# I found the coolest gift site ever. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 1, 2007, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312 "2007-06-01T06:37:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/1 "2007-06-01T06:37:03Z")
> **[Hand-painted Portraits by Talented Artists - PaintYourLife](https://www.paintyourlife.com/)** > > Hand-painted portraits of your cherished memories. Whether honoring a loved one or surprising someone special, find the gift that speaks from the heart. These guys will paint a portrait from a photograph you mail them, and let you review it and request changes to it until you’re satisfied before they mail the painting to you. I don’t know anything about how much portraits like this should cost, though, and I’m not sure I want to hand over the couple of hundred bucks they want (cheapest is like 110, but what I want is 20" by 24", which is like 175 plus shipping) without getting some sort of feedback. Has anyone ever heard of this site, or any others that offer a similar service? If someone has actually had one of these done for them, were you satisfied with it? edit: damned typo ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/2 "2007-06-01T08:56:12Z")
That is pretty cool. I wonder how they can promise the 10 day turnaround. Painting sweatshops? ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/3 "2007-06-01T09:03:56Z")
Well, I’ve seen [similar things.](http://www.museumofbadart.org/collection/portraiture-1.html) The guys in your link look like they do a better job, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/4 "2007-06-01T09:22:00Z")
Are they actually hand painting it though? It looks as though they might be cheating (using digital image processing techniques, then printing it with a paintjet or something). I know the site has pictures of people using brushes, but a few things make me suspicious: -They don’t really say an awful lot about the skill of their artists -There’s something about many of the example pictures on the site that I can’t quite put my finger on, but they really do look like photographs that have been put through an oil painting filter in Photoshop or something. -I dunno, the tone of their whole spiel makes me feel as if they’re dancing around the truth a bit. ETA: -Oh yeah, the idea that you can keep on requesting modifications to the work? - I know that’s not impossible for a real painting, but it’s pretty inconvenient and expensive to accommodate, I should think. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/5 "2007-06-01T09:29:44Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Are they actually hand painting it though? [/QUOTE] The FAQ says “All our work is 100% hand-made” but I’m definitely skeptical for the reasons you mention. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/6 "2007-06-01T09:49:40Z")
Yeah, I suppose it depends how you define ‘hand made’, doesn’t it? This post was _hand made_ - my hands typed it and my hands clicked the mouse on the ‘post reply’ button. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/7 "2007-06-01T12:17:40Z")
I saw something to this same effect at my local Sam’s Club recently. The finished product had a kind of creepy element- a strange, dreamy, slightly cartoonish…something…that I found very unappealing. The photo/painting in the link was better than what I saw at Sam’s. It may be that the pictures displayed at Sam’s were mostly of children. Perhaps the technique or style is different for kids. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/8 "2007-06-01T12:22:30Z")
Upon viewing the children’s page at the website, I can see the kid pictures here are a little different than the Sams’s display. The Sam’s pictures had added alot of “wing and halo” type effects to the finished product, similar to the (one) picture of the baby in the website presentation. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/9 "2007-06-01T12:51:06Z")
I’m a little bit baffled by this, because I can’t imagine they’d deliberately _lie_. But an oil painting, a real oil painting, takes months to dry! It just does. This has got me really puzzled, because I know that when artists work straight from photographs, there’s still some individual interpretation. They’re _not_ perfectly accurate. There are a few pencil and charcoal pieces signed “Brita” that I can believe, because they’re not perfect (but are quite accurate). Maybe they use those [those opaque projectors?](http://www.madisonartshop.com/prspbo.html). There’s some evidence that the artist Vermeer used a “camera obscura” to aid him in some of his paintings (not sure if that issue has been settled). I’ve never worked with one, so I don’t know anything about them. I think those “oils” are computer-generated, with a couple of dabs of real paint on the top. [Take a look at the detail on this one](http://www.paintyourlife.com/bin/wedding/oil/300%5F272006113428%5F145%5F%2Ejpg) - there’s no evidence of how that paint was applied, no brush strokes at all. How did they get those tiny darks and lights for her arm? Working with a tiny, tiny brush would take forever! The shots where a person is adding paint to a portrait that’s pinned to a messy, paint-spattered wall? Bwahahah! That’s goofy! Why would they untape a painting (notice the hard edges) only to pin it to a dirty wall? That really makes it look like they pulled it out of a printer and added a few dabs. [These people do some excellent portraits](http://www.commissionaportrait.com/quick_browse_results.asp?subject=21), and they are mondo expensive. I dunno how they’re doing accurate, cheap portraits – but it’s GOOD NEWS as far as I’m concerned! Every time I do portraits at a show, someone will ask to work from photographs. I don’t do it. But I do tell them, there are plenty of people online who will! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/10 "2007-06-01T13:10:31Z")
I’m almost certain you’re right, **fessie** - I reckon they’re using a paintjet plotter onto canvas, then dabbing a little bit of extra paint on top here and there to create the illusion it’s all done by hand. I just downloaded the photo and painting versions of that wedding photo you linked and superimposed one over the other with 50% transparency. _everything lines up exactly_ - even insignificant little highlights on branches and leaves. No artist does that. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/11 "2007-06-01T13:33:36Z")
Those portraits are meh, bordering on creepy-fake-cheesy. (at least of human work) They are not genuine and lack any warmth. Now, the Museum of Bad Art, that some good stuff. I think I might get my mom the book for her birthday. THANKS! [Pet Portraitists](http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6069606) [More art.](http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6001804) [And another artist](http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5618309) [Human portraits](http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=519365) Overall, Etsy is a fantastic place to wander for all areas of handmade thingies. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/12 "2007-06-01T13:38:12Z")
And, because Dopers are a fun lot, I thought I would throw in : [Porn By Numbers](http://www.scarletlibrarian.com/pbn/pbnlist.html) Do your own naked lady portrait. Possibly \*\*NSFW. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/13 "2007-06-01T13:38:33Z")
It is most definitely a combination of fancy ink-jet and a little hand painting. My workstudy student, who is graduating, interviewed at one of these operations only they did mostly landscaped. She was outraged at the “bad art”. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/14 "2007-06-01T13:42:31Z")
Re: the “bad art” museum – I think [“Sunday on the Pot with George”](http://www.museumofbadart.org/collection/portraiture-2.html) is hysterical, and really not half bad. Porn by numbers - **Shirley!**! Need a “smack you upside the head” smilie 😃 . ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/15 "2007-06-01T13:46:24Z")
Ugh. I’m with Shirley. Those paintings are tacky. _runs off to the porn-by-numbers site_ ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/16 "2007-06-01T13:46:59Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I’m almost certain you’re right, **fessie** - I reckon they’re using a paintjet plotter onto canvas, then dabbing a little bit of extra paint on top here and there to create the illusion it’s all done by hand. I just downloaded the photo and painting versions of that wedding photo you linked and superimposed one over the other with 50% transparency. _everything lines up exactly_ - even insignificant little highlights on branches and leaves. No artist does that. [/QUOTE] Did you do the Mustang? I’m thinking that one looks hand painted to me. You could, of course, distort and modify the original photo and then have the oil effects laid down. That would ensure a more handmade looking finish, but the Mustang doesn’t seem to be done this way. The passenger side mirror doesn’t line up with the original, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/17 "2007-06-01T13:59:27Z")
Interesting – the passenger side of that car is a little goofy, isn’t it? Maybe because they had to crop and replace all those trees in Photoshop? Look at the license plate, though, “Shelby” - you can see the paint. How did they get the rest of the paint on the canvas? Those tiny, precise dots of grey alternating with white? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/18 "2007-06-01T14:05:26Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] Did you do the Mustang? I’m thinking that one looks hand painted to me. You could, of course, distort and modify the original photo and then have the oil effects laid down. That would ensure a more handmade looking finish, but the Mustang doesn’t seem to be done this way. The passenger side mirror doesn’t line up with the original, for instance. [/QUOTE] Fake, as far as I’m concerned - I haven’t tried superimposing the images, but it looks like the image has undergone a fairly simple (and subtle) trapezoid transform. There might be a touch more overpainting on that example than on the wedding shot, but the telltale signs of cheating are still there (too much detail in the headlights, glaringly unskilful painting in the bit that obviously has been done by hand - the license plate). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/19 "2007-06-01T14:10:31Z")
In fact, if you look carefully at the license plate, you can see where they painted over the ford logo! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312/20 "2007-06-01T14:12:45Z")
Furthemore, an artist wouldn’t leave in details of the cropped background that are clearly visible through the windscreen. A photoshopper quite possibly would. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-the-coolest-gift-site-ever/406312.md?page=2)