Giving a Painting as a Gift When You Don't Have the Photo Yet

Last updated: October 2026

Painting Gift Voucher

Quick answer: A painting gift voucher pays for a hand-painted portrait now and lets the recipient supply the photograph when they're ready. You can buy one from us, with a code and a printable voucher, or write your own card and order later. It works because the photograph is the only part of a commission that has to come from them — the size, the price and the timing can all be settled by you in advance. A portrait painted from a photograph costs £220 to £549 depending on canvas size, takes three to four weeks once the picture is in, plus delivery, and a photograph of the finished painting goes out for approval before it ships — which you can hand straight to the recipient. What you hand over on the day is a card saying exactly that, with something physical attached.

Why you might not have the photograph

It's usually one of four situations.

The photograph exists and you don't have it. The wedding album is in your parents' loft, or the only decent picture of the dog is on your sister's phone, and asking for either without explaining why is harder than it sounds.

The right photograph hasn't been taken yet. The baby is due in March, the wedding is next month, the puppy is nine weeks old and will look nothing like itself by summer. Painting from a picture that will date within weeks is a waste of a good canvas.

You don't know which subject they'd choose. The family, the dog, or the grandparents who've gone? People often have firm views about which one goes on the wall, and guessing wrong is expensive.

Or you've run out of time. It's the twentieth of December and a painting will not be under the tree. There's a separate note on presenting a gift that hasn't arrived yet; the voucher route is the same idea with the choice handed over as well.

In all four cases: give the painting, and let them give you the photograph.

What a painting gift voucher actually is

Whether you buy one or write your own, the recipient needs to know what they're getting, how big it is, what it can be of, and what they have to do.

A handwritten one is simply a card. Something like: "This is a hand-painted oil portrait, 16 by 20 inches, of any photograph you choose. Pick one by the end of January and send it to me." That is the whole voucher. Three things make it feel like a gift rather than an admin task.

Fix the size. "A painting" is vague; "a 20 by 24 canvas" is a thing they can picture on a wall. The pricing page lists the six sizes, from 12 × 16 at £220 to 36 × 48 at £549, so you can name one without guessing.

Fix the subject, or deliberately don't. "A portrait of Bramble" is a warmer gift than "a portrait of anything", but if the point is that you don't know which subject they'd choose, say so: "of the dog, the grandchildren, or the two of you — your call."

Give it a deadline. Not a stern one, but a date. Open-ended vouchers go in the kitchen drawer and stay there; a choose-by date turns it into a small, pleasant job for a January evening.

Paying now, or a card now and paying later

People often want to pay for the painting up front, so the gift feels bought rather than promised. A gift voucher does exactly that: it pays for one canvas size with one person or pet, delivery included, it's valid for three years, and the code and a printable voucher arrive by email as soon as you pay. The pricing page has the sizes.

If you'd rather not pay yet, a handwritten card works too: it fixes what's promised, and the commission is placed once the photograph is in hand, with the actual image and headcount. If the picture has five people rather than two, the price moves — from £35 for every extra person or pet — and with a bought voucher, only that difference is paid when they order.

With a handwritten card, the one cost is that you're the one who has to remember, so put the choose-by date in your own diary too.

The options, compared

Route	What they get on the day	Typical UK cost	Time to a finished painting	Pick it when
Bought gift voucher	A code and a printable voucher	£220–£549, paid now	3–4 weeks from the photo, plus delivery	You want it paid for on the day
Handwritten voucher, commission later	A card with size and subject fixed	£220–£549 when ordered	3–4 weeks from the photo, plus delivery	You want them to choose the photograph
Commission now from a photo you already have	The painting, or a print of the photo it's being painted from	£220–£549	3–4 weeks, plus delivery	You already have the definitive one
Framed print of a photo, painting promised	A physical gift	£20–£50 plus the painting	Print same day; painting 3–4 weeks	You have a decent photo but not the definitive one
Generic gift card or cash	An envelope	Whatever you put in	Never, usually	You don't know them well enough for any of the above
Wait, and give the painting late	Nothing, or an apology	£220–£549	3–4 weeks, plus delivery	The photograph is days away — a wedding, a birth

The more you settle in advance, the less you need on the day. "A 20 by 24 oil painting of Bramble, choose the photo by the end of January" is a finished gift. "A painting, sometime" is not.

What to attach to the card

A card on its own reads as thin, however well it's written. Attach one thing.

If it's for a dog or cat, a small print of any photograph of them, however ordinary, with a note that the real one will be better. The dog and cat portraits page shows what the finished article looks like, and a printed screenshot of it folded into the card is not beneath you.

If it's for a couple or a family, a sheet of paper cut to the canvas size, folded into the card. It sounds absurd and it works: 20 by 24 inches unfolded on the kitchen table makes the scale obvious in a way the numbers never will.

What happens after they choose

Once the photograph is chosen, the sequence is the same as any commission. The picture is sent and paid for, we check it within hours, 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday (UK time), and the portrait is built up in oil over three to four weeks. A photograph of the finished painting comes back for approval before anything moves, and if it isn't right it stays on the easel until it is. Then it's rolled in a tube and posted, with delivery included worldwide. It arrives unframed and unstretched, so the last step is a local framer, who stretches the canvas over bars and frames it and will want another two to three weeks.

Two things about this suit a voucher particularly well. You can pass that photograph of the finished painting to the recipient to approve: with no surprise left to protect, the person who knows the face best is the one saying yes, rather than a giver judging the likeness of someone else's dog. And the painting arrives after the fuss. A voucher given at Christmas becomes a photograph chosen in early January, a tube in the middle of February and, once the framer has had it, a picture on the wall by the start of March — when nothing else is arriving and it gets looked at properly.

When a voucher is the wrong gift

Some people want the surprise. If the pleasure for them is in unwrapping a finished painting they didn't know was coming, a voucher hands that away. Use it for people who like choosing things.

Some people will never get round to it. If the recipient already has a drawer of unused vouchers, this one will join them. Either pick the photograph yourself or give something that's finished.

Someone recently bereaved shouldn't be handed a task. If the gift is a memorial portrait of a parent or a pet, the kind thing is usually to find the photograph yourself, quietly, and commission it — or to wait and mention it months later, as something you'd like to do for them if they'd ever want it. Making the choice of picture their homework in the first weeks is well meant and poorly timed.

And if the budget is £40, don't write a card promising £220 and hope. A framed print of a good photograph is a complete gift; a voucher for a painting you can't quite afford isn't.

FAQ

Can you buy a gift voucher for a painting?

Yes. Our gift vouchers pay for one hand-painted portrait of one person or pet on the canvas size you choose, delivery included, and are valid for three years. The code arrives by email straight after payment with a printable voucher, and a bigger canvas or extra faces cost only the difference when they order. You can also write your own card and place the commission once the photograph is in hand.

How much should a painting gift voucher be for?

Name a canvas size rather than a sum. Sizes run from 12 × 16 inches at £220 to 36 × 48 at £549, with each extra person or pet from £35, so "a 16 by 20 portrait of one dog" is a clear promise and "a £300 voucher" is a maths problem.

How long does the painting take once they've chosen the photograph?

Three to four weeks from the photograph being sent, plus delivery, with a photograph of the finished painting approved before anything ships. It arrives rolled in a tube, so add another two to three weeks for a framer to stretch it over bars and frame it.

What if they choose a photograph with more people in it than I planned for?

The price moves by £35 or more per extra face, and it's an ordinary conversation to have when they send it — you cover the difference, they do, or you crop to the people who matter. It's a good reason to name the subject on the card.

Is a voucher for a painting a good Christmas present?

It's a good one for someone who has everything and a firm opinion about what goes on their wall, and a poor one for someone who wants a surprise or never redeems vouchers. Given at Christmas, the painting arrives in February and is framed and up not long after, which is not a bad time for something to turn up.

The short version: a painting gift voucher names the size, the subject and a date to choose the photograph by. Buy one, or write those three on a card, and the commission takes care of itself.