arrive within 12 hours, Monday to Sunday, on size, medium and what the photo will support.
- You confirm and pay a deposit. Usually 50 percent to start, balance before the piece is released. Wire transfer, PayPal or card.
- We paint it in 7 to 10 business days for a single piece. Heavy texture and large canvases sit at the top of that band, because thick paint has to dry between layers.
- You see progress photos from the easel, so a wrong roofline or a wrong blue gets fixed while the paint is workable.
- You approve the finished canvas from our photos. Nothing leaves the studio before that.
- We pack and ship it rolled in a tube, stretched on solid wood bars, or framed.
Getting it to your house
We sell EXW from our Shenzhen studio and quote freight separately at cost, with no markup. Express by FedEx or DHL takes 5 to 10 business days to most countries. Add that to painting time and a single commission usually arrives three to four weeks after you approve the size and the photo. Work backward from your date when it is a Christmas or anniversary gift. Freight depends on size, weight and where the painting is going, so how we quote lists what to send us for a number you can rely on.
Stretched on solid wood bars arrives ready to hang and suits most single paintings at home. Framing adds black, white, wood, silver or gold, and all five cost the same. Rolled in a tube ships cheapest, but you then pay a local framer to stretch it, so for one piece it rarely saves money. Heavy texture ships stretched or framed, because rolling thick paint is a bad idea.
Paintings executed entirely by hand fall under HTS 9701, with a free base rate of duty into the United States. Other China origin measures can still apply, so ask a customs broker if you want certainty first.
| Minimum order | None. One painting is fine. |
|---|---|
| Sizes | 24 by 20 inches to 80 by 60 inches, plus any custom size at the same rate |
| Medium | Acrylic by default, oil on request, on premium linen canvas |
| Painting time | 7 to 10 business days for one to five pieces |
| Finish | Rolled, stretched on solid wood bars, or framed in black, white, wood, silver or gold |
| Approval | Progress photos while painting, plus photos of the finished canvas before it ships |
Good fit, not a fit
Good fit
- You want the lake house, the farm, the hometown street or the honeymoon view on canvas, and you have a photo of it.
- You want a painting that improves the scene, not a copy of it.
- You have three weeks or more before the date you need it.
- You want the size and color matched to one specific wall.
Not a fit
- You need it in a week. Painting alone takes 7 to 10 business days and shipping is on top.
- You want a signed original by a named artist for resale. Our work is unsigned, so buy from that artist instead.
- Your only photo is dark, blurry or shot at night, and no other picture of the place exists.
- The main subject is a face rather than a place. That is a portrait and it is quoted differently.
- You want a copy of a painting you saw in a gallery gift shop. We will not do that.
If the painting is really about a building, a wedding day or a person rather than a place, start at our custom art hub. It covers house portraits, wedding and anniversary pieces and the other kinds of commission we take from a photo, and it is the same studio and the same process either way.
Buying from a studio you have never met
It is a fair worry. You are sending a photo and money abroad for something that cannot be put back on a shelf. Here is how we handle it. You pay half to start, not all of it. You watch the painting come together in progress photos and can ask for changes while the paint is still wet. You see the finished canvas in photographs, and it does not ship until you approve it. If a piece has a defect that is our fault, we repaint it at our cost. Under EXW terms transit risk sits with the carrier and your freight cover, and if we arranged the freight we help with the claim. Ask us anything at support@palettemomento.com or by WhatsApp using the number in the site header. WhatsApp replies are usually immediate; email replies usually arrive within 12 hours.
Questions people ask
Oil or acrylic?
Can you paint my lake house from a photo I took years ago?
Will it look exactly like my photograph?
How long will the whole thing take?
Can you remove the people, or add someone who was not there?
What size should I order if I do not know?
Do I have to buy more than one?
Is it really hand-painted?
Send Your Reference on WhatsApp
No minimum order. WhatsApp replies are usually immediate; email replies usually arrive within 12 hours.