Boat portraits
A boat portrait, painted from the photograph
A boat in oil, from the picture taken on the mooring — water, lettering and rigging included, and the name spelled correctly.
Boats are photographed from the shore, by people standing on land, at the wrong time of day, with the boat either backlit or half hidden behind a pontoon. What comes out is a white shape with a dark band and no readable name. Everything that identifies a particular boat — the sheer line, the coachroof profile, the colour of the boot-top stripe, the lettering on the transom — is either missing or two pixels wide.
Water is the other half of the painting and the half most often treated as background. A hull sits in water that is reflecting it, and the reflection is broken into horizontal bands by every ripple. Painted as a flat blue field, the boat floats above the surface; painted as a mirror image, the boat looks stuck to it. Neither mistake is hard to avoid, but both have to be decided before the hull is finished, and we settle the question in the mock-up, at the exact size you are buying.
Water is painted in horizontals
Whatever the water is doing, the marks go sideways. Ripples are horizontal interruptions, the reflection of the hull is a vertical smear cut into horizontal pieces, and light on the surface is a series of short bright dashes rather than a shimmer of dots. This is one of the few places in painting where the direction of the brushstroke is the subject.
The waterline matters more than people expect. A hull sitting too high looks light and unladen; too low and it looks swamped. The reflection begins exactly at the waterline, and its darkest part sits under the darkest part of the hull, which is usually not where people assume. If the boat was photographed on a mooring with the tide running, tell us — the angle of the hull to the water changes the whole composition.
The name, the lettering and the details owners check
The name has to be spelled correctly, in the right letterform, in the right place. Send a close-up of the transom, straight on, in daylight, even if it is a poor photograph in every other respect. Gold leaf with a shadow and white vinyl on navy are different jobs, and a painter working from a general impression of a name produces something that reads as nearly right from three metres and completely wrong from one.
The same attention goes to the registration number, the home port if it is painted on, the boot-top stripe and its width, the coachroof colour, the number of windows in the cabin side. Hull colour drifts badly in photographs: navy reads as black in shade and blue in sun, and white gelcoat goes cream or grey depending on the camera's idea of white. We will ask which is closer to the truth rather than guess.
One practical note about photographing a boat: everything looks better from a dinghy. From the pontoon you are above the deck, looking down at a foreshortened coachroof; from water level, a hundred metres off, the sheer line and the bow read as they were drawn. If you can get out on the water on an overcast day, that single photograph is worth a folder of pontoon shots.
Masts, rigging and the harbour behind
A mast is a vertical line, and the eye measures it against the edge of the canvas. Half a degree off and the boat appears to be heeling on dry land, so masts are set with a plumb line and checked twice, along with the forestay and the shrouds. Rigging is painted with a fine rigger in single strokes, slightly transparent, because wire and rope do not read as solid black lines.
Sails are a decision: up, furled, or away. Sails up give movement and a much larger silhouette, which usually wants 24 × 36 in; sails down on a mooring is a quieter painting and works at 16 × 20 in or 20 × 24 in. The harbour behind can be reduced to a band of buildings and a few verticals, or left as open water. What we avoid is a forest of other boats' masts behind yours, which turns a portrait into a marina scene.
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
$189 for 8 × 10 in, $289 for 12 × 16 in, $389 for the 16 × 20 in most people choose, up to $1,390 at 36 × 48 in for a full boat under sail. One boat is one subject. Shipping is free worldwide and the price is fixed before you order.
A straight-on close-up of the transom in daylight, taken from a metre or two away, even on a phone. If the boat has been sold or lost we can work from a photograph of a similar lettering style, but we will not invent a name or a port. Send whatever exists and we will tell you what is legible.
Up if the painting is about the boat in use: it gives movement and a bigger silhouette, and it usually wants a 24 × 36 in canvas. Down if it is about the boat as she sits, which is quieter and works at 16 × 20 in. Both are honest; they are just different paintings.
Yes, and it is a common commission. Old prints and slides are restored first at $60–$70 and you approve the result. If the photographs only ever show one side, tell us — the far side, the cabin layout and the stern have to be reconstructed or left out, and we would rather leave them out than invent them. The same applies to sails that were never photographed set.
Three to five weeks of painting plus three to five business days in transit, with the mock-up inside 24 hours and two progress photographs. Rush delivery is three weeks including painting for $90. Rigging and lettering are the slow parts, so a sailing boat sits at the longer end.
Send the photographs of the boat
Send the mooring shot, a side view and a close-up of the transom. We will tell you what size the boat needs and when it would arrive.