Birthdays
A portrait as a birthday gift
Commissioned in secret, timed to the day: which size, which photograph, and how a surprise runs without the recipient finding out.
A birthday has one advantage over every other gifting occasion: you know the date a year in advance. Use it. Count back six weeks from the day — mock-up within 24 hours of ordering, three to five weeks of painting, three to five business days in transit, and a margin for the one free round of adjustments. That is the whole arithmetic, and it fits on a calendar.
The surprise is the part that needs managing. The mock-up, the two progress photographs and the finished-canvas approval all arrive by email to the address you order with — use one the recipient does not check, and clear the tube's delivery: a tracked parcel in a shared hallway is how commissions get discovered three weeks early.
Choosing the photograph when they cannot choose it themselves
Here is the honest problem with surprise portraits: the recipient never gets to veto the photograph. So choose the one they like of themselves, not the one you like — the flattering photo and the accurate one are rarely the same file, and a painting of a moment they were self-conscious about is not a gift, it is an exhibit.
If you genuinely cannot decide between two frames, the mock-up is the tiebreak: it arrives within 24 hours at the exact canvas size and crop, costs nothing, and commits you to nothing. Nothing is painted until you approve it.
The other secrecy leak is the photograph itself. Anyone who was at the event where it was taken may remember it, and comments travel; if the surprise depends on the source staying hidden, use a photograph only you have — the one on your phone from the family lunch, not the one that already lives on their social media. The painting does not care where the file came from, and a private frame is usually the more affectionate choice anyway.
One person or the whole family
A single figure reads well at 16 × 20 in for $389, which is the size most people choose; 12 × 16 in at $289 suits a desk or a narrow wall. Once a second subject joins — partner, child, the dog who is actually the birthday person's favourite — move to 20 × 24 in at $549 so each head keeps enough inches to carry a likeness.
Ages matter less than people expect and should not be overcorrected: the most common failure in portraits of parents is ageing them ten years, and the fix is choosing the photograph from a good day rather than the most recent one. For a child's birthday, a sharp snapshot beats any formal sitting.
Children's birthdays deserve their own caution: the likeness of a child changes within a year, so the painting records a specific age rather than the child in general. That is the point, and it is worth keeping in mind when you choose the photograph — the certificate names the year, and in a decade that detail is the one that makes the painting interesting.
The hand-over
The canvas arrives rolled in a rigid tube, tracked and insured, with the numbered certificate inside — nothing on the packaging announces what it is. A local framer stretches it for $60–$120; if the day is close, hand over the rolled tube with the certificate and take it to the framer together.
If the deadline has collapsed, rush delivery at $90 brings painting and dispatch to three weeks total for the smaller and mid sizes. Past that, print the approved mock-up and give it with a date. It is a weaker moment than the canvas, but it is an honest promise with a tracking number behind it.
Finally, the hand-over detail that decides whether the gift lands: have somewhere ready to put it. A portrait handed over on the birthday and then leaned against a wall for three months while the recipient decides where it goes loses momentum. If you know their home, suggest the wall in the card; if you do not, include the framing note — local stretching runs $60–$120 — so the canvas goes from tube to wall inside a week instead of a season. A canvas in use is a portrait; a canvas leaning in a corner is furniture waiting for a decision.
What it costs
Price is set by canvas size and the number of subjects — not by the occasion, the deadline, or how much detail you ask for. The table below is the same one used on every painting page, so there is no quote to wait for.
| Canvas | Metric | 1 subject | 2 subjects | 3 subjects | 4+ subjects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 × 10 in | 20 × 25 cm | $189 | $259 | — | — |
| 12 × 16 in | 30 × 41 cm | $289 | $379 | $459 | — |
| 16 × 20 in | 41 × 51 cm | $389 | $499 | $619 | $749 |
| 20 × 24 in | 51 × 61 cm | $549 | $699 | $849 | $1,029 |
| 24 × 36 in | 61 × 91 cm | $789 | $1,059 | $1,290 | $1,560 |
| 30 × 40 in | 76 × 102 cm | $1,090 | $1,449 | $1,749 | $2,090 |
| 36 × 48 in | 91 × 122 cm | $1,390 | $1,849 | $2,249 | $2,690 |
Shipping is free worldwide. Framing is optional and quoted separately — most customers have the canvas stretched by a local framer for $60–$120.
How it works
Send the photograph
One sharp phone photo is enough. Tell us the deadline, the wall it is going on, and anything that must or must not be in the picture.
See the mock-up within 24 hours
A digital composite at the exact canvas size and crop, so size and composition are settled before any paint is bought. Nothing is charged until you approve it.
Watch it being painted
Three to five weeks in real oil, with two progress photographs. You can raise a concern at either one — that is what they are for.
Approve, then it ships
You see the finished canvas first, with one free round of adjustments. Then it travels rolled in a rigid tube, tracked and insured, with the numbered certificate inside.
Real oil, not a print
Hand-painted on cotton canvas, varnished, signed. Brushwork you can see in raking light.
You approve before we paint
A digital mock-up at the exact size and crop, within 24 hours, included in the price.
Numbered certificate
Every painting ships with a signed COA stating artist, medium, size and year.
Free worldwide shipping
Rolled in a rigid tube, tracked and insured. No minimum, no distance surcharge.
Questions
Questions we actually get
Six weeks before the day: mock-up within 24 hours, three to five weeks of painting, three to five business days in transit, plus slack for the free adjustment. Rush delivery at $90 compresses the whole job to three weeks including painting, on smaller and mid sizes. The two largest canvases are quoted case by case.
Order with an email address the recipient does not check, since the mock-up, progress photos and approval all arrive by email. The canvas ships in plain rigid tube packaging with nothing identifying it, and the certificate travels inside. Collect the parcel yourself if you share a hallway.
16 × 20 in at $389 is the size most people choose for a single figure; 12 × 16 in at $289 for a desk or hallway, 20 × 24 in at $549 once a second subject joins. Each additional subject adds a fixed step from the table above, not a quote. Choose for the wall it will hang on, and if the walls are unknown, the middle size is the safe gift.
The one they like of themselves, not the one you like — the recipient never gets to veto the choice, so pick the frame where they look like themselves on a good day. If two photos are tied, the free mock-up settles it within 24 hours before any paint is mixed.
Often yes — what matters is that the face is readable, not that the source is perfect. Photographs of old prints, and combining two separate photos into one composition, cost $60–$70 with the result approved before painting begins. Send what you have first.
Start the surprise
Send the photograph and the birthday date with an email they do not check. Mock-up within 24 hours, plain packaging, a date we will keep.