Oil Portraits From Your Photos — White Bear Lake.
Start your commissionA small selection of commissions.
Every painting on this page started life as a customer’s photograph. Each was painted by hand on archival cotton canvas.
Four steps, about a fortnight.
From the photo on your camera roll to the painting on your wall.
Send the photo
Natural light works best. We’ll guide you on which photo will paint up best.
Choose & pay
Pick your size, artist tier and delivery. Pay 50% now, the rest on approval.
We paint & preview
Your assigned artist begins. You’ll see a high‑res preview before final brushstrokes.
Approve & ship
Once dry, we ship by courier. Free worldwide. Typical total: ~14 days.
What customers tell us.
Hand‑painted oil portraits, delivered to White Bear Lake.
White Bear Lake, Minnesota – home to ~25,000 residents in the Midwest region of the United States. We deliver authentic oil paintings, hand-painted on canvas by trained artists, to every White Bear Lake address. Free shipping, money-back guarantee, never AI.
Local artistic heritage
The Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Walker Art Center anchor Minnesota’s strong portraiture culture, with significant additional collections at the Weisman. Our customers in White Bear Lake commission portraits to mark anniversaries, milestone birthdays, weddings, retirements, and to keep the memory of loved ones close.
How we paint your White Bear Lake portrait
- You upload your photo.
From the comfort of your White Bear Lake home, you upload one to five reference photos via our six-step commission flow. We accept JPG, PNG and HEIC files. Additional reference shots help with details – hair texture, jewellery, skin tone in different light.
- We assign a trained oil painter.
Within 24 hours we match your commission to one of three artist tiers – Junior, Up-and-coming, or Experienced – based on the package you have chosen. Every artist on our roster is classically trained in oil portraiture.
- Sketching, underpainting and the first colour pass.
Your artist begins with a charcoal sketch on a primed canvas, then lays down a tonal underpainting in burnt sienna or raw umber. The first colour layers establish the structure of the face and the overall composition.
- Refinement and detail work.
Subsequent layers build up the likeness – bone structure, expression in the eyes, fabric texture, hair, hands. This is the longest stage and the one that separates a competent likeness from a portrait that genuinely captures who someone is.
- Preview, varnish and delivery to White Bear Lake.
Before the painting is varnished and shipped, we send you a high-resolution preview by email. You can request small adjustments at no charge. Once approved, your portrait is varnished, dried, gallery-wrapped, and dispatched to your White Bear Lake address by tracked, fully insured courier.
Pricing & sizes for White Bear Lake customers
Our pricing is transparent and tier-based – the size you choose, multiplied by the artist tier, plus optional VIP express delivery. The most-ordered size in Minnesota is the 16 inch by 20 inch canvas. White Bear Lake customers commissioning for formal living rooms or grand entrances often choose 24 by 30 or larger.
Venues, occasions and gifts in White Bear Lake
Over the past few years we have delivered portraits to White Bear Lake customers commissioning for an extraordinary range of occasions. Locally, anniversaries and milestone birthdays drive the bulk of our work – but we have also painted university graduates, generations of family for country club walls, posthumous tributes to grandparents, and corporate retirement gifts for executives across the wider Minnesota area. Increasingly, we are commissioned for newborns and pets – rates of dog and cat portrait commissions in Minnesota have more than doubled in the last two years.
Recent White Bear Lake commissions
“Had our two horses painted together from a stable photograph. The eyes look genuinely alive. The painting is now the focal point of our barn.”
— Matthew W., White Bear Lake
“Chose the mid-tier artist for a 20 by 24 portrait. The preview proof process let us request one tiny adjustment with no fuss whatsoever.”
— George D., White Bear Lake
Photo tips for White Bear Lake customers
The single biggest factor in a beautiful portrait is the source photograph. Here is what we have learnt from thousands of commissions across Minnesota and the rest of the United States:
- Use natural light. Photographs taken outdoors on an overcast day, or beside a north-facing window, give the artist the most workable detail.
- Higher resolution is better. Shoot at the highest quality your camera or phone allows. We can work from older photos, but more pixels gives us more detail to translate into oil.
- The subject should fill the frame. A close, well-composed photograph of a face will always paint better than a distant snapshot, however charming.
- Don’t worry about the background. Our artists routinely re-paint or replace backgrounds.
- Multiple photos help with composites. If you are commissioning a portrait of multiple people who were not photographed together, send up to five separate photos and we will build the composition.
Delivery to White Bear Lake
Standard delivery to White Bear Lake takes roughly 23 days from the moment you complete your commission. We ship via fully tracked, fully insured courier – typically FedEx or UPS – with signature required on delivery. Each painting is varnished, dried for 72 hours, then packed in a custom protective sleeve with corner guards and a rigid outer box. There is no shipping charge to Minnesota, or anywhere in the United States. VIP express delivery – an additional $199 – typically reduces total turnaround to around nine days from order to White Bear Lake doorstep.
Care & display in White Bear Lake
Minnesota’s cold, dry winters are exceptionally kind to oil paintings — humidity-related issues are rare. For best results, hang your portrait away from direct sunlight, avoid kitchens and bathrooms where airborne moisture and grease can dull the surface, and dust gently with a soft, dry cloth no more than once a month. Should you ever notice an issue, our 100% money-back guarantee covers you for 60 days from delivery.
We also serve nearby
If you are commissioning for someone in White Bear Lake or the wider Minnesota area, here are the nearest cities we also serve.
Frequently asked questions for White Bear Lake customers
How long does delivery to White Bear Lake take?
Standard delivery to White Bear Lake takes roughly 23 days from the moment you complete your commission. VIP express delivery brings that down to around nine days for an additional $199. All shipping is fully tracked and insured.
Do you ship to every White Bear Lake address?
Yes – we ship free of charge to every postal address in White Bear Lake and the surrounding Minnesota area, including Edina, Minnetonka, Wayzata. There is no minimum order value.
Can I commission a portrait from an old photograph?
Absolutely. Most of our White Bear Lake commissions come from photos taken years (sometimes decades) earlier – wedding photographs, family snaps, holiday memories, posthumous tributes. Our artists are skilled at restoring detail from imperfect originals.
What’s the most popular size in Minnesota?
The 16 inch by 20 inch canvas is the most-ordered size across Minnesota – substantial enough to anchor a wall, manageable enough to ship cleanly. White Bear Lake customers commissioning for formal living rooms often size up to 24 by 30.
Do you offer rush delivery for White Bear Lake weddings or anniversaries?
Yes – VIP express delivery cuts roughly two weeks off the standard turnaround for an additional $199. Standard White Bear Lake delivery is typically 23 days; VIP brings that closer to 9 days.
What is the full process for commissioning a portrait?
Six steps. Upload your photo, choose how many people are in the painting, pick your artist tier, choose your canvas size, choose standard or VIP delivery, and pay securely via Stripe. From there, your assigned artist starts work, and you will receive a high-resolution preview by email before final brushstrokes.
Will I see the painting before it is shipped to White Bear Lake?
Yes. Before any portrait is varnished and dispatched, we send a high-resolution preview by email. White Bear Lake customers can request small adjustments at no charge.
What if I do not love my finished portrait?
Every commission is covered by our 100% money-back guarantee. If you are not delighted with your portrait, return it within 60 days of delivery for a full refund. Our refund rate is below 0.5%.
Do you frame the portrait, or does it arrive unframed?
Every portrait arrives gallery-wrapped on stretched canvas, ready to hang directly out of the box – no frame required. White Bear Lake customers who prefer a traditional framed look typically use a local framer.
Is the portrait painted by a real artist, or is this AI?
Every portrait we deliver is painted by hand, in oils, on stretched canvas, by a trained human artist. We do not use AI.
A photograph,
painted in oils.
Six steps. About fifteen minutes. From $739.
Start now