Realistic Portrait Paintings From Your Photo

Realistic is the default, and for most commissions it is the right answer. You send a photograph of someone — a dog, a parent, a house — and you want that thing back, painted. Not reinterpreted, not stylised.

What “realistic” actually commits us to

The likeness, the light and the colour. If the photo was taken in late afternoon sun, the painting keeps that warmth. If the dog’s coat is three shades of brindle, all three go in.

What it does not commit us to is copying the background. Most reference photos have a kitchen, a car park or a sofa in them. Unless you want those kept, we simplify the setting into a quiet ground so the subject carries the picture — this is the single most common change we make, and we show it to you on the proof before anything ships.

Choosing a level of finish within this style

Realistic works at all three detail levels. Painterly keeps the likeness but leaves the brush visible; Refined resolves the features fully and is what most commissions are painted at; Hyperreal closes the strokes up until the surface reads as continuous, and is usually chosen for memorial and heirloom pieces.

If you want something other than realistic

We also paint in classical, impressionist and decorative styles. Say which you want when you send the photo, or send a picture of something you like and we will tell you what it would take.