The Paintings
We use top quality canvas and paints that will last a lifetime. See more about how we make the art.
Art is done by hand in the traditional way, with no pre-printing on canvas. Unlike many painting suppliers we have our own artists working in house and do not use third-parties.
Our range is growing weekly, but if you want something that is not on our site just let us know – we are happy to paint pretty much anything!
Every piece we do is guaranteed so if you are unhappy with the result we will refund your purchase in full.
The Canvas
We have used many different canvases in the past but now have narrowed it down to two different types that our customers have told us work well for them. Experience has shown that canvases with a bigger weave always work very well with thick, heavily textured paintings, and finer canvases are best for more detailed works such as portraits or architectural paintings.
If needed, we can also apply an antique varnish to the canvas to give a more aged feel.
The Painting Techniques
Our range of offerings (over 100,000 pieces across our sites) means that on any given day you could see a wide variety of styles being worked on in the studios. Portraits, old masters, landscapes, abstract art…we do it all.
This range of styles and subjects is why artists tend to specialize in a particular style. Our chief portrait artist, for example, does amazing work but might struggle to do a Van Gogh Starry Night!
One of the great advantages of working with oil paints is that they are the both flexible and forgiving (certainly compared to watercolors, where a mistake often means starting over!). They can be applied with ease to large scale paintings and they can work wonderfully, achieving the sense of light and luminosity and capturing detail in smaller paintings. We are confident that we can reproduce any painting our customers choose. Some paintings require a photo-realistic finish (although still done entirely by hand) whilst others need to be impressionist of have extremely thick texture. On occasion we even paint using a palette knife. We are therefore able to offer a wide variety – let us know what you want, and we’ll happily paint it!
NOTE: Contrary to popular belief, not all oil paintings are thickly textured. Many of the old masters and the world’s most famous paintings are in fact quite flat, with texture only visible upon close inspection. Let us know if you’d like your painting with more visible brushstrokes, of if you want it done in the traditional way.
The Paints
There are many different brands of oil paints on the market. We tend to use Winsor & Newton, Rembrandt, Maries and Grumbacher which offer two different grades; Professional or Artist grade. We use Professional grade paints as they are not as diluted. Individual artists tend to have their own preferences, but all paints used are of professional quality.
The Brushes
In our studios one will find countless jars, cans, bottles and other containers dotted around the different stations were our artists are at work, all stuffed with a variety of different brushes. So why do we need so many different brushes? Well, different styles of painting require different texture and marks that the brushes will leave.
At your local art store you will see countless brushes in different sizes and shapes. We pride ourselves in being able to paint any kind and any style of oil painting which means we need the full range of “tools”. A Van Gogh painting naturally requires very thick texture and therefore a flat brush with thicker bristles is required. A Michelangelo painting, on the other hand, would require using a very fine round brush and a fan blender that leaves no mark at all.
