Under $500
An oil painting under $500
What a hand-painted oil portrait inside a $500 budget actually gets you: three sizes, one rule about subjects, and the trade-offs that should never be made.
Under $500, the price table offers three doors: 8 × 10 in at $189 — about 20 × 25 centimetres, desk scale; 12 × 16 in at $289 — roughly 30 × 41, the smallest proper portrait; and 16 × 20 in at $389 — about 41 × 51, the size most people choose. The next step, 20 × 24 in at $549 for a single subject, is over the line, and knowing that before you start saves an awkward email later.
The catch that the three prices hide: they are single-subject prices, and every additional subject adds a fixed amount from the table. A couple or a person with their dog can push a 12 × 16 in past $500, which means the real first question under this budget is not 'which size' but 'how many heads'.
What the budget buys at each size
At 8 × 10 in: a single head, one animal, or one façade — desk-scale, gift-sized, the most affordable entry into an original. At 12 × 16 in: a head-and-shoulders portrait that reads as a painting rather than an object, and the smallest size where a full sitting figure still works. At 16 × 20 in: a single figure with room to breathe, the size most customers land on when the budget is $500 and the subject is one.
Every size includes the same process: a digital mock-up at the exact canvas size within 24 hours, approved before paint is mixed; two progress photographs during the three to five weeks of painting; one free round of adjustments on the finished work; the numbered signed certificate; free tracked shipping worldwide.
What the sizes mean on a wall, briefly: the 8 × 10 in at $189 is a desk and shelf painting, the 12 × 16 in at $289 is the smallest canvas that reads as a portrait across a room, and the 16 × 20 in at $389 carries a single figure with room to breathe — the size most customers under this budget settle on. All three are single-subject canvases; the moment a second subject enters, check the table again, because the fixed addition can move the total over the line.
What not to sacrifice
Here is the thing nobody selling you a cheap portrait will say: the thing to cut is never the process. At every price on this table you get the mock-up, the progress photographs and the certificate, because they are the only protection a custom painting offers — and a custom canvas is not returnable once approved. A studio that undercuts by removing the approval steps is selling you a gamble with your grandmother's face on it.
The other false economy is medium: a hand-painted oil at $189 is not the same product as a canvas print at $89 with a brushstroke texture rolled over it. Under raking light the difference is visible immediately, which is also the test to apply to any studio you compare us with.
The corollary is worth stating plainly: there is no honest way to paint a real oil portrait for $60, and the sub-$100 market survives on prints with texture and on process cut to zero. If the budget genuinely stops below $189, the better purchase this year is no painting — take the photograph properly instead, by a window, face filling a quarter of the frame — and commission when the money exists. A portrait is bought once; the photograph you take this weekend is free.
Spreading the budget sensibly
If $500 must cover two subjects, the honest combinations are 12 × 16 in with the second-subject addition, or a single subject at 16 × 20 in. The mock-up will show within 24 hours whether two heads at your chosen size each have enough inches to carry a likeness — that is the real constraint, not the price list.
Add-ons have defined prices too: restoring an old photograph or combining two into one composition is $60–$70; local stretching after arrival is $60–$120. A 12 × 16 in with restoration still lands under $500; a 16 × 20 in with restoration and framing does not, so decide which of the three matters most before ordering.
One more lever inside a fixed budget: timing. The commission price does not change with the calendar, but what you can afford within $500 does — a 16 × 20 in at $389 with restoration at $60–$70 is $459 and fits; add local stretching at $60–$120 and it does not. Decide which of painting, restoration and framing the budget must cover before ordering, and let the smallest of the three go to a later month rather than shaving the painting itself.
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
Three single-subject sizes: 8 × 10 in at $189, 12 × 16 in at $289, and the 16 × 20 in most people choose at $389. Each includes the mock-up, two progress photographs, one free adjustment, the numbered certificate and free tracked shipping worldwide. The 20 × 24 in at $549 is the first size over the line.
Sometimes — the listed prices are for one subject and each additional one adds a fixed amount, so a couple at 12 × 16 in may still fit or may not. Send the photograph and we will give the exact figure before you pay anything; the honest constraint is whether two heads have room to read at that size.
The process. The mock-up approved before painting, the progress photographs and the certificate are the only protection a custom painting has — it is not returnable once approved. Studios that cut price by cutting those steps are selling a gamble, whatever the saving.
Yes — hand-painted in oil on cotton canvas, varnished and signed, with a numbered certificate stating artist, medium, size and year. It is not a print with a texture coat, and under raking light the brushwork shows immediately. The size is small; the paint is the same.
Restoring an old photograph or combining two photos is $60–$70, and local stretching after arrival is $60–$120. A 12 × 16 in at $289 plus restoration stays under $500; a 16 × 20 in with both extras does not, so pick which matters most before ordering. Restoration is quoted with the commission and approved in the mock-up, so the cost never moves after you have agreed it.
Send the photograph and the budget
One subject or two, one photo or an old one — we will tell you which size fits under $500 before you pay anything. Mock-up within 24 hours.