The order summary and confirmation show the portrait size, number of people or pets, selected extras, total price, and shipping terms. I draw each custom portrait by hand in graphite and charcoal from the reference photo we agree on. I do not add a charge or change the agreed order without your approval.
Studio availability and waitlist
When my calendar is full, new portrait and portrait-gift payments pause. You may join a free, optional waitlist by giving your name, email, and portrait preferences. Joining does not reserve a production date or set a price. I generally review requests in the order received, while matching an opening to the size and work involved. I do not promise an exact queue position or opening date. An invitation is private, lasts 72 hours, and lets you review the current price and dispatch window before deciding to pay. You can remove yourself through the link in the waitlist email. Purchased gifts remain redeemable even while new sales are paused.
Custom portraits
Before drawing starts: You may replace your reference photo on your private order page. I mark the order Drawing in progress when I actually begin and send you an email. That recorded time is the cutoff for photo changes and change-of-mind cancellations.
Canceling before drawing starts: If you paid for the portrait directly, contact me and I will refund the full order payment to its original payment method. If you redeemed a gift, I will cancel that redemption and restore the gift so it can be used later. I will refund any separate subject upgrade to the person who paid for it. The original gift buyer's right to a refund is explained under “Portrait gifts” below.
After drawing starts: A custom portrait cannot be returned or refunded because you changed your mind. You may ask for a different photo, pose, person, or background; I will tell you whether it is possible and show any extra charge before doing the work. This cancellation rule does not apply when I cannot fulfill the order, miss an agreed shipping deadline without your consent, send the wrong item, or deliver damaged work.
Progress and final review: You can see private progress photos on the order page. At the final-photo stage, you can approve the portrait, report an error against the agreed order, or request one round of up to two small adjustments to details already in the drawing, such as shading or an existing feature. Adding a person, changing the reference, pose, or background, or restarting the piece is a separately quoted change. I correct an omitted or incorrect agreed detail without an extra charge.
Choose your final-review method before the final photo is posted:
- Standard review: The 72-hour clock starts only after the final photo is available and the notification email has been sent successfully. I send a reminder around hour 48. If I do not hear from you by hour 72, I may approve the portrait for shipping. A request made within the window stops the clock. If I post a revised final photo, a new 72-hour window begins.
- Explicit approval: I wait for your approval before shipping and send a reminder every three days. This choice has no automatic approval deadline.
If the order page is not working, use the contact page during your review window. Automatic approval allows shipping; it does not waive a claim for an agreed detail that is wrong, damage, a wrong item, or non-delivery.
Shipping and delays
At checkout and in your receipt, you will see the latest dispatch window in calendar days and what starts it. A portrait order is complete for this purpose when payment, an agreed usable reference photo, the chosen details, and a delivery address have been received. I confirm the resulting ship-by date by email when those details are complete. For a gift, delivery of the digital code or physical card has its own checkout window; the recipient's portrait shipping clock begins after redemption and receipt of those complete details. Drawing estimates are separate from delivery time.
Standard shipping of a finished portrait to a US address is included. A paid expedited shipping option, if selected after completion and before dispatch, speeds the shipment rather than the drawing. I refund that shipping upgrade if it has not been used and the portrait is not shipped. A priority start is available only if I confirm a date and price with you first.
If I cannot ship by the promised date, I will contact you before that date with a proposed new date and a choice: agree to wait, or cancel the unshipped order for a full refund. If I cannot fulfill the order or you do not agree to wait, I will cancel and refund it. A review or edit that you request may require a new ship-by date; I will ask you to agree to that date rather than change it silently.
Portrait gifts
A purchased gift covers the size and number of people or pets shown in its confirmation. It does not expire or have an inactivity fee. Later price increases do not reduce what was already paid for. The recipient may pay the displayed price to add subjects before redemption, up to the limit shown for that size. They can redeem by entering the code manually or scanning its QR code; an account is not required. A code pays for one portrait and cannot be redeemed twice.
Gift refund within 14 days: The purchaser may cancel a gift within 14 calendar days of purchase if its portrait has not entered Drawing in progress, even if a recipient has begun redemption. I will refund the full gift purchase, including any physical card and envelope charge, to the purchaser and deactivate the code. If the recipient separately paid for more subjects, I will refund that payment to the recipient. After 14 days, the gift remains valid, but there is no change-of-mind cash refund.
If the recipient cancels a redeemed portrait before drawing starts after that 14-day gift-refund period, the gift becomes available again rather than turning into cash. Any separately paid subject upgrade is refunded to its payer. If I cannot provide the purchased portrait or an alternative you accept, I will refund the original gift payment and any upgrade to their respective payers.
Ready-made artwork
For a non-custom artwork from the shop, tell me within 14 calendar days after delivery if you wish to return it. Send it back within 14 days after I provide return instructions, in its original condition. You pay return shipping for a change-of-mind return. I refund the artwork price to the original payment method after it arrives back. If I sent the wrong work or it arrived damaged, tell me and I will pay any return shipping I request and offer a replacement you accept or a full refund.
Problems and refunds
If a portrait arrives damaged, I send the wrong item, or I cannot provide an agreed size or number of subjects, contact me through the site with the order reference and photos if available. I will pay any return shipping I request. You may choose a correction or remake at no extra cost if feasible, or a full refund. For a missing shipment, I will trace it and, if it cannot be delivered, offer a remake you accept or a full refund. Please contact me about any other difference from the approved order so I can compare it with the agreed details and resolve it. These steps do not limit rights that apply under law.
I initiate an approved refund to the original payment method within five business days. The time for it to appear in your account depends on the payment provider. Refunds of a gift and a separately paid upgrade go to their respective payers.
Photos, artwork, and these terms
Please provide a reference photo you have permission to use. I keep customer reference, progress, gift-message, and portrait images private unless you separately permit public sharing. You own the physical artwork you receive. The copyright in my drawing is not transferred by a purchase; ask me before selling prints or using it commercially.
The version of these terms identified in your checkout and receipt applies to your order. A later version applies only to purchases made after its effective date. I do not replace or rewrite the terms of an earlier purchase. Every published version, its effective date, and a summary of changes will remain available in the Policy Archive.