- Portraits
- Baby Portraits
- Pet Portraits
- Modern Portraits
- House Portrait
- Other Paintings
- Warhol Portrait
- Pop Art Comic
- Modern Pop Art
- Our Canvas Prints
- Ordering Process
- Canvas Prices
- Canvas Print FAQs
- Canvas Effects
- Canvas Delivery
Painting from your photos
We lovingly hand paint your photos on cotton canvas in either oil or acrylic. They make a beautiful and personal gift for any occasion, whether a wedding, birthday or just for that special someone.
Paintings are the perfect unique gift but commissioning one can be a little daunting at first. We find that the best way to get a feel for what is possible with your photo is to have a good browse through our examples below.
Once you have an idea of the styles of painting that you like get in contact with us for a free, no obligation ideas service.
Commission a Painting
To commission a painting simply follow the guide below:
1) Send The BIG Art Company a photo (large, clear and in focus photos work best) or image. If you know the style and size of the painting that you would like then please let us know. Otherwise, we can talk you through your options. For more help on choosing the right image see our good photo guide....or to see the various ways you can send us an image click here.
2) We will then email you some ideas (normally within 24hrs Mon-Fri) and you choose one which you like. Once we have agreed on the style we are ready to start work. At this stage we would ask you for a 20% deposit.
3) When we have finished your painting we will email you a photo of it.
4) You pay the final 80%. We let the paint dry....and then carefully package your painting and send it to you.
Canvas Stretchers
You will have read throughout The BIG Art Company site that the majority of our paintings are commissioned and created on canvas. Canvas is (as the name suggests) a piece of strong material which is then specially treated and stretched over a wooden frame. This wooden frame is called a stretcher and helps support the canvas and make sure that it remains tight.
All our canvases are stapled at the back of the painting to a wooden stretcher and are triple primed before being painted. Priming involves the addition or painting of a medium on to the raw canvas. This makes it rigid, flattens it's texture and helps it to absorb and hold the paint. We normally use a white medium which helps colours stand out in the painting and become strong and vibrant.
This image shows a wooden stretcher frame that is quite deep (around 3-4cm) and as such will stand out from the wall and seldom require any further framing. We tend to use these chunky frames for our more modern paintings and unless specified we do not paint the canvas edges. For our more traditional paintings we use slightly thinnner stretchers (about 2cm deep) as often people like to have these framed.
Smaller canvases will normally only have a rectangular stretcher to support the painting but as the size increases extra support is needed and your painting may require further wooden bracing at the rear. Again all of this is hidden so you only see your magnificent artwork.
Hanging your canvas on the wall
Canvas paintings are reasonably light for their size and a healthy adult should be able to carry a 2m x 2m painting without too much trouble. With their light size and strong wooden stretcher, canvas paintings are easy to hang. You shouldn't have any problem screwing anything into the wooden frame when hanging it.
Finally be careful when hanging canvas paintings. Make sure they are securely attached as if they do fall they can very easily be torn or ripped.