Custom project · Oil on canvas · Validation before shipping
Order a hand-painted painting reproduction
A good order begins before the first brushstroke: with a workable image, a consistent format, and a brief that doesn't leave framing to chance.
A work not in the catalog, a portrait from a photograph, a family keepsake, or an authorized adaptation: this guide accompanies you from the reference image to the quote, then from the painting through retouching, drying, and delivery.
Three projects, three briefs
What does "custom reproduction" really mean?
The term covers several different requests. The first is to reproduce an old painting or a work absent from the catalogue. The client provides the title, the artist, and ideally a high-definition institutional image. The studio studies the composition, proportions, and feasibility before proposing a format.
The second starts from a personal photograph: a portrait of a person, couple, family, pet, home, or travel landscape. Here, likeness depends heavily on the sharpness of the faces, the direction of the light, and the size of the subjects in the image. An emotionally important photograph is not always technically sufficient; it is better to send several files than to ask the painter to invent invisible details.
The third is an adaptation: merging several sources, modifying a background, isolating a figure, carefully changing the framing, or working on an overall atmosphere. This category requires a more detailed brief, as each modification moves the result further from the initial reference. The custom service can work on a palette or an atmosphere, but cannot unlawfully copy a protected work by a contemporary artist.
In every case, the image must belong to you, be in the public domain, or be used with sufficient authorization. The order page specifies that each request is reviewed based on the quality of the reference, the complexity, the format, and the applicable rights. If in doubt, send the link to the source rather than cropping and republishing a randomly found file yourself.
The reference commands precision
Choosing an image the painter can truly read
A useful reference must be sharp, large enough, and faithful to the expected colours. For a museum work, favour the object's official page or an institutional open-access platform. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art clearly mark the images of public-domain works available in Open Access; these files are more reliable than a compressed screenshot and often better documented.
Resolution
Send the original file, not the image passed from one messaging app to the next. Eyes, hands, jewellery and textures must remain readable when you zoom in.
Color
Avoid automatic filters. If several digital reproductions differ, indicate the one whose colors serve as a reference.
Proportions
A square, a portrait, and a panorama cannot be made interchangeable without reframing. Ask first which area would be cut away or reconstructed.
Rights
Preserve the source and the authorization. An image available online is not automatically free to reproduce.
Add a clear main view, a second photograph for the facial details, and a clear indication of the desired background.
Send the museum link, the exact title, the artist, the date if known, and the specific version when several variants exist.
Specify who should appear, in what order and at what scale. Light differences between photos will need to be harmonized.
Mark on a copy the elements to remove, move, or keep. Distinguish essential requests from secondary preferences.
From file to parcel
The six real steps of the order
The process published by the studio separates the study, the proposal, the launch, the painting, the validation, and the shipping. This distinction avoids confusing creation time with transport time.
Study
Resolution, proportions, technical difficulty and usage rights are reviewed.
Proposal
Format, price, framing and intended destination provide a clear basis for the quote.
Launch
Once approved and paid, the validated brief is sent to the painter.
Painting
The completion time varies based on dimensions, technique, details, and studio workload.
Validation
Photos or video allow you to review the rendering and request adjustments.
Shipping
Once the final approval is given, the canvas is left to dry, protected, and then entrusted to the carrier.
Composition before dimensions
Choosing a format without distorting the artwork
Maintaining the width-to-height ratio
Format is more than a length in centimeters. It is defined by proportions. Moving from a vertical photograph to a square canvas forces you to crop the top, the bottom, or the sides — unless you reconstruct part of the scene. Before requesting a quote, ask for a framing visualization or trace several frames directly onto a copy of the image.
Then consider the wall. A piece of art above a sofa can occupy roughly 60 to 75% of the furniture's width. A family portrait needs to stay large enough for every face to be legible from the main viewing position. A highly detailed canvas demands more surface and greater viewing distance; a simple composition tolerates a more modest format.
The custom-order page explains that both standard and bespoke dimensions are available, including very large formats subject to feasibility. It also notes that the canvas is generally shipped rolled and unframed, so the local stretcher-bar mounting and the margins needed for proper tension should be planned in advance.
A painting, not a print
Oil, canvas and gesture: what you order
In oil painting, the National Gallery reminds us, pigments are bound by an oily medium. This technique allows for transitions, layering, and material differences that a printed image merely simulates without producing physically. A hand-painted reproduction therefore carries the painter's decisions: thicker or thinner paint, softened edges, visible brushstrokes, and corrections.
The canvas is a textile support stretched over a wooden frame and normally primed before painting. In the service presented here, the canvas is realized with the brush, without any pre-print presented as a final result. This does not mean a mechanical, millimeter-precise copy: the hand interprets a two-dimensional image and adapts the material to the chosen scale.
To judge quality, do not look only at the overall image. Ask for detail views: faces, hands, dark passages, light areas, and the edges of the composition. Real studio photographs are more useful than showroom simulations, since they show the surface and the small variations that make precisely the difference between a painting and a print.
Price follows the work
Why two canvases of the same size can differ in price
Surface area tells only part of the story behind a quote. A broad sky and a group portrait of the same size require neither the same drawing work nor the same amount of time. The studio takes into account, in particular, dimensions, the number of figures, hands and faces, architecture, patterns, technique, file quality, and any requested modifications.
Surface and logistics
A large canvas consumes more material, time, and protection, while sometimes imposing transport constraints.
Faces and ornaments
Small portraits, lace, jewelry, architecture or crowds multiply the areas that must stay accurate.
What the image lacks
A weak reference forces you to rebuild, interpret, or request new files before you even begin.
Change the composition
Merging photos or reshaping the framing is a design task, not a simple enlarged copy.
To compare two quotes, line them up against the same brief: painted dimensions, number of subjects, background, finish, retouches, shipping, and estimated turnaround. A standalone price can only be compared when its scope matches.
Quality control before shipping
Photos, retouches and final approval
How to phrase a useful retouch
The dedicated page provides a photograph of the finished painting before shipping, and up to seven rounds of reasonable adjustments. Take a methodical approach to this stage. Start by comparing the overall composition, then the proportions, the likeness, the light and dark values, the dominant colors, and finally the important details.
Group all your remarks in a single message. Number the zones on a copy of the photo and describe the expected outcome: "soften the shadow under the right eye" is far more actionable than "the face isn't working." Distinguish a correction that complies with the brief from a project change, such as adding a person or entirely replacing the background.
The final agreement commits the next steps: drying, protection, and logistics. After validation, any late modification can damage the surface or delay the shipment. So reread your initial brief before confirming, and have any names, dates, or inscriptions integrated into the image carefully verified.
Create, dry, transport
The total time is not just the transport time
The delivery page lists roughly two weeks of creation depending on complexity, about five days of drying, and then generally two to five business days of transport after shipment. These timeframes remain estimates: size, retouching, busy periods, destination, and customs can extend them.
The canvas is generally shipped rolled, without a frame, in protective packaging. This choice reduces bulk and certain risks linked to transporting a stretcher or frame. On receipt, a framer can re-stretch the canvas and add the chosen finish. Never press directly on the painted face, and never carry a mounted canvas by its hanging wire.
The Canadian Conservation Institute's guidelines remind us that shocks, vibrations, pressure, and environmental variations are major risks for an oil painting on canvas. Rigid packaging, blocking that prevents movement, and handling by the edges or the structure are therefore more important than a merely aesthetic package.
Choose a framer, confirm the dimensions, and set aside a clean space to unroll and inspect the canvas.
Photograph the parcel, open it without any blade near the painted surface, and keep all protective materials until your inspection is complete.
Keep the packaging and contact the studio promptly with photos of the parcel, the label, and the canvas.
Avoid direct sunlight, humidity, and heat sources; use fixings suited to the weight of the stretcher and frame.
Portrait, family, wedding, or pet
The Tableau à personnaliser collection — direct access
If your project starts from a personal photograph rather than a museum painting, the dedicated collection brings together eight active templates. They offer a clear starting point based on the number of subjects and the nature of the memory.
Painting to personalize
Choose the path matching your photo: a person, a couple, a family, a wedding or a relationship with your pet.
Explore the collection →A person
To focus the composition on a face, an expression, and a presence.
Wedding painting
To transform a ceremony photograph into an enduring composition.
Family Portrait
To bring several people together in a balanced composition.
Animal and Person
To preserve the bond between a loved one and their companion.
Practical verified pages
From guide to a well-prepared order
These pages published by the shop detail the quote, completed projects, approval, shipping, and frequently asked questions.
Custom reproduction
Send an artwork, photo, or authorized image and receive a proposal.
Studio photosQuality examples
Observe real paintings and their details before launching the project.
Before shippingReturns & retouching
Understand the validation, the adjustments, and the procedure in case of an issue.
Delivery times & parcelsDelivery
Distinguishing creation, drying, packaging, transport, and reception.
Help centerFrequently asked questions
Dimensions, painting, payment, tracking and care.
Need helpContact and quote
Submit a specific request directly to the studio.
Institutional references
Technical sources and reliable images
To understand the materials, consult the glossaries.OilandCanvasof the National Gallery. To find quality references when a work is in the public domain, check the policiesthe Met's Open AccessandFree Images and Open Access from the National Gallery of Art. For handling and transport, theCanadian Conservation Institutedetails the risks and protections suitable for paintings.
Sources consulted:National Gallery, glossaries on oil and canvas; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Open Access policy; National Gallery of Art, Free Images and Open Access; Canadian Conservation Institute, Caring for paintings and Basic Handling of Paintings. Institutional pages consulted on July 14, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Order with every detail in focus
What image should I send for a hand-painted reproduction?
Send the largest and sharpest file available, with no filter or unnecessary compression. For an old painting, include the museum's official page; for a portrait, if possible attach a second photo showing the details of the face.
Can I have any painting found online reproduced?
No. The image must be in the public domain, belong to you, or be used with sufficient authorization. When in doubt, send the source to the studio for review rather than assuming a publicly visible image is free to use.
How do I choose the canvas format?
First respect the proportions of the image, then scale to the wall and the viewing distance. Any change in the width-to-height ratio requires a crop or reconstruction that must be approved before painting.
What determines the price?
Dimensions, number of figures, level of detail, technique, quality of the reference, requested adaptations, and logistics all influence the working time and therefore the quote.
Is the reproduction really painted by hand with a brush?
The bespoke service describes an oil painting made with a brush on canvas, with no print presented as the final result. Detail photographs make it possible to verify texture, brushstrokes, and transitions.
Can I request retouching before shipping?
Yes. Photos or a video are sent for approval, and the dedicated page allows up to seven rounds of reasonable adjustments. Corrections must remain consistent with the reference and the agreed project.
How long should I plan for?
Published guidelines indicate about two weeks of work depending on complexity, around five days of drying, and generally two to five business days of transport after dispatch. Touch-ups, large formats, or customs can extend these estimates.
Does the canvas arrive already framed?
It is generally shipped rolled and unframed. A local framer can then stretch it onto stretcher bars and add the chosen frame. Always confirm the exact packaging in your proposal.
A precise brief leaves more room for the painting.
Gather the best reference, indicate the format and visual priority, then request a written proposal. The studio can then devote its energy to likeness, material, and light rather than guessing what the project was meant to become.
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