Our artists take your digital or scanned image and produce a 100% hand painted oil painting. Within 5 business days after we receive your picture, our artists will review your picture and we will email you to reconfirm all details. Once you reconfirm the details we begin the painting process. When the painting is completed, and while the artist is still in possession of the painting, we email you a picture of your painting for final confirmation. If there are any details in the painting that you feel do not match your photo, the modifications are relayed to the artist and the changes are made. While Rembrandt, Picasso and Dali are not on our staff, our paintings are an exceptional value. Our objective is 100% satisfaction
WHAT TO EXPECT
A painting is not a photograph. If we had 4 different artists each do a painting of the same subject, or for that matter one artist paint the same painting 4 times no two would be exactly alike. Unlike a photograph which would bear close scrutiny even under a magnifying glass, paintings by the nature of the technology and materials used, will not obtain this degree of resolution or detail. Paintings capture the artists' impression of the subject, and are best viewed from a distance. Brush strokes that may appear out of place from 6 inches away easily fit into the composition when viewed from 10 or 12 feet away. If you want a one of a kind painting that is hand painted by an individual artist you are at the right place.
DETAILS
Like most things in life, good preparation and good ingredients produce a good result. The better the detail in the original photograph and the larger the size the better the artist can grasp the details. Photographs are flat 2 dimensional representations. As such, the artist cannot envision how the subject appears from the side, from behind, or from the top. If you feel there are important details that are not readily visible in your photograph and you can supply additional pictures showing important features from various angles, it will greatly assist the artist in producing a painting closer to your expectations.
COLOR
A color photograph may not show true colors. This is for various reasons, the quality of the lighting (sunlight, incandescent light, florescent light); the volume of the lighting, camera settings, and/or the shutter speed, manufacture, or age of the film; not to mention the photo processing, all can have a significant impact on color. Digital photos are also influenced by lighting, camera settings, computer monitor settings, photo processing software, and the printer. With that being said, our artists paint from a pallet of base colors that are mixed to approximate as closely as possible the colors in the photograph that you send us.
SPECIAL REQUESTS
Within reason, and for a nominal charge, we can handle special requests. Some times these are simple such as, adding or removing jewelry, eyeglasses, etc. or changing the color of a jacket or a dress. Adding inscriptions such as "Mother's Day 1987", or "Dad's Birthday 1998", are easy to include. Inscriptions should be short, especially on smaller paintings, as they may detract from the subject. Other requests such as putting the subject into a different background can be a little more complex as it is more challenging for the artist to judge perspective and proportions. Generally speaking, the outcome is satisfactory.
CROPPING
Photographs usually include background that is excessive and, if included in a painting, will detract from the subject. If this is the case it is important that, in addition to the photo you send us, you include another scan showing any cropping details. Otherwise our artist will paint the entire photograph.
SUMMARY
The best preparation is to give us clear instructions, a good photograph to work from, any comments you feel are appropriate, and a photograph that is cropped to remove extraneous background. In the event you do not have a digital photograph to transmit to us, the best course to follow is to scan the photograph and email it to us.
If the above 2 options are not immediately available to you, outside services such as FedEx/Kinkos can scan, crop, and email your photo to us for a small fee. All images must be transmitted to us digitally via email. This is for several reasons, first we do not want to take responsibility for original photographs and more important, unless you are email capable we would have no way of contacting you to perform the necessary confirmations.
PUT UPS
Our standard put up for paintings, which is included in the cost, is museum wrap, which means we roll it in a protective plastic wrap, pack it in a mailing tube and send it to you. You will need to have the painting stretched and framed locally. An inexpensive option is to have us stretch the painting, in which case it will be ready to insert into a frame upon receipt. All of our paintings are standard sizes for example, 16" x 20", 20" x 24", etc. Finding standard size frames should not present any problems.
MAINTAINENCE
In order to preserve the colors in your painting, after about 12 months it will need to be varnished. There are various varnishes available such as:
Daeler Rownsy Artists Clear Picture Varnish
LeFranc & Bourgeois Extra Fine Picture Varnish
Winsor & Newton Conserve Art Varnish
Grumbacher Picture Varnish
This should be applied according to the manufacturers' instructions. The canvas on stretched paintings can become slack. This is due to stretching of the fabric and shrinking of the stretcher frame. There are 2 ways to tighten a painting, one way is to spray water on the back side of the painting and allow it to dry. The other is to insert wood wedges (readily available at any art supply store) into the inside corners of the stretcher and gently tap into place until the fabric is taut.
GALLERY
The following are examples of an original photograph and the completed painting. These are typical subjects and paintings that we have done and are a fair representation of how your finished painting will look.