PET PORTRAIT GIFT CERTIFICATE
Give a hand-painted oil portrait of someone’s dog or cat without having to pick the photograph yourself. A pet portrait commission gift certificate reaches your inbox as a printable PDF minutes after you pay, which means it still works on the evening of December 24. Values start at $475 / £355 / €415 and cover the whole commission: the painting, a signed certificate of authenticity, and insured courier delivery anywhere in the world. Your recipient chooses the photo, the size, and when to begin.
Why a Certificate and Not the Painting Itself
Oil paint dries on its own schedule. A portrait takes three to four weeks at the easel, then a minimum of ten to fourteen days before the surface is hard enough to varnish and pack — and after that it still has to cross an ocean. Door to door, a commission runs six to eight weeks.
So there’s a date every fall after which a finished painting simply cannot arrive by Christmas. My order deadlines are published on the price list; they land in late October and early November. Miss them and you have two honest options: give something else, or give the commission.
The certificate is the second option. You pay today, the PDF lands in your inbox, and it goes into a card, under the tree, or straight to the recipient’s own inbox. They send me a photograph of their dog or cat whenever they’re ready — January is a perfectly good month to start a painting, and the work is better for not being rushed.
If you’d rather see the finished thing before you commit, browse the gallery. This is a voucher for a commission, not an item off a shelf: every portrait starts from the recipient’s own photograph.
How It Works
- Choose a value — $475, $725, or $895. Each one covers a specific canvas size, listed below.
- Email me the value you want. I send an invoice the same day, payable by bank transfer in dollars, pounds, or euros.
- The PDF arrives by email once the payment clears — same day on working days. Tell me the recipient’s name and a short message when you order, or leave both blank and write the message yourself by hand. Print it or forward the file as-is — both redeem the same way.
- Any time in the next 12 months, the recipient emails a photograph of their pet to hadyklaudyna@gmail.com, and I take it from there.
What’s Included
Each certificate covers a complete commission, start to finish:
- An oil portrait on 100% linen canvas, painted by hand in Winsor & Newton oils from the recipient’s photograph. Not a print, not a filter, not a digital layer with brushstrokes laid over the top.
- Painted canvas edges, so the piece hangs as it is, unframed.
- A signed certificate of authenticity.
- Express courier delivery worldwide — DHL or FedEx, fully insured, tracked, in export-grade packing.
- Approval at every stage: I confirm the photograph and composition before I start, send a progress photo at the halfway point, and send final photographs before anything is packed.
- 12 months to redeem. Once a commission is booked, the certificate stays valid until the painting is delivered, even if the twelve months run out while I’m painting.
- Full value toward a larger canvas. The recipient pays only the difference.
Not included: a frame, and whatever import tax the destination country charges on arrival. For original paintings that is either nothing or a small amount — the exact position for each country is set out under Shipping and customs below.
Choose Your Value
| Value | Canvas size | Painting time | USD | GBP | EUR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 30 × 20 cm (12 × 8 in) | 6.5 hours of painting | $475 | £355 | €415 |
| Medium | 40 × 30 cm (16 × 12 in) | 11 hours of painting | $725 | £535 | €625 |
| Large | 50 × 35 cm (20 × 14 in) | 14 hours of painting | $895 | £665 | €775 |
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$475 · £355 · €415
Small — 30 × 20 cm (12 × 8 in). 6.5 hours of painting. One pet.
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$725 · £535 · €625
Medium — 40 × 30 cm (16 × 12 in). 11 hours of painting. One pet. Big enough to hold a wall on its own.
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$895 · £665 · €775
Large — 50 × 35 cm (20 × 14 in). 14 hours of painting. One pet.
Every value includes worldwide express shipping, insurance, tracking, and export packing on the finished painting — roughly $130 of real cost that most studios add at checkout instead. These are the same prices as the full price list, with nothing added for the gift wrapper. A second pet in the same painting adds 35%, a third adds 65%; larger canvases (70 × 50 cm and 90 × 60 cm) are available on request, and any certificate can be put toward one. The recipient settles the difference at redemption.
Why Commission From Me
Roughly 5,000 painters worldwide applied to work on Loving Vincent (2017) — the first feature film made entirely from oil paintings, later nominated for the 2018 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. I was one of the 125 chosen. I painted at the production’s studio in Gdańsk, one frame at a time, mostly on the scenes with Armand Roulin. You can check that on IMDb rather than take my word for it.
In 2023 I painted on The Peasants, Poland’s official Oscar submission that year, for the same directors. I hold an MFA with distinction from the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, I studied under Professor Marian Kępiński, and more than 150 of my paintings hang in private collections. I paint from my studio in Rzeszów, Poland.
That matters more than usual when you’re buying a gift you can’t see first. Most of what sells online as a “pet portrait” is a print, or a photograph run through a filter and printed on canvas. That’s a legitimate product; it just isn’t this one. What this certificate buys is an object: oil built up in layers on linen, signed on the front, in an edition of exactly one. If you’d rather ask something before you spend the money, write to me — I answer my own email. There’s also more about my background.
Who This Is For
- Anyone who has run out of time. A commission ordered in December cannot arrive by Christmas. A certificate arrives in minutes.
- Milestone birthdays and anniversaries — a commissioned painting marks the year in a way a delivered parcel doesn’t.
- The person who already owns everything. They pick the photograph, the size, and the moment.
- Group gifts. Several people put in toward one larger canvas; the recipient applies the certificate and covers the difference.
- Weddings and new homes, where the dog is — by common agreement — the one actually in charge.
If they have recently lost a pet. A portrait painted from a favorite photograph is one of the most common reasons people write to me, and grief doesn’t keep to a schedule. A certificate hands the timing back to the owner: they choose the photograph, and they choose when — next month, or next fall. If you’d like, I can send it straight to them with a short message from you, and nothing about the email will read like an advertisement. There is more about memorial portraits here.
Shipping and Customs
The certificate itself is a digital file. Nothing crosses a border when you buy it, so there is nothing to clear and nothing to pay.
The finished painting is a different matter, and you should hear it from me now rather than from a courier on the doorstep:
- United States. Original hand-painted artwork enters duty-free under HTS heading 9701. No tariff and no import duty, provided the shipment is declared correctly — which is my job, and I do it on every parcel.
- United Kingdom. Original paintings are charged import VAT at an effective 5% rather than the standard 20% (VAT Act 1994 section 21; HMRC Notice 702). On a £355 certificate that comes to about £18, and on a £535 certificate about £27, collected by the courier before delivery. There is no customs duty.
- Ireland and the rest of the EU. The painting ships from Poland, inside the EU. No customs, no import VAT, nothing to pay on delivery.
- Canada and Australia. Neither charges duty on original paintings, but both apply their own import tax, collected by the courier at delivery. Email me your city before you buy and I’ll confirm the figure in writing.
Transit time. Five to ten business days by express courier once the paint has cured and the canvas is packed, insured door to door, with tracking. The recipient gets the tracking number the day it ships.
If it arrives damaged. Photograph the box before unwrapping it fully and email me within 48 hours. Every shipment is insured for its full value, and I photograph each stage of the packing — glassine, corner protectors, two layers of foam board, double box — because those photographs are what settle a claim. If a painting is damaged in transit, I repaint it or refund it. That is the whole policy. There is no small print under it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the gift certificate reach me?
As a PDF, emailed to you minutes after the payment clears. Print it and put it in a card, or forward the file — both redeem the same way. Nothing is shipped at this stage, so there is no delivery risk before the holiday. If the automatic email doesn’t arrive within an hour, write to me and I’ll send it by hand the same day.
Can we add the recipient’s name and a message?
Yes. There’s a field at checkout for the recipient’s name and a short message, both printed on the certificate. You can also leave them blank and write your own. If you’d like the certificate sent directly to the recipient rather than to you, put their email address in the same field and tell me the date you want it to arrive.
What if the recipient doesn’t like the painting?
Nothing goes to canvas unseen. I confirm the reference photograph and the composition before I start, send a progress photo at the halfway point, and send final photographs before the painting is varnished and packed — with one round of adjustments included at that stage. That approval chain is what makes an unseen commission safe to give as a gift.
Why can’t I just order the painting and have it by Christmas?
Because oil takes six to eight weeks door to door: three to four weeks of painting, ten to fourteen days of drying before it can be varnished and packed, then five to ten business days in transit. My order deadlines fall in late October and early November and are listed on the price list. Anyone promising a hand-painted oil portrait delivered in two weeks in December is not shipping a hand-painted oil portrait.
Will the recipient have to pay customs or import tax?
Not on the certificate — it’s a digital file and never crosses a border. On the finished painting: nothing at all in the United States, where original artwork is duty-free under HTS 9701, and nothing within the EU or Ireland, because it ships from Poland. UK buyers pay import VAT at a reduced 5% on works of art instead of the standard 20% — about £18 on a £355 certificate — collected by the courier. Canada and Australia charge their own import tax with no duty on original paintings; email me and I’ll confirm the amount for your address before you buy.
How long does delivery take once the painting is finished?
Five to ten business days by DHL or FedEx express to the US, UK, Canada, Australia, or Ireland. Shipping, insurance, tracking, and export packing are already inside the certificate price. The tracking number goes out the day the painting ships.
Is this an appropriate gift for someone whose pet has died?
It is one of the most common reasons people commission me, and a certificate removes the part that makes such a gift difficult: the timing. The owner chooses the photograph and decides when they are ready, with no deadline attached. I can send it directly to them with a short message from you rather than routing it through you.
Does the certificate expire, and can it be put toward something larger?
It is valid for 12 months from the date of purchase, and its full value counts toward any larger canvas — the recipient pays the difference. It cannot be exchanged for cash. It does not expire mid-commission: once redemption has begun, it stays valid until the portrait is delivered.
Can I buy a certificate for two pets, or for a person?
Yes to both. A second pet in the same painting adds 35% to the base price and a third adds 65%, payable at redemption; buy the size you want and the recipient settles the difference. I also paint portraits of people, families, and master copies — a certificate can be redeemed against any of them. The pet portrait page covers the range.
Terms
The certificate is valid for 12 months from the date of purchase. It is redeemable against any commission of equal or greater value, with the difference for a larger format payable at redemption. It cannot be exchanged for cash.
Because the certificate is not itself a made-to-order item, it carries the standard 14-day right of withdrawal from the date of purchase, provided it has not yet been redeemed — under the UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 and the EU Consumer Rights Directive. A commissioned portrait is made to your specification and is excluded from that right once work begins, which is why the approval steps described above exist.
Prices include worldwide express courier shipping, insurance, tracking, and export packing on the finished painting. Import taxes charged by the destination country are the recipient’s, and are set out in full under Shipping and customs above.
Ready to Send One
The certificate is in your inbox minutes after payment, and nothing reaches canvas without the recipient’s approval of the photograph and the composition first. Two dates matter this quarter: my commission deadline in late October, and December 24 — which is only a deadline for wrapping paper.