Custom Portrait Painting 50% Down Payment

Framing services are available upon request. 

Your painting will be on a  3/4” Deep Cradled Panel. 

You can request a flat panel or a thicker 1.5” deep panel depending on your preferences.

• 3/4" profile panels are the standard because they will accommodate beautiful traditional style frames and comtemporary floating frame. 
• 1.5" profile panels are used for deeper contemporary floating frames (think shadow box) or for when you don't want a frame at all.
• Flat panels can be used with traditional frames and for when you want to add a wide mat around the painting, but oil paintings do not need a mat or glass.  

 

The black and silver "float" frame pictured above on "Aurelia" holds a 1.5" profile panel. 0% of the painting gets covered by the lip edge of a frame with this option.  

The higher the resolution of your photo (meaning file size) the more detailed your painting will be.

The reference photograph of Aurelia's face in the portrait above was 3200 x 3200 pixels. 

That information shows Christa the tiniest nuances of shifting colors and light reflections that would have been visible "in person" for a live model session.  

For this reason commissions have previously been inaccessible to anyone outside of Barnell's area because she prefers to take her own reference photographs.

With access to better phone cameras, clients are taking great photos. They also have the advantages of spontaneity and familiarity.  

Besides capturing that perfectly serene, joyous, or introspective expression, the other thing that really matters is the sharpness of your photo and the lighting. Ideally, you want the globes of the eyes to light up with a twinkle. 

• We recommend a closely-cropped intimate portrait for this size, so the background will be simplified in the painting in order  to focus on the face. In other words, you do not need to worry about your background and you will see very little of the clothing. 
• Have the hair styled (up or down) how you would prefer it to be in the painting. but do not worry about it overly much. Messy flyaways or hair sticking up don't have to be in your painting unless you want them to be.   
• Side lighting from a window makes for an attractive portrait. Try Turning off your flash (which flattens the model and causes red eye) and wait for that time of day when beautiful natural light comes pouring in. Angle your portrait subject beside the window. 
• Or go outside for the golden hour. The warm halo of light can translate very nicely into thick strokes of paint. The contrast of bright light and dark shadows can look very three-dimensional, like someone is about to walk out of a painitng. 
• If you have an iPhone, try out the Portrait Mode setting with the Natural Light setting. And if you have the option of shooting in “Raw” that is the highest quality. 
• Not sure how big your image is? Tap the info button (This is the “i” inside of a circle under your photograph) to see how many pixels and megabytes it is. 
• We suggest that you send a picture that is 2000 x 2000 pixels or more.

Request a quote to add hands and feet to your portrait.

Shipping of unframed paintings to the lower 48 States is $25.

Your artwork will ship fully insured and/or with a signature required via USPS or UPS.

All other shipping (including Express or International) will be "at cost".  We do not charge extra handling fees.

FedEx is available upon request 

Once Christa begins painting, she can no longer alter the pose or composition. But she can make minor adjustments.

Christa will email you a photo of your finished painting for you to review before she begins the varnishing process. You could then request (for example) a background color change or darker hair. 

Are your files too large to be e-mailed? Upload them and share them through https://wetransfer.com You don’t need an account, just an email address.

Dropbox works too.

Some email providers will automatically compress or resize images. When you upload and email an attachment via yahoo (for example) you must be sure to checkmark the "Actual Size" box.