HAND-PAINTED PET PORTRAITS IN OIL ON LINEN, FROM YOUR PHOTO
Every pet portrait on this page is an oil painting, not a print. Klaudyna Hady paints each one herself, in oil on stretched linen, in her studio in Rzeszów, Poland. She was one of 125 painters chosen from approximately 5,000 applicants worldwide to hand-paint the frames of Loving Vincent, the first feature film made entirely of oil paintings — and your portrait is painted with the same materials and the same technique. You send a photo. Six to seven weeks later, a real painting arrives at your door.
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Loving Vincent (2017)
One of 125 painters chosen from approximately 5,000 applicants worldwide. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
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The Peasants (2023)
Painting animator on Poland’s official submission to the Academy Awards, made by the same directors.
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Degree
MFA with distinction — Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź.
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Collections
More than 150 paintings in private collections.
This Is an Oil Painting, Not a Print
Most of what is sold online as a “pet portrait” is a digitally edited photograph printed onto canvas in a day. This is something else entirely: layers of oil paint, applied by hand with brushes, on linen that was blank when your photo arrived.
The difference is physical, and you can check it for yourself. Hold a light at an angle to a print and the surface stays flat. Do the same with an oil painting and the brushstrokes throw small shadows — the fur is built from ridges of actual paint, a texture called impasto. A print is produced in minutes. A painting like this takes between 6.5 and 14 hours of brushwork spread across roughly three weeks, and then it has to sit on the easel for at least two more weeks, because oil paint dries slowly and cannot be packed before it has cured.
That is what you are paying for: not a picture of your dog, but an object — one layer of paint at a time, made once, by a painter whose brushwork has been seen on screens worldwide.
How the Portrait Is Made
Every commission goes through the same five stages, and you get photographs of yours at each one.
The Photo
Good source material matters more than anything else. Klaudyna needs one sharp photo taken at your pet’s eye level, ideally in natural daylight — a phone photo is fine if the eyes are in focus. Send several, and before you pay anything she will tell you which one makes the strongest painting, including when the answer is that none of them do.
The Sketch
She begins with a pencil sketch directly on the linen canvas: pose, proportions, composition. You receive a photograph of this sketch and approve it before any paint is mixed. This is the point where changes are easy — move the crop, adjust the angle, choose a different background tone. Nothing moves forward until you say so.
The Painting
Then the oil goes on, in layers, over roughly three weeks for a Small or Medium canvas. Dark masses first, then the mid-tones of the coat, then the fine work — whiskers, the wet edge of a nose, the light inside the eyes. You receive two progress photos along the way, including one taken in raking side light so you can see the texture forming.
The Drying
A finished oil painting needs at least two weeks on the easel before it can be packed safely. That is chemistry, not policy — oil cures by slow oxidation, and packing it early would press wrapping material into soft paint. Every delivery estimate on this site already includes that drying time, which is why the Christmas deadlines below fall earlier than you might expect.
The Shipping
The dry painting is wrapped in acid-free glassine, protected with corner guards and foam board, and double-boxed for export. It ships worldwide by insured express courier with door-to-door tracking, and the insurance covers the full declared value of the painting. Packing and shipping are included in every price on this page.
Sizes and Prices
Three sizes cover most single-pet portraits. Each price includes the stretched linen canvas with painted edges (ready to hang, no frame required), a signed certificate of authenticity, export packing, and insured express shipping worldwide with tracking.
| Size | Time to paint | USD | GBP | EUR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small 30 × 20 cm (12 × 8 in) | ~6.5 hours | $475 | £355 | €415 |
| Medium 40 × 30 cm (16 × 12 in) | ~11 hours | $725 | £535 | €625 |
| Large 50 × 35 cm (20 × 14 in) | ~14 hours | $895 | £665 | €775 |
A frame is not included, and that is deliberate: most collectors frame an original locally, to suit their own wall, and shipping a framed painting across an ocean adds cost and breakage risk for no benefit.
Larger canvases, two or three pets on one canvas, and rush turnaround are all on the full price list.
Painted by Someone Who Painted Loving Vincent
Klaudyna Hady was one of 125 painters chosen from approximately 5,000 applicants worldwide to hand-paint frames for Loving Vincent (2017), the first feature film made entirely of oil paintings, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2018. Working from the production’s studio in Gdańsk, she painted mainly the scenes featuring Armand Roulin — the young man in the yellow jacket who carries the film’s story. Her credit is listed on the film’s official site and on IMDb.
She holds an MFA with distinction from the Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, and more than 150 of her paintings now hang in private collections. She later worked as a painting animator on The Peasants (2023), Poland’s official submission to the Academy Awards, made by the same directors.
Here is why that matters for your commission. Painting for film means matching a likeness precisely, frame after frame, under deadline — the same discipline that makes a portrait actually look like your dog, not generically like a dog.
Dog, Cat, or Two Pets Together
Dogs are the most common commission, but cats are painted exactly the same way, in the same oil on the same linen — and a cat’s short, dense coat takes especially well to fine brushwork. Two pets on one canvas is a frequent request for couples and families; a second animal costs more because it roughly doubles the drawing time, and the exact surcharge is on the full price list. Horses, rabbits and birds are painted too — if you can photograph it, Klaudyna can paint it. If you want your pet painted in the swirling brushwork of the film, see the Van Gogh style portraits →
Finished Pet Portraits
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Cat portrait, oil on linen
Painted from a single reference photo
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Dog portrait, oil on linen
Brushwork built up in layers over three weeks
Christmas 2026 — Order Deadlines
Every portrait is painted in oil, by hand. Oil paint needs at least two weeks to dry before it can safely be packed — that is physics, not policy, and it is why these dates are earlier than you might expect.
| Shipping to | Order by |
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| United States, Canada and Australia | October 20 |
| United Kingdom and Ireland | October 27 |
| European Union | November 3 |
Missed the date? A gift certificate is available until midnight on December 24. It arrives as a PDF within minutes, and your portrait is painted in January.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know the portrait will actually look like my pet?
You approve a pencil sketch on the canvas before any paint is applied, and you receive two progress photos while Klaudyna Hady paints. The sketch stage is where composition, pose, and crop are settled — nothing proceeds until you confirm it. The single biggest factor is your reference photo: one sharp image taken at your pet’s eye level. Klaudyna reviews it and tells you what it can and cannot support before you pay anything.
How do I pay, and when?
Nothing is due while you are deciding. Klaudyna sends a fixed quote and a composition plan first, at no cost. You pay half when you approve the sketch, and the other half once you have seen photographs of the finished painting, before it is packed. Payment is by card or bank transfer. The price you agree is the price you pay — packing, insured express shipping and tracking are already in it.
Will my painting survive shipping from Poland without damage?
Every painting leaves the studio in export packing: acid-free glassine on the painted surface, corner guards, foam board on both faces, and a double box. Shipping is by express courier, tracked door to door, and insured for the full value of the painting — the insurance is already included in the price. In the unlikely event of damage, photograph the package before unpacking and contact Klaudyna Hady within 48 hours of delivery; the insurance covers you.
Will I have to pay customs or import duty when it arrives?
No customs duty anywhere on this list — an original hand-painted work of art is duty-free in every market shown here. Local sales tax is the only thing that can apply.
United States: duty-free under HTS heading 9701, and the US has no import VAT. Nothing is due on delivery beyond your courier’s clearance fee.
United Kingdom: no duty. Import VAT is charged at the reduced 5% rate for original art rather than the standard 20% — about £18 on a £355 portrait — collected by the courier before delivery.
Canada and Australia: no duty. Local sales tax is normally collected by the courier on delivery: 5% GST in Canada, plus provincial tax where it applies, and 10% GST in Australia.
Ireland and the rest of the EU: the painting ships from inside the EU, so there is no customs clearance and nothing to pay on arrival.
Every shipment is declared as an original painting under heading 9701, with the certificate of authenticity in the courier’s documents pouch. That declaration is what keeps it duty-free.
How long does it take from order to delivery?
Plan on six to seven weeks from photo approval to delivery. That is the realistic minimum, not a best case. It breaks down as roughly 1 week for consultation and the approved sketch, about 3 weeks of painting for a Small or Medium canvas, at least 2 weeks of drying — oil paint cures slowly and cannot be packed sooner — and 5 to 10 business days of insured international transit. Klaudyna Hady confirms a specific timeline with your quote before you commit.
Can I see the painting before it’s finished, in case I want changes?
Yes — you approve the sketch before painting begins, and you receive progress photos during the work. Changes are free and easy at the sketch stage. Once the paint is on the canvas, changing the composition would mean starting the canvas again, because oil is a physical medium, not an editable file. That is why Klaudyna Hady puts the decision points before the paint, where they cost you nothing.
What if I’m not happy with the finished painting?
The approved sketch is your protection: you sign off on exactly what will be painted before it is painted, and the finished portrait follows that sketch. Klaudyna Hady will also make small adjustments after you see the final photos — a highlight in the eye, a softened edge — where the paint allows. What she does not offer is the “unlimited revisions, money back, no questions asked” promise of $49 print shops; an oil painting that took days of brushwork and weeks of drying is protected by getting the decisions right up front, not by being repainted on demand. Because each portrait is made to your own specification, it is exempt from the 14-day right of withdrawal that covers off-the-shelf goods in the UK and the EU. That is the standard position for commissioned work, and it is exactly why the sketch approval exists.
I don’t have a great photo of my pet — can you still paint them?
Send what you have. Klaudyna Hady will tell you whether your photos can support a strong portrait — before you pay anything. An old or slightly soft photo often works better than people expect, and details like eye color or markings can be confirmed from other snapshots even when the main reference is weak.
Do you paint from photos of pets that have passed away?
Yes. A large share of pet portraits are painted from photos of animals that have died, and nothing about the process or the price changes. Older photos are fine — send what you have and Klaudyna Hady will tell you what can be worked with.
Do you ship to the UK, Canada, Australia and Ireland, or only the US?
Klaudyna Hady ships worldwide: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland and the European Union are all standard destinations, and insured express shipping with tracking is included in the price for every one of them. Prices are set in US dollars, pounds sterling and euros; Canadian and Australian buyers are billed in US dollars, so your card’s own exchange rate applies. Ireland is inside the EU, which means the painting ships without customs clearance and there is nothing to pay on delivery.
Is this the same as the paintings in Loving Vincent?
Same painter, same medium — oil on canvas by one of the film’s 125 painters — but your portrait is an original composition designed for your pet, not a copy of a film frame. If you want the film’s distinctive swirling brushwork applied to your dog or cat, that is a specific style Klaudyna Hady offers on her Van Gogh style portraits page.
Start Your Portrait
Tell Klaudyna about your pet — attach a photo if you have one handy. She replies personally within two business days with an assessment of your photo, a composition suggestion, and a fixed price. Nothing is charged until you approve the sketch.
What the form asks for
- Your name and email.
- Where it should ship: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, the European Union or elsewhere.
- Size: Small 30×20 cm — $475, Medium 40×30 cm — $725, Large 50×35 cm — $895, or “not sure yet”.
- A photo of your pet — optional at this stage.
- Anything you want to tell her about your pet.
Your photos are used only to prepare your quote and are never published without permission.