PORTRAIT ORDERING INFORMATION

How to order your pet portrait or family portrait

So you are looking for someone to paint or draw a perfect custom portrait? Look no further, here you can find all information you need to know before ordering a portrait. Read the information about photographs I need, what you can order, delivery and more. I’m working with my clients as close as they want, some like to keep a close contact from beginning to the end, others like to keep it more quiet and only watch the work in progress. It is up to each person how much contact they want as I’m working with the portrait. If you want to have 100% money back guarantee you need to see each stage of the painting or drawing process.

It is important for you to know exactly what I need from you as my client and what you can expect from my expertise and offers. If you have any kind of questions, just drop me an e-mail and I will answer within 24 hours.

Photos

Your subject/s

All my pet portraits and people portraits are created from photographs. If you have several high quality photos of each individual that you will have portrayed, don’t hesitate to send them all, because then we will have more to choose from. I always work from a single photograph but I’m able to look for colours and details from your other photos as well. Be sure to send a photo of the pet or person that represents her/his colouring, character and personality. As I have only your photograph and you to guide me through the creating process it is very important that I have right photos as reference.

Photo quality

My portraits are highly detailed and stand for quality and true likeness, therefore I need big photographs from you. I prefer digital photos of the original size (not resized) but if you have only paper photographs I want you to send them to my home address (given by email). I will then scan the photo in a size I need to work from. Of course your photos will be returned to you along with the completed portrait. If your photographs aren’t good enough they will be returned right away. Over the years I have turned down many photographs as I know the finished portrait wouldn’t fit my high quality standards.

Extra choices

If you would like to commission a portrait with extra background or combination portraits, let me know about your wishes and I will find nice photos for you to choose from.

What you can order

Subjects

I’m painting primary paintings and drawings of people and pets. I’m specialising in dogs, cats and horses. You can commission any subject you can think of, that wouldn’t be any problem, just let me know about your wishes.

Mediums

I’m creating portraits in oils on canvas, coloured pencils, graphite pencils and watercolours.

Visualising you final portrait

Once the photograph has been selected I’m creating a photo mock-up or montage in a photo editing software on my computer. How the mock-up will look depends on your wishes. Sometimes I only have to delete backgrounds and add colouring that suits your subject, but many times I have to do full photo montages to add elements that will be included to the portrait and remove unwanted details. The mock-up is only a guide for me and for you to visualise your final portrait, colours and minor details may look a bit different on the actual portrait. The photo mock-up is sent to your email for approval and possible changes.

Prices and payments

Too often I get emails from people that are asking how much a portrait costs. That of course depends on medium, size and how many subjects will be portrayed. The costs also depend on background and extra choices. The price guide can be found in my price section and I will be happy to answer any question you have regarding costing after you viewed my pricelist. Let me know about your budget and wishes, send the photographs and I will guide you.

Before I start to paint your portrait I take a deposit of 50%. I use Paypal for money transactions because it’s simple and secure. All you have to do is register and fill out your details to use your Credit/debit card. After that you will receive a confirmation email of your payment. Paypal guarantees that credit and debit card transactions are 100% secure and accept MasterCard, Visa, Amex, Discover and eCHECK internationally.

For you as a client

I have a registered company in Sweden by name “Katja`s Art Studio” and I pay taxes on all my commissions and other work I do. You get a portrait in high quality with very affordable prices compared to the quality I offer. You have 100% satisfaction guarantee (money back guarantee) when ordering a portrait and you have full input as I’m creating your portrait on my work in progress pages. You will then be able to view your finished portrait online and require making some changes if necessary before it is shipped to you. That gives you a peaceful mind as well as security, you will know that your investment is safe.

Portrait delivery

Portrait as a gift

If you need your portrait on a special date when the portrait needs to be delivered, you need to commission and pay the 50% deposit for your portrait at least two months ahead. I can never know just how much work I will have several months ahead and I don’t believe it’s fair for other clients to wait longer because you couldn’t contact me earlier. If you want to give away a custom portrait fast you can buy a traditional gift voucher or online gift voucher. Find out more about my portrait gift vouchers here >

Packing

The portraits are professionally packaged to protect them against any damage. All portraits and framed portraits are wrapped in a protective cellophane, then packed with thick cardboards on each size, wrapped in many layers of bubble wrap, and then wrapped into thick waterproof covering. You will also receive a certificate of originality signed by me. Read more about how I pack the portraits here >

Shipping / Delivery

If you commissioned an oil painting you will have to wait a at least 1 week before I send it because it has a drying period after it’s completed. If you commissioned any other medium you will be able to receive your portrait within 5 days if you live in Europe and 8 to 12 days overseas. The small portraits are sent with regular mail for free, however if you commissioned a big painting it will be sent with UPS with extra costing.