PALETTEMOMENTO · HAND-PAINTED TO ORDER

Custom Portrait Paintings from Photos

Bring family members, an individual or a group together on canvas. Choose the references, composition and finish, and review likeness through progress photographs.

Discuss Your Painting on WhatsApp

Your reference · Your dimensions · Your destination

A father-and-daughter portrait, photographed from the finished painting.

Choose the Likeness & Composition of Your Portrait

Select the expression before the background

Name the photograph that best captures each person. Extra images can explain eye color or hairstyle, but the preferred expression should come from one clear reference.

Agree on how people belong together

For a combined portrait, specify the order, relative heights and relationship between subjects. Different camera angles need discussion before they become a convincing group.

Choose a face-led or full-figure painting

A close portrait gives facial detail more space. Full figures tell more of the setting and occasion but leave smaller faces at the same canvas size.

We paint portraits by hand from your photos, in our studio in Dafen Art Village, Shenzhen. Acrylic on canvas is standard and oil is available on request. Nothing is printed. We can combine people from different photos into one painting, work from an old or faded photo of someone who has passed, and paint at any size, from a small canvas for a desk to a full-length boardroom portrait. Orders of 1 to 5 paintings take 7 to 10 business days. We send progress photos while we paint so you can check the likeness early, then photos of the finished canvas. Nothing leaves the studio until you approve it.

Portraits we paint

Most enquiries are one of these five.

Family and couples

Parents and children, a wedding day, three generations. Often built from more than one photo.

Children

One child, siblings, or the same child at two ages on one canvas. We paint children only for the family or guardian ordering.

Memorial portraits

Someone who has died, painted from whatever photos the family still has, including small, old or faded ones.

Executive and institutional

Founders, chairs, deans, retiring partners. Head and shoulders, three-quarter or full length, for a boardroom or hall.

Painterly figures

Not a likeness at all. A dancer, a face built from thick paint. Any catalog design can be recolored and resized.

Popular starting points

You have clear photos, or several photos you want combined into one scene.
You want a real hand-painted canvas, not a print with brush texture on top.
You need several portraits in one style, or a size stock portrait sites do not offer.

Let’s discuss the details

You need a pore-by-pore copy of the photo. A painting is an interpretation.
An imperfect reference. Send the best version and any additional views. We will assess the details together and suggest a workable composition.
Signature or resale requirements. Tell us what you need so we can confirm available options, documentation and accurate attribution before ordering.

Finished Portrait Paintings: Individuals & Families

Portrait paintings from our studio library show different approaches to expression and grouping.

Hand-painted family portrait of a grandmother with four children — A family group, with each face given space in the composition.

Hand-painted young girl portrait with brown hair and green eyes — A close portrait with attention to the eyes and softly painted hair.

Photos that work, and how many to send

Send more than one. Three to eight photos of each person. One sets the pose, the rest show the face from other angles.
The eyes must be sharp. If the eyes are in focus, the likeness usually follows. Blurry eyes are the most common problem.
Daylight beats flash. Window light shows the real shape of the face. A flash flattens it and hides skin tone.
Send the original file from the phone or camera, not a screenshot of a screenshot.
Show us what matters. A ring, a uniform badge, a favorite sweater, their eye color.

You do not need studio photography. Phone photos taken outdoors are often the best reference we get. If you are unsure a picture is usable, send it through the quote form and we will tell you plainly. Our photo to painting page covers houses and landscapes.

Bringing people from different photos into one portrait

This is our most common portrait request and a normal job for us. Each person is painted from their own best photo, then everyone is composed into one scene with a single light source, one background and one scale, so the result reads as one moment, not a collage.

It is how we paint a grandparent who never met the grandchildren into the same picture, a son posted overseas, or a couple whose only good photos were taken years apart. Tell us who stands where, who is seated, and roughly how old each person should look.

A seated woman in a flowing red robe presses a pale hand to her bowed head, worked in palette-knife oil — Loose impressionist brushwork, instead of a smooth traditional finish.

Memorial portraits from an old photo

If you are ordering a portrait of someone who has died, keep your message short. Send the photos you have and one line about who they were. That is enough.

Old photos are usually workable. Faded color, a crease, a small wallet print, a group photo where the person appears once at the edge. Our painters read the bone structure and the expression from what is there, and we ask about anything the photo cannot tell us, such as true eye color or hair color before it grayed. If the photo is black and white, tell us the colors or let us choose a soft neutral palette.

You see the face early, while it is easy to change. If something is not right, say so and we rework it.

What you can change in the picture

Background. Plain color, a dark classical ground, a garden, or the wall color of the room it will hang in.
Clothing. Change a shirt color, swap casual clothes for formal dress, add a uniform, a graduation gown or traditional dress.
People and objects. Remove someone from the frame, remove a cluttered table, add a person from another photo, add a pet.
Personal details. An instrument, a book, a medal, a wedding ring, the dog at their feet.
Dress and setting to suit your household. If modest dress, covered hair or a particular setting matters to you, say so in the brief and we paint it that way.

Custom Portrait Paintings Sizes & Placement

Portraits go wrong more often from bad sizing than from bad painting. For a desk or bedside, 24 by 20 inches. For a hallway or stair wall, 30 by 24 or 36 by 24 inches. Over a fireplace or sofa, aim for about two thirds the width of the mantel or sofa, usually between 36 by 48 and 48 by 60 inches. For a boardroom or lobby, 48 by 36 inches is the smallest that holds the room, and 60 by 40 or 72 by 48 inches reads from across a hall. See extra large paintings for big walls.

We paint in acrylic unless you ask for oil. Both are hand painted on canvas, premium linen. Oil dries slowly between layers, so an oil portrait takes longer. Brushwork is your choice too: smooth and traditional, loose and impressionist, or thick palette-knife texture. Point at whichever painting on this page looks closest and we follow it. If you want to see the steps behind that brushwork, how we paint walks you through them.

Medium	Acrylic on canvas as standard. Oil on request, and oil takes longer because it dries slowly between layers.
Sizes	60 standard sizes from 24 by 20 inches to 80 by 60 inches. Any other size painted to your measurements at the same rate.
Production	7 to 10 business days for 1 to 5 pieces, 10 to 15 for 6 to 20. Large canvases and heavy texture sit at the top of the band.
Finish	Rolled, stretched on solid wood bars, or framed in black, white, wood, silver or gold. All five frame colors cost the same.
Approval	Progress photos while we paint, then photos of the finished canvas. Nothing ships until you approve.
Delivery	Freight quoted separately at cost; duties included (DDP) or paid on arrival. Express by FedEx or DHL takes 5 to 10 business days.

How the likeness gets checked

Send photos and a short brief. Say who is in the picture, what to change, the size and the wall it is for.
We confirm what we can do and quote. If a photo is too weak to carry a likeness, we tell you before you pay anything.
We paint and send progress photos. The face comes early, so this is the moment to tell us the smile is too wide or the eyes too dark.
You see photos of the finished canvas. Nothing leaves the studio until you approve them.
We pack and hand over. Rolled, stretched, framed or crated. If a piece has a defect that is our fault, we repaint it at our cost.

Named portrait artists often quote 8 to 24 weeks and ask for sittings. Cheap photo sites promise two weeks and leave you wondering whether a person touched it. We sit in the middle: real painters, a real studio address, 7 to 10 business days.

Cream gray and peach impasto abstract face oil painting, shown above a sofa in an elegant traditional living room — Heavy palette-knife texture. Thick paint ships stretched or framed, not rolled.

Executive and institutional series

There is no minimum order. Trade pricing starts at one piece, improves at 6 and again at 21, and mixed subjects count together, so founder portraits and corridor landscapes are quoted as one order. For a series we agree the format up front: same size, same background tone, same crop at the shoulders, same frame, so portraits added in five years still match the ones hanging now.

Get the sitter’s written consent before you send us their photographs, and send the best available photo of each person rather than a scan of an old badge. Designers and facilities teams work with us the same way.

Your References for Custom Portrait Paintings

Some buyers do not want a likeness at all. They want a figure on the wall: a dancer, a face made of thick paint. Our figurative and human collection has 22 designs of that kind, and every one can be repainted in your size, your colors and your finish. The custom figurative paintings page goes deeper, and pet portraits have their own page.

If nothing fits, send us what you like. A photo, a screenshot, a Pinterest board, a sketch, an AI-generated image, a paint chip or a piece of fabric for the color. We paint from any of those.

Identify the photographer for professional portrait references and any permission you have; agree separately on any signature, credit or intended commercial use.

Terracotta and blue cubist four women figurative canvas painting displayed as framed wall art in a modern home office — Four figures on one canvas. Groups can be stylized like this, or realistic.

Custom Portrait Paintings Sizes & Quote Planning

Your dimensions, in cm or inches

Count the people, choose head-and-shoulders or full figures, and consider the viewing distance. Specify the canvas dimensions after deciding how large the faces should appear.

What changes this commission’s quote

Painting detail

Number of people, visible hands, clothing and background detail.

Surface & presentation

Combining photographs, likeness requirements, medium and finish.

Delivery planning

Portrait dimensions, framing preference and the recipient’s delivery location.

How we prepare your quote

Custom Portrait Paintings Questions Answered

Can you use the smile from one photo and clothing from another?

We can assess the combination. Clearly label the expression reference and clothing reference for each person. Similar head angles help; if the references conflict, we will discuss which features take priority before painting.

Should a family portrait show everyone full length?

That depends on whether clothing and setting matter as much as faces. At a fixed canvas size, a closer crop allows more room for likeness. Send the intended display location so the composition can be assessed at its viewing distance.

Can you paint a family portrait if everyone is in different photos?

Yes, and it is our most common portrait request. Send one clear photo of each person and tell us who should stand where. We paint each face from its own best photo, then compose everyone into a single scene with one light source, one background and one scale, so the finished canvas looks like one moment rather than a collage.

My only photo of my father is old and slightly blurry. Can you still paint him?

Usually yes. Faded color, a crease, a small wallet print, or a group photo where he appears once at the edge are all workable. Our painters read the bone structure and the expression from what is there, and we ask you about anything the photo cannot show, such as true eye color. If a photo is too weak to carry a likeness, we tell you before you pay anything.

Oil or acrylic?

We paint in acrylic unless you ask for oil. Both are hand painted on canvas, and both last for generations when kept out of direct sunlight. Oil dries slowly between layers, so an oil portrait takes longer to finish. Choose oil if you want the deep, blended, classical look. Choose acrylic if timing matters more, or if the canvas is going to ship rolled.

Is it really hand painted, or a print with brush texture on top?

It is painted by hand, from scratch, by a painter in our studio in Dafen Art Village, Shenzhen. Nothing is printed and nothing is transferred onto the canvas. You can see that for yourself in the progress photos we send while the painting is still wet, and in the close-up photos of the finished canvas before anything ships.

Will it look like them, and what happens if the likeness is off?

We send progress photos while we paint, and the face comes early. That is the moment to tell us the smile is too wide or the eyes too dark, while the paint can still be reworked. Then you see photos of the finished canvas, and nothing leaves the studio until you approve them. If a piece has a defect that is our fault, we repaint it at our cost.

Whose photos am I allowed to send?

Identify the photographer for professional portrait references and any permission you have; agree separately on any signature, credit or intended commercial use.

Can you paint an executive portrait for our boardroom or university?

Yes, one portrait or a whole series. There is no minimum order, and trade pricing starts at one piece, improving at 6 pieces and again at 21. For a series we fix the format up front: same canvas size, same background tone, same crop at the shoulders, same frame, so a portrait added in five years still matches. 48 by 36 inches is the smallest size that holds a large room.

How do payment and international shipping work?

Payment is usually 50 percent deposit with the balance before the goods are released, by wire transfer, PayPal or card, confirmed on the invoice. Freight is quoted separately at cost. For most countries you can choose duties included in the delivery quote (DDP), or pay the duties yourself on arrival. Express by FedEx or DHL takes 5 to 10 business days. Confirm the applicable requirements for your reference or destination before ordering. Confirm other measures with a customs broker.

Discuss Your Custom Portrait Paintings

Send one preferred expression for each person, label their position, and include crop, dimensions and destination.

Discuss Your Painting on WhatsApp

WhatsApp: usually an immediate reply. Email: usually within 12 hours.

support@palettemomento.com

Send a written brief through the quote form