How much does a custom oil painting from a photo cost in the UK?

If you've started searching for a custom oil painting from your photograph, you've probably noticed prices vary wildly. Some sites quote £79. Others £800. Both claim to be "hand-painted." So what's the real number, and what are you actually paying for?

This guide breaks down the 2026 UK market honestly, including what we charge and how we got there.

The price floor: what hand-painted oil really costs to make

A real, hand-painted oil portrait on stretched canvas — not a print, not an "oil-effect giclée," not an AI-generated image — has unavoidable costs:

• The painter's time. A skilled copyist takes 8–25 hours to produce a quality portrait, depending on size and complexity (a single face vs. a family of five).
• Materials. Stretched canvas, oil paints (proper artist-grade pigments), brushes, varnish.
• International shipping. Most affordable commissions are painted in studios in Xiamen, China — the world's largest cluster of professional oil-painting copyists. Air freight from there to the UK adds £25–£80 per piece depending on size.
• Customs and VAT. Imported paintings from outside the UK incur VAT (currently 20%) plus a courier handling fee.

The realistic floor for a genuinely hand-painted oil — even at wholesale, before any markup — is about £90–£120 for a small (8×10″) single-subject portrait, delivered. Anything materially below that is either a print, an AI-generated image, or a misrepresented product.

Our 2026 pricing — unframed, hand-painted oil on canvas

Size	Reproduction (famous painting)	Custom commission (one person/pet/subject)
8 × 10″	£129	from £145
12 × 16″	£169	£220
16 × 20″	£199	£275
20 × 24″	£249	£330
24 × 36″	£299	£449
30 × 40″	£379	£489
36 × 48″	£459	£549

Use code WELCOME20 for 20% off your first commission.

These prices are unframed — we ship the painting on stretched canvas, ready for you to frame locally to taste. We dropped the "shipped framed" option in 2026 because frames double the freight cost, often arrive with shipping damage, and almost everyone replaces them anyway when the painting goes up at home.

How we compare to PaintYourLife and other commission sites

PaintYourLife is the most-advertised competitor in the UK commission market. Their list prices for the same sizes are slightly higher than ours — but they run a perpetual PYL25 25% off code, which puts their effective price below list. With our WELCOME20, we beat their effective price across every size. Both are real hand-painted oil from professional studios.

What you're getting for the £200–£500 range, from any reputable commission service:

• A real oil painting on stretched canvas (not a print)
• Painted by a trained copyist, not an AI
• A photograph or two of the work in progress
• 4–6 weeks from order to delivery
• A final approval photo before the painting ships

What you don't get at this price point — but high-street commission studios do offer for £1,500–£8,000:

• A named, signature artist with their own gallery
• Sittings from life (the photo-based commission is photo-based)
• A unique style negotiated with you (you're picking from established master styles — Klimt, Vermeer, Sargent, etc.)
• Direct studio visits or in-person consultations

If those things matter to you, you want a UK fine-art portrait commission, not an affordable oil from photo. Our market is "real oil painting, accessible price, 4–6 weeks" — not "fine art commission with a UK studio name."

Why size matters more than you'd think

Pricing scales with the square inches of canvas, not linearly with the small dimension. A 24×36″ has nearly four times the canvas area of a 12×16″ — that's why prices roughly quadruple, not double.

Also: don't undersize. A 12×16″ portrait looks great on a desk or shelf but is too small to anchor a wall in most rooms. For a focal piece above a sofa or fireplace, you want 24×36″ minimum, often 30×40″. A common regret in this category is buying smaller than you need to keep costs down, then needing to upgrade later.

What's never worth paying extra for

• "Premium oil paints." All reputable studios use professional-grade oils. Anyone charging extra for "premium pigments" is upselling.
• "Senior master artist." Most commission studios route work to whichever skilled painter is available; the "senior" tag is usually marketing.
• A signature. Most copyists will sign on request without charge.
• Built-in framing. Frame it locally — better fit, no shipping damage, more style options.

Ready to commission yours?

Use WELCOME20 at checkout for 20% off your first commission. The smallest commission size at £145 lands at £116 with the code. The 24×36″ family portrait price drops to £359.

Start your commission →