How Long Does a Commissioned Painting Take?

Last updated: September 2026

How long does a commissioned painting take?

Quick answer: Four to six weeks, counted from the day you send the photograph to the day the canvas arrives at your door. Roughly three of those weeks are someone actually painting; the rest is checking the photo, waiting for oil to touch-dry between layers, sending you a free digital preview to approve, and UK delivery. If you commission a painting from a photo today, plan around six weeks — four is the best realistic case, not a promise.

Six weeks sounds long for something that starts as a photo you already own. It helps to know what the weeks are being spent on, because almost none of it is queueing.

Why oil paint sets the schedule

The limiting factor isn't the artist's diary. It's that oil paint dries by oxidising rather than evaporating, and it does that at its own pace — a few days per layer in a warm studio, longer in a cold February one. A portrait is built up in layers: a thin underpainting to establish the drawing and the darks, then colour, then the passages that do the actual work, which are the eyes, the mouth and the edge where the face meets the background. Each of those has to be firm enough underneath before the next goes on, or the paint lifts and you lose the drawing.

You cannot pay to skip that. It is the same reason a plasterer will not let you paint a wall on the same day.

Where the four to six weeks actually go

Stage	Typical time	Can it be sped up?
Photo review, brief confirmed	1–2 days	Yes — a good photo clears in hours
Artist assigned, canvas stretched and primed	3–5 days	No
Underpainting and composition blocked in	5–7 days	No
Main painting, layer by layer	12–18 days	No — this is the drying time
Free digital preview sent to you	Same day it's finished	—
Your approval	Hours, or weeks	Entirely up to you
Changes, if you ask for any	7–10 days	Avoid by choosing the photo carefully
Final varnish, cure, packing	4–6 days	No
UK delivery, boxed on the stretcher	3–5 working days	Yes, at a cost

Add the middle of each range and you land at about five weeks. So how long does a commissioned painting take when everything goes smoothly? Four weeks — a sharp photograph, one subject, and a preview approved the same evening it lands. Seven weeks is what happens when a preview email sits unopened for ten days.

The bit of the timeline that belongs to you

We send a digital preview — a properly lit photograph of the painting on the easel — before anything ships, and nothing moves until you reply. That step is why our paintings very rarely disappoint anyone, and it is also the single most common reason a commission runs late.

If you are ordering for a date, put two things in your calendar: the week the preview is likely to arrive, and a reminder to actually look at it. People who are commissioning a surprise gift are the worst offenders here, because they are checking their email on the school run and not opening attachments in front of the person the painting is of.

Asking for a change is fine and costs you nothing but time. Changes to a background, the light, or how much of a garden shows behind someone are quick. Changes to a face are slower, because the paint underneath has to be right before it can be reworked — budget seven to ten days.

Does size change how long a commissioned painting takes?

Less than people expect. A larger canvas has more surface to cover but the same number of decisions in it, so everything sits in the same four-to-six-week band. What genuinely moves the needle is how many subjects are in the frame.

Size	Price	Typical time, one subject	Best for
12 × 16in	£220	4–5 weeks	A single face, close up
16 × 20in	£275	4–5 weeks	The most-ordered size
20 × 24in	£330	4–6 weeks	One or two subjects with background
24 × 36in	£449	5–6 weeks	A couple, or a dog full-length
30 × 40in	£489	5–6 weeks	Family groups
36 × 48in	£549	5–6 weeks	A statement wall or a stairwell

Each additional person or animal in the same painting is £59, and each one adds roughly two to three days — a face is the slow part of any portrait, and four of them is four times the slow part. The full price list is per size. A five-person family group at 30 × 40in is the commission most likely to use all six weeks and want a second look at the preview; a single pet portrait at 16 × 20in is the one most likely to be finished in four.

What actually makes a commission run long

The honest answer to how long a commissioned painting takes is that the variation comes from five things, and only one of them is the studio.

• A soft or badly lit source photo. We can work from phone pictures and from old prints, but if the eyes are not resolvable we will come back to you before starting rather than guess, and that conversation costs days.
• Combining several photographs. Painting a grandparent from a 1970s print into a group with grandchildren photographed last summer is entirely doable, and it adds a week. The light has to be reconciled or the composite looks pasted.
• Four or more faces. Group portraits are not linear — the fourth face costs more time than the first, because every likeness has to hold together against the others.
• Changes at preview stage, especially to likeness.
• December. Every studio in the country is at capacity from mid-November, which is why the Christmas cut-off falls in the first half of November rather than the first week of December.

Working backwards from a date

How long does a commissioned painting take, and how long you should allow for one, are two different numbers. The safest way to plan is to take your date and count back seven weeks, not six. That extra week absorbs one round of changes and a slow courier without costing you anything if you don't need it.

You need it for	Order by	Why
A birthday on 20 June	Early May	Seven weeks, allowing one change
Christmas Day 2026	13 November	Studios fill from mid-November
A wedding, as a gift for the couple	Seven weeks before the day	See the wedding commission page for what to send
A milestone anniversary party	Eight weeks before	Group compositions run to the longer end
A funeral or memorial service	Not achievable	See below

That last row matters. Services usually happen within two or three weeks of a death, and no honest studio can paint a portrait in that time. If you are arranging a memorial portrait for someone, the usual approach is to give a card with the photograph in it on the day, and let the painting arrive quietly six weeks later — which is often when the person actually needs something to hold on to, rather than in the first fortnight when the house is full of people. Choosing the photograph is the hard part, and it does not have to be done in the first week.

Frequently asked

Can a commissioned painting be done faster than four weeks?

Occasionally, for a small canvas with one subject, and only when the studio has a gap. But it means compressing drying time, and a portrait rushed through its layers cracks within a few years. We would rather tell you it will not be ready than send something that ages badly.

How long does a commissioned painting take if I ask for changes?

Add seven to ten days per round for anything touching a face, and two to four days for background, crop or colour adjustments. Most commissions need no changes at all; of those that do, almost all are settled in one round.

Does the four to six weeks include delivery?

Yes. The quoted window runs from your photo to your doorstep, with three to five working days of UK delivery inside it. Paintings ship unframed on the stretcher bars, boxed, so nothing is waiting on a framer at our end.

Do I pay upfront and then wait six weeks?

You order at the start, but nothing ships until you have seen the digital preview and approved it. There is no situation in which a canvas you have not agreed to simply turns up.

Is it quicker at certain times of year?

January to March is the quietest stretch and commissions often land nearer four weeks than six. October and November are the slowest. If your date is flexible and you want it in hand sooner, order in the new year.