PortraitFlip sent me an oil painting. All opinions are my own.

We all have photos that we deeply cherish. I think photo-related items often make great gifts, especially for moms or grandmothers, as they tend to place the most value in photos. Photo prints or canvases can be great gifts, but if you’ve given those as gifts before, it’s reasonable to want to change things up a bit. 

If you’re looking for a new twist on the old photo gift idea, you’ll want to check out PortraitFlip. You send in a photo and they’ll have their artists convert it to a real piece of art. I opted for an oil painting, but they offer all sorts of options. Some of their other options include pencil sketches, colored pencil drawings, and watercolor paintings. This way, you can opt for the art style that best suits your preferences or your decor style. 

You send in a photo and can provide some basic instructions, too. In my case, I sent in a photo from my little sister’s graduation open house so it had some balloons in the background. I didn’t want those balloons to show up in the final photo, so I requested that the balloons be left out. 

When you place your order, you put down 30% of the total. You’ll pay the rest after you approve of the final piece. However, you can get a refund if you aren’t satisfied with your final piece. Plus, you’re able to request revisions after you see the original piece. They want you to be totally satisfied with your finished piece and to feel like it’s a good representation of your loved ones. 

The shine and wrinkles in the photo are due to the print being wrapped in cellophane. I plan to give this as a gift so I didn’t want to totally unbox the frame. I left it protected until I can get it to the person I plan to gift it to. 

As you can see from this up-close shot, they were able to add some definition to my youngest sister’s eyes even though in the photo her glasses had a glare. I feel like they definitely captured us well! There is a bit of “depth” lost in this artform, mostly in our faces, I felt like we lost a bit of our bone structure or something? I can’t quite explain it but there’s a distinct “this is a painting” feeling to our faces in particular. I like how well they maintained small details, such as the print on my shirt and my sister’s dress, and the differences in our hair textures. 

Overall, I think it’s a really neat, unique piece that will be treasured. 

The piece that is made for you isn’t a filter or photoshop, an artist will recreate the photo by hand. This is a time-consuming process, so you’ll want to order soon and look for turnaround times and shipping times before you order. If you are seeing this too late and can’t get the item before Christmas, I think this is such an awesome gift that it would be worth telling the person about and giving it to them a bit late. 

Ready to have a special piece of art made from a photo? Head to PortraitFlip.com!

Emily

Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.

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